The U.S. Education Department (ED) is accepting applications for a new round of funding through its Postsecondary Student Success Grant (PSSG) program, which aims to improve retention and college completion through evidence-based practices.
Higher education institutions, including community colleges, have until September 25 to apply for four-year grants that will range from $2 million to $8 million.
The program looks to “equitably improve postsecondary student outcomes, including retention, transfer, credit accumulation, and completion, by leveraging data and implementing, scaling, and rigorously evaluating evidence-based activities to support data-driven decisions and actions by institutional leaders committed to inclusive student success,” according to ED.
The grant competition will consider applications in two tiers — early phase and mid-phase/expansion — based upon the amount of existing research validating their effectiveness, ED said. The department will award five to eight early-phase/expansion grants of $2 million to $4 million, and three to four mid-phase grants of $6 million to $8 million.
Funding for HBCUs, TCCUs and MSIs
The department is also accepting applications for grants to help historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs), tribally controlled colleges and universities (TCCUs) and minority-serving institutions (MSIs) increase completion and retention rates among underserved students.
The HBCUs, TCCUs and MSIs Research and Development Infrastructure Grant Program (RDI) will fund “transformational infrastructure investments and evidence-based strategies” for improved student outcomes for underserved students, according to ED. The grants aim to help colleges implement transformational investments in research infrastructure, including research productivity, faculty expertise, graduate programs, physical infrastructure, human capital development and partnerships leading to increases in external funding.
“At a time when diversity in higher education is under attack, it’s never been more important to invest in our nation’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Tribal Colleges and Universities, Minority-Serving Institutions, community colleges and other inclusive institutions,” U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said in a press release. “These grant programs represent opportunities for our nation’s most inclusive and diverse colleges and universities to expand their capacity to drive research and innovation and strengthen evidence-based supports that help underserved students successfully complete their degrees and build brighter futures.”
