College of the Canyons (COC) has recently received a grant of $125k to help increase the number of underrepresented students in specific areas.

COC has received a $125,000 sub-award grant as a part of a $3 million Title V grant awarded to CSUN from the U.S. Department of Education to increase the number of Hispanic and underrepresented students in art, health sciences, engineering, computer science and STEM disciplines.

“We are so excited to have been awarded this grant providing culturally responsive training, facilitators for Academic Excellence Workshops, and tutors in support of our students,” said Amy Foote, MESA director at the college. “This grant will allow us to serve better students who wish to pursue careers in STEM fields.”

In collaboration with California State Univesity, Northridge and L.A. Pierce College, COC is set to support ‘Strengthening Equitable Culturally Responsive Environments (SECURE) for Students Success (SfS2)’ through its Mathematics Engineering Science Achievement (MESA) program.

The grant award is set to increase enrollment, improve retention and graduation rates, and eliminate equity gaps.

COC’s MESA program is set to develop culturally enhancing academic experiences to support mental health, emotional well-being and academic outcomes.

In addition, MESA is set to work to expand and enhance curriculum, research fellowships, and culturally relevant, work-based learning experiences in in-demand industry sectors, as well as provide proactive advisement and mentoring.

In 2023, COC was ranked No. 18 and 31 in The Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education Magazine for enrolling the most Hispanic students and granting the most degrees, respectively.

The college had a Hispanic population of 13,631 students, totaling 48.8 percent of the total student enrollment, which was 27,936 in the year 2021-22, according to the National Center for Education (NCES) and Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) date.

For more information about the college’s MESA program, click here. 

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