MSJC Receives $2.8 Million HSI Grant
9/16/2021
Mt. San Jacinto College (MSJC) on Thursday received a $2.8 million Title V Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI) Grant from the U.S. Department of Education.
The five-year grant that begins Oct. 1 is designed to provide students with access to more programs that will help them stay in college, succeed, and improve graduation and transfer rates.
“I am thrilled that Mt. San Jacinto College received this generous grant from the Department of Education,” said Dr. Roger Schultz, superintendent/president of MSJC. “It will provide additional resources that will allow us to implement proven innovative practices to support our students, their success and their overall transition to higher education.”
In May, more LatinX students graduated from MSJC and earned more awards than ever in the college’s nearly 60-year history. A total of 1,061 LatinX graduates earned 1,905 degrees and certificates. That represented about half of MSJC’s 2021 graduating class.
Hispanic Outlook on Education magazine this year ranked MSJC as one of its Top 25 Community Colleges in the nation for Hispanics.
This is the fourth grant of its kind that MSJC has received from the U.S. Department of Education under Title V. The college received $2.6 million in 2015, $2.8 million in 2010, and $2.2 million in 2003.
“Through previous grant efforts, MSJC has successfully decreased gaps in student achievement for our Hispanic students, which currently represent about half of the student population,” said Rebecca Teague, Interim Vice President of Student Services at MSJC.
The grant announcement coincides with National Hispanic-Serving Institutions Week, which began Monday and continues through Friday. Hispanic-Serving Institutions are identified as those with a 25 percent or larger Hispanic student population. MSJC received the HSI designation in 2001.
The grant also arrives as MSJC celebrates LatinX Heritage Month with events that began Wednesday and continue through Oct. 21.
Mt. San Jacinto College serves about 27,000 students annually in a district covering 1,700 square miles from the San Gorgonio Pass to Temecula, with campuses in San Jacinto, Menifee, Banning and Temecula.
MSJC awarded a record-breaking 3,848 degrees and certificates to 2,173 graduates in May 2021.