MSJC Awarded $4.2-Million Grant

Mt. San Jacinto College has been awarded a $4.2-million grant from the U.S. Department of Education, making it the largest in the college's history.

The grant funding means the college can expand educational opportunities for all of its students in the areas of science, technology, engineering and mathematics, or STEM, said MSJC spokesperson Karin Marriott, in a news release.

Marriott said the STEM grant funds will be distributed to the college over a five-year period, which begins Oct. 1. The college will receive more than $800,000 a year over the five-year period.

The Mt. San Jacinto College District covers 1,700-square-miles that stretches from Temecula and Murrieta north to the San Gorgonio Pass. Serving Southwest Riverside County residents are the Menifee Valley Campus and the Temecula Education Complex.

“Ultimately this grant will further enhance the educational environment at MSJC and help more students be successful in these challenging fields, fields where there is a critical need for more graduates,” said Dr. Roger Schultz, superintendent/president of MSJC. “We are very excited to receive this needed award, but even more excited about the bright future it offers to our students.”

The grant is awarded to institutions like MSJC that have a large percentage of traditionally under-served populations, according to Marriott. MSJC has a Hispanic student population of 30 percent.

The STEM grant is designed to support several goals. Among those goals, the additional funding should help double the percentage of Hispanic students who earn degrees in the STEM field by the 2015-2016 academic year, Marriott said.

It also aims to increase the percent of Hispanic students who transfer to a Cal State or University of California institution.

“This $4.2 million will benefit all of MSJC students while also focusing on a core group that has historically been under-represented in the STEM areas,” said Rebecca Teague, associate dean of Institutional, Effectiveness, Planning & Grants. “This will allow MSJC to purchase equipment and create programs that will benefit the entire student body at MSJC. “

Some examples of how the grant funding will benefit students include: additional instructional support to students through the development of more learning communities, the hiring of three new faculty coordinators and providing faculty training, and the purchasing of nearly $500,000 in new equipment for students and faculty.

"The STEM grant will also allow MSJC to foster more student success through a number of programs," Marriott said.

"Students will have access to more counseling. The college will create STEM institutes and hold career fairs and workshops for students and parents."

In 2008, MSJC received a STEM grant of nearly $2 million.

Learn more about STEM at MSJC by clicking here.