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Gates grant to help Mesa low-income students
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The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation awarded Mesa $250,000 to help boost college graduation rates of low-income students.
The foundation's grant supports a nine-month effort to develop a plan that would double the number of young adults who earn a degree or certificate by the time they reach 26. The program would be developed by the city, the Mesa Unified School District and Mesa Community College.
The effort is part of a National League of Cities plan to find new ways to streamline services for those attending community colleges. Two-thirds of community college students nationally do not graduate within three years, often because they aren't academically prepared, they juggle family responsibilities or they must work full time while in school. The grant is meant to create new ways to coordinate assistance for those students.
After the plan is developed, Mesa can apply for a $3 million grant to implement the effort. Mesa is one of seven communities that was awarded a grant.
"When our students succeed, we succeed as a city and a community," Mesa Mayor Scott Smith said in a news release. "Partnering with MCC and (Mesa Public Schools) to help low-income students attend and succeed in college is a great way to build a better community."
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