Grant Aims to Boost Vermonters’ College Attainment

July 10, 2015

The state and its higher educational institutions have won a $50,000 grant from the Lumina Foundation to help increase the rate of Vermonters attaining post-secondary education, according to a news release published by VTDigger.org.

The goal is to increase the attainment rate from 45 percent to 60 percent by 2020.

The grant proposal was developed by the Vermont State Colleges (VSC) in collaboration with the Vermont Student Assistance Corporation (VSAC), the University of Vermont (UVM), and the State of Vermont. The VSC include Johnson State College, Castleton State College, Community College of Vermont, Lyndon State College and Vermont Technical College.

According to the release, “Lumina will bring national experts on higher education continuation, access and completion to Vermont to consult with grant partners. With the grant, a working group appointed by the partners will convene stakeholders to develop policy recommendations to help the state reach its goal of 60% higher education attainment by 2020.

“The proposal to Lumina identifies the need for urgent action in Vermont to close the college continuation gap for first-generation and low-income students, expand opportunities for postsecondary completion for working-age adults, and develop community-specific strategies to reduce attainment inequalities across the state.”