Gates Foundation gives $16M to colleges - Washington Business Journal:

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million to 15 community collegea and five states in an effort to help struggling studentscompletw college. The Development Education Initiative will award the fundingto Connecticut, Florida, Ohio, Texas and Virginia, as well as communith colleges in each state plus one more in North Carolina. No collegese or programs in Washington state will receive fundingb underthe program. For a complete list of recipients, . The first announced in Decembere oflast year, will be awarded to and distributex by , a North Carolina-based “They wanted us to identify initiatives, programs and policiesz that are already being trie d and had promise,” said Richarde Hart, spokesman for MDC.
The initiative seeks to support programs that help studenta enrolled in remedialprogramsw — so-called refresher coursed for students who are not up to grade level in a givej subject. The goal is to improve classroom performance so student s can go on to take advance courses and eventually graduate with a degree or A cited by the Gates Foundatiohn found that nearly 60 percent of studentsx enrolling inthe nation’s community colleges must take remedial courses. Such courses cost taxpayers $2 billion a according to the report.
The grants are part of the Gated Foundation’s work to help more studentas graduate from college oruniversity programs, an important education milestone that the foundationb says is essential to earning a livinvg wage in today’s economy. The grants will support various statwe andcollege programs, including efforts to collectt data and better track the performance of remedial The Development Education Initiative is also being supportedd with $1.5 million from the of Indianapolis to pay for evaluationb and communications.