Dreamkeepers: Emergency Grants to Increase Student Persistence Presented by Scholarship America Max Espinoza, Senior Vice President, Education Policy & Programs and Great Lakes Higher Education Guaranty Corporation Ben Dobner, Director – Education Grantmaking October 15, 2014

About the Partnership

Scholarship America Largest nonprofit scholarship and education support organization in the country Partner with corporations, community foundations, colleges, community members and others to make college possible. $2.9 billion awarded to 1.9 million students since 1958

Scholarship America Theory of Change –“Scholarships can advance equity in postsecondary education, mobilizing communities to help students overcome barriers to access, persistence and attainment.” We do this through all of our programmatic work, including our education programs. Focusing our efforts on students who need our help the most.

Great Lakes Higher Education Corporation & Affiliates A non-profit group focused on a single objective –To promote college access and completion We are an established Student Loan Guarantor and Servicer We run one of the country’s largest Educational Philanthropy programs

Great Lakes Higher Education Guaranty Corporation Competitive grants to learn what works –Help more students be academically prepared for success in college –Help more students who made it to college complete their degree Grants to take proven programs to scale Baseline data, outcome tracking and evaluation are key in all applications

Wisconsin Technical College System 49 campuses in 16 college districts throughout Wisconsin More than 300 programs awarding two- year associate degrees, one and two-year technical diplomas and short-term technical diplomas

Wisconsin Technical College System Established 100 years ago, the system is the major provider of customized training and technical assistance to Wisconsin’s business and industry community Approximately 370,000 Wisconsinites enroll in technical colleges each year

Dreamkeepers Emergency Grant Assistance for Pell Eligible Students

The History of Dreamkeepers Dreamkeepers has proven to be a catalyst that keeps students enrolled in their college programs. –Lumina Foundation –Walmart Corporation –Kresge Foundation –Great Lakes Higher Education Guarantee Corporation

Dreamkeepers Video (Youtube)

Partnership Overview Three-year, $1.9 million grant shared by 16 WTCS colleges Provides emergency grant assistance to Pell-eligible students Implemented by Scholarship America© Dreamkeepers©

Goal Decrease the number of Pell-eligible WTCS students who leave college before completion Determine whether providing small grants to help students overcome financial obstacles increases program completion

What is an Emergency Grant Program? Helps students with unforeseen financial emergencies to stay in college Most common expenses are “life expenses” Connects students with additional resources

How it Works Great Lakes provides funding to –Allow each college to issue emergency grant assistance to Pell-eligible students –Pay 100% of the Dreamkeepers © program administration fees –Defray each college’s expenses associated with administering the program

How it Works Each WTCS college –Implements the Dreamkeepers © program, including use of the Dreamkeepers © online grant application –Provides baseline retention/completion data for their 2008 and 2010 Pell grant recipients

How it Works Each WTCS college –Reports retention data for grant recipients twice per year –Conducts fundraising activities to supplement student grant funds from Great Lakes and sustain the Dreamkeepers © program

Why Dreamkeepers

Why is emergency financial assistance important? The leading reason students drop out of college is a lack of financial resources More than 30 percent of college students leave after their first year and 50 percent never graduate (Source: U.S. Department of Education)

Impact of an emergency financial assistance program Improved term completion rates Holistic approach to students Connection to other resources

Student Persistence Overall recipients re-enrollment from Great Lakes student cohorts Baseline 51% Fall 2010 Year one 72%Fall 2013

Who does an emergency financial assistance program impact? Primary The Student –A solution –A bridge –An ask The College –Expands completion toolkit –Increases communication among departments –Increase fundraising capacity Secondary The Community –Educated workers The Nation –Increase in persistence leading to completion

Areas of campus involved Student Services | Student Affairs | Counseling Foundation | Advancement President and Senior Leadership Communications and Marketing Business Office Institutional Research IT

Lessons Learned Students responsibility to obtain W9 Checks are written to third party providers Assessment of student up front is key Counseling session leads to on-going support in other areas of their life Referrals made to other campus resources

Lessons Learned cont. Housed with counselors Referrals come from faculty, advisors, financial aid, and/or self referrals Counselors and FA realized more financial literacy is needed Resulted in WCTC revamping the Financial Aid Appeal Process

Best Practices

Administrative –Student support, additional resources Fundraising –Chief Development Officer, institutionalize, diversify funding Marketing –Multiple messaging streams, promote to all students, include mix of metrics and student stories

Questions and Discussion