San Antonio College has received a First Generation Students in College Grant of $50,000 from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Labor, the Texas Workforce Commission, and the Texas Education Agency.
"This grant, which is titled San Antonio College's Colegiantes: Primera Generacio, will provide $500 scholarships per semester for 50 students at San Antonio College," said Ruben Flores, Dean of Weekend, Evening and Distance Education.
He said, "To qualify, the students must be the first generation in their families to attend college, who complete seven hours in the Senior Summer Program 2005, and are enrolled full-time at San Antonio College for the Fall 2005 and Spring 2006 semesters while maintaining a GPA of 2.0 on a 4.0 scale."
This award supplements a $25,000 grant the college received from the THECB for the program last April.
The students selected to receive the scholarships will be trained in September and then team up with and mentor four high school students at their former high schools, a total of 200 students mentored throughout the school year. The program primarily targets four high schools closest to San Antonio College: Jefferson, Edison, Fox Tech, and Lanier.
Their objective is to educate students about goal-setting, study habits and college opportunities. Students will be encouraged to enroll in SAC's Senior Summer Program, a six-week program offering six hours of college credit in classes taken with peers as a transition to college.
The Senior Summer Program, begun seven years ago, has grown from an enrollment of 195 students last summer to 236 students this summer. For more information, contact Project Co-Directors Manuel Gonzalez III at 733-2478 or Daniel Sustaita at 733-2496.
