More than 10,000 students will be able to continue their higher education journey at Bergen Community College and earn an associate degree thanks to a $2.7 million grant from the federal government.
The funding will be used to develop support programs through initiatives over the next five years, with specific emphasis on improving outcomes for Hispanic, underrepresented and low-income students, which account for a majority of Bergen’s students.
The U.S. Department of Education officially announced the recipients of the “Developing Hispanic-Serving Institution” competitive award program this month. The grant aligns with many of the college’s most important objectives in the recently approved five-year strategic plan and the annual goals of President Eric Friedman, including those related to student retention, persistence and completion.
“Research shows that students engaged through hands-on and holistic support services have better outcomes – they remain enrolled, and they graduate,” Friedman said. “The ‘Developing Hispanic-Serving Institution’ grant will not only allow us to put ‘more boots on the ground’ who engage with students on a daily basis but will also improve our institutional capacity to provide additional resources and services.”
Under the “Bergen Rebounds: Assist, Advance and Achieve” initiative, the College seeks to accomplish three goals:
- increase retention and graduation rates among the targeted student populations;
- expand services that contribute to completion; and
- improve the knowledge base of faculty and staff through professional development.
To achieve the goals, Bergen will launch numerous practices rooted in research from the What Works Clearinghouse – a best practices database maintained by the federal government – that improve student experiences and outcomes. Among them, the College will redesign its new student orientation program, embed tutors with faculty teaching online courses and create a new financial literacy initiative.
The college will soon hire a project director to lead a staff of two full-time professional staff members, three part-time staff members, 20 peer leaders, five success coaches and five tutors. Activities related to the program will begin on Oct. 1 and continue through 2029.
Only federally designated Hispanic Serving Institutions such as Bergen remain eligible for “Title V” grants such as the $2.97 million award recently secured by the College. Student populations at HSIs account for at least one-quarter of their enrollment; 44% of Bergen students identify as Hispanic/Latino.
