JBJ:FSCJ gets multi-year grant from U.S. Department of Education

Jacksonville Business Journal

Florida State College at Jacksonville has won two multi-year grant from the U.S. Department of Education worth about $1.2 million.

The grants will be used to promote postsecondary education access, as well as equity, for students that are low-income and first generation.

One of the grants is a renewal of FSCJ's South Campus Talent Search program, which has been used to benefit students at local high schools, including Englewood, Terry Parker and Samuel W. Wolfson, as well as local middle schools, including Alfred I. DuPont, Fort Caroline and Southside. That program has assisted 500 students, with 73 percent of those students enrolling in a postsecondary education program.

The second grant will be used at FSCJ's Downtown campus, and will be made available to students in high schools in surrounding areas, including Andrew Jackson, William M. Raines, A. Philip Randolph and Jean Ribault.

The Talent Search program provides students with access to tutoring, an online peer-to-peer network, group workshops, time management skills, test-taking strategies, college entrance exam preparation, financial aid assistance, academic advising, college tours, admission application support and financial literacy help, among other things.

The program has a goal of increasing the amount of students who finish high school, graduate within the standard number of years, graduate from a secondary school in the standard number of years and increase the percentage of students who enroll in an institution of higher education in the fall semester immediately following high school graduation.

The grant benefiting FSCJ's Downtown campus comes at a time when the college is greatly increasing their presence in the urban core, including establishing student housing at 20 W. Adams.

See what else FSCJ is planning in our recent preview.