Enrollment management receives national micro-grant to fund pilot program

UNC Charlotte is one of nine institutions to receive a $50,000 national micro-grant to fund a pilot program to prevent low-income college students from dropping out prior to graduation.

The Association of Public Land-grant Universities (APLU) and the Coalition of Urban Serving Universities (USU) awarded $450,000 to nine public urban research institutions. Each college received $50,000.

Tina McEntire, associate provost for enrollment management, said the micro-grant will be used to design a data-driven program to better identify students who are most likely to finish their degree within a year.

“Our goal is to design a completion program that can help us select students who are the most committed to taking the necessary steps to achieve their success,” said McEntire. “We believe a tailored approach will allow students to be active participants in their ‘personal future building’ and give them a choice in which program requirements will be the most impactful in their futures.”

Shari Garmise, vice president of the USU/APLU Office of Urban Initiatives, stated, “Micro-grant programs, particularly at public urban research institutions, have proven very effective at providing low-income students facing financial hardships with the resources they need to avoid dropping out and instead earn their diploma.”

The Great Lakes Higher Education Guaranty Corporation and the Lumina Foundation funded the micro-grants awarded by APLU/USU. Funding is for two years, and institutions are to launch or expand pilot programs by fall 2016 and continue their deployment through June 2018.