Mount St. Mary's College in South Los Angeles has received a $2.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education to pay for programs intended to help Latino/American students obtain four-year degrees in various disciplines of math and science.
The grant comes as part of the federal College Cost Reduction Act, and enlists St. Mary's in a national Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Initiative, which aims to help Latino/Americans and members of other ethnic minority communities gain undergraduate degrees and eventually go on to achieve graduate degrees in those fields. Current estimates indicate that less that 10% of Latino/American college students study for degrees in math or the sciences, the lowest portion of any ethnic group.
The grant for Mount St. Mary's is one of a number slated to go from the federal government to colleges and universities where Latino/Americans make up at least 25% of the enrollment. Approximately 44% of the undergraduates at Mount St. Mary's are Latino/Americans, according to school officials, and the funds from the grant will be used at both of its local campuses.
The grant is also intended to help pay for efforts to bolster working relationships between four-year institutions such as Mount St. Mary's and two-year community colleges (Mount St. Mary's also offers two-year degrees in some areas of study). Many students at community colleges continue their educations at four-year institutions. Members of Mount St. Mary's faculty will work with colleagues at several community colleges on the program, including Los Angeles Trade-Technical College, which is nearby at Washington Boulevard and Grand Avenue. The Mount St. Mary's instructors are also expected to work with colleagues at Pasadena City College and Santa Monica College, as well as several high schools in the area.
Some the funds will be spent on equipment such as laptop computers and new software for math and science students. A portion of the money is also expected to go for a "Success Center" that will provide Latino/American students with "comprehensive services, including tutoring in math and science during the regular academic year, as well as summer academies" at the Downtown campus, according to Mount St. Mary's officials. There will also be a "First Year Experience" program to train faculty in ways to better engage Latino/American students in math and science coursework.
Mount St. Mary's operates its Doheny Campus near 23rd and Figueroa streets in the Figueroa Corridor district, just south of Downtown. The college also operates its Chalon campus in the Westwood district on the Westside. The school is a Roman Catholic institution, and admitted only women at one time in its history. Mount St. Mary's now accepts male students into some of its undergraduate programs and all of its graduate programs.
Photo by LA Beez
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