NJ’S COLLEGE ACCESS CHALLENGE GRANT
“ TOOLS FOR COLLEGE ACCESS”

Disengaged Adults Returning to College
Grant Program - II

The Commission on Higher Education would like to announce grant awards to the following four institutions as a result of the Request for Proposals for the Disengaged Adults Returning to College (DARC) II Grant.

The amount listed is for the first project period, July 1, 2010 - June 30, 2011:

• Cumberland County College $75,000
• Middlesex County College $75,000
• Ocean County College $75,000
• Sussex County Community College $75,000

The grant process was highly competitive with 13 institutions submitting proposals.

The “Disengaged Adults Returning to College” Grant Program is funded by the federal College Access Challenge Grant. The purpose of the program is to create and grow programs that could be self-sustaining after a potential two-year grant cycle.  The deadline for submission of proposals was Thursday, June 3, 2010.  Thirteen (13) proposals were received and the announcement of grant awards is anticipated in late June.

Eligible applicants were non-profit New Jersey colleges and universities that were not awarded a Disengaged Adults Returning to College Grant in 2009.  The target population for the grant is adults, aged 20 and older, who left a New Jersey institution within the past 10 years (since 2000), in good standing, without earning an undergraduate degree. They should have earned at least 50% of credits toward a degree.

Priority will go to applicants who demonstrate the capacity of the institution to treat candidates flexibly (i.e., to be willing to consider that the student’s best option may not be to return to the host institution); to participate in intra-institutional crossdisciplinary teams that will explore the issues involved in re-engaging this population; to streamline re-entry by simplifying the application process and removing institutional barriers; to develop a comprehensive, student-friendly, campus-wide message to participants to encourage a positive experience; and to commit to working toward sustainability.

• Non-traditional No More Project website
  A project of the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE), with funding from Lumina Foundation for Education, Non-traditional No More is working with five states – Arkansas, Colorado, Nevada, New Jersey, and South Dakota – that were selected through a competitive process to identify their “ready adult” population – those adults who are close to having enough credits to obtain a degree but have not yet returned to college.

• The Assessment of the Disengaged Adults Returning to College Program [pdf-306Kb]
  Prepared For: The New Jersey Commission on Higher Education
  By: Jason Toedter, Laura Montas, Shannon O’Hare, and William Gayle, with the Advisement Of: Dr. Carl Van Horn
  May 5, 2010