The U.S. Department of Education has awarded College of the Canyons (COC) a $3 million Title V Developing Hispanic-Serving Institutions (DHSI) grant to help the college support Hispanic students pursuing degrees in STEM and increase overall retention and completion rates of Hispanic students attending college for the first time.

“We are very excited about this Title V grant,” said Dr. Omar Torres, chief instructional officer at COC. “As a Hispanic-serving institution, COC will be better equipped than ever before to provide our Hispanic students with the tools, resources and support they need to academically thrive in STEM fields.”

Beginning October 2023, the five-year grant is set to provide COC with funding to support Hispanic students pursuing STEM degrees through a multi-faceted approach of redesigning Open Educational Resources (OER) with Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility (DEIA) elements, providing student counseling and support services, as well as increasing the availability of MESA  comtype services, according to officials.

In addition, the grant is expected to allow COC to offer robust professional development training in culturally relevant pedagogy to strengthen the capacity and knowledge of faculty to better engage with the diverse needs of Hispanic students.

COC’s Hispanic student population has steadily grown over the years. In 2022, COC was ranked nationally No. 17 and 35 in The Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education Magazine for enrolling the largest number of Hispanic students and granting the most degrees, respectively.

According to the data, the college had a Hispanic population of 15,410 students, totaling 49 percent of the total student enrollment, which was 31,696 in the year 2020-21. 

That same year, of the 3,200 associate degrees awarded by the college, 1,459 of degree recipients were Hispanic students.

“This funding will make a significant impact for so many of our Hispanic students, many of whom are the first in their families to attend college,” said Dr. Jasmine Ruys, vice president of student services at the college. “We want to do everything we can to help our students succeed while at COC, but also prepare them for the transfer process to a four-year STEM program.”

The federal grant is set to be the sole source of funding toward the college’s DHSI efforts.

The DHSI program provides grants to assist HSIs with expanding educational opportunities for Hispanic students and enhancing their academic offerings, program quality and institutional stability.

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