TG Public Benefit Grant Program

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Sample Grant Agreement
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Want to know more about the TG Public Benefit Grant Program? Call (800) 252-9743, ext. 4518, or send an e-mail to public.benefit@tgslc.org.

Grants Awarded in FY 2007

Grantee: Austin Community College
Location: Austin, Texas
Project Title: College Connection: Connecting Possibility to Expectation — One Student at a Time
Amount Funded: $155,456
Category: Direct services to students and families; Need-based financial aid
Award Year: FY 2007

The grantee expanded its successful program, College Connection, to eight additional Central Texas school districts: Smithville, Liberty Hill, Harper, Lago Vista, Nixon-Smiley, Fredericksburg, Blanco, and Johnson City. The program is a comprehensive, proven pre-college student services initiative that provides intensive on-campus support for high school seniors. TG's funding also provided need-based grants to seniors who successfully completed the program and enrolled at ACC.

Grantee: Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Central Texas
Location: Austin, Texas
Project Title: The Promise Scholarship Program
Amount Funded: $42,000
Category: Direct services to students and families; Need-based financial aid
Award Year: FY 2007

The grantee received funding for its Educational Services Program, which offers college counseling, career counseling, tutoring, support services, and enrichment activities. The program also offered Promise Scholarships to encourage students to complete high school and pursue further education. For each Little Brother or Sister matched for at least one year beginning as early as the seventh grade who promises to stay in school and graduate, BBBS promises to reward him or her with a $2,000 scholarship to be used toward a college education. The program targeted low-income students from single-parent families in Austin and throughout Travis, McLennan, and Brazos Counties.

Grantee: Breakthrough
Location: Austin, Texas
Project Title: Breakthrough
Amount Funded: $90,000
Category: Direct services to students and families
Award Year: FY 2007

Breakthrough expanded its intensive outreach program by adding 45 new sixth grade students at an annual per-pupil cost of $2,000; and completed the development of a six-year model serving students from the end of sixth grade to college entrance. By the end of the grant period, Breakthrough erved more than 250 students in grades seven through 12 — and TG helped launch 45 new students on Breakthrough's path to college.

Grantee: College Forward
Location: Austin, Texas
Project Title: College Forward Partnership Implementation
Amount Funded: $84,255
Category: Direct services to students and families
Award Year: FY 2007

A TG Public Benefit grant recipient for the second consecutive year, College Forward provided students with free college-preparatory services that include:

  • Weekly high school classes, including test preparation and application forms
  • Special events, such as college application and financial aid workshops and labs
  • Summer tour of colleges, a six-day trip to colleges and universities across Texas
  • College retention program that includes twice-monthly telephone contacts, reunions, E-retention services, and ongoing financial aid counseling during the college years
  • Parent support services, including new "College/Universidad 101" workshops for English- or Spanish-speaking parents

Grantee: Huston-Tillotson University
Location: Austin, Texas
Project Title: PASS/PASSAGES Program
Amount Funded: $100,000
Category: Direct services to students and families; Need-based financial aid
Award Year: FY 2007

Funding for the Pathways to Academic Socialization and Success (PASS)/PASSAGES Learning Experience project provided an opportunity for an upper-class cohort of 50 PASS students to continue in the program and to bring in another group of 50. Project PASS is predicated on the initiation of a one-week, pre-college summer program that helps students overcome the primary reasons for first-year student attrition, such as inadequate academic preparation and the lack of a supportive network. Upon completion of the one-week PASS summer program, program participants transitioned into the PASSAGES Learning Experience.

Grantee: Kalamazoo College
Location: Kalamazoo, Michigan
Project Title: After-school, On-campus Math/Science Enrichment Program
Amount Funded: $27,784
Category: Direct services to students and families
Award Year: FY 2007

The grantee built on its partnership with Kalamazoo Public Schools to support middle and high school students from traditionally under-represented minorities to "keep the doors open" for those students who showed promise in math, but who needed additional support to make it to college. The program included the following components:

  • On-campus programming four days per week (Monday - Thursday) from 2:30 to 5:30 p.m.
  • Approximately 25 middle and/or high school students per day
  • Instruction and activities with multiple points of entry for differing learning styles
  • Instruction, mentoring, and tutoring by six to 10 trained Kalamazoo College students (under the guidance of Kalamazoo College administrators and faculty)

Grantee: LULAC National Educational Service Center - Corpus Christi
Location: Corpus Christi, Texas
Project Title: LNESC Educational Talent Search - ¡Adelante!
Amount Funded: $125,000
Category: Direct services to students and families
Award Year: FY 2007

This project enhanced the TRIO Educational Talent Search program to provide direct services to low-income, potentially first-generation college students and their families through a series of efforts that included: revising and printing ¡Adelante!, a Guide For Students On How To Prepare For A College Or University; Tour Across Texas — a summer college experience that provided 50 low-income, potentially first-generation college students the opportunity to visit and tour colleges and universities throughout Texas; Middle School Summer Camp — a four-week summer enrichment program focusing on college/financial aid awareness, career exploration, preparing for high school and college, study skills, overcoming barriers and challenges, goal setting/time management, positive life skills, high school course planning and internet access workshop; Family Nights — a series of evening parent meetings held throughout the community; Hispanic Leadership Opportunity Program — a leadership development program involving 25 low-income, potentially first-generation college high school students; and Youth National Convention/Leadership Conference — where participants further enhanced their leadership skills, participated in a number of leadership-based workshops and met national Hispanic leaders.

Grantee: LULAC National Educational Service Centers - Dallas
Location: Dallas, Texas
Project Title: Developing and Leading Latin American Students Toward Success (DALLAS Toward Success)
Amount Funded: $200,000
Category: Need-based financial aid
Award Year: FY 2007

The grantee developed a Vertical Mentoring Program designed to replicate successful models that prepare students for the high school to college transition. Grant funds were used to replicate LULAC's Youth and Young Adult Programs, which have flourished in suburban, magnet and private high schools at 10 inner-city high school campuses, providing opportunities for mentoring and the development of a high school-to-college/university pipeline. College student mentors were drawn from a pool of students who were themselves low-income and the first-generation in their family to graduate from a four-year, bachelor degree-granting institution.

Grantee: McLennan Community College Foundation
Location: Waco, Texas
Project Title: First-generation College Student Initiative, Phase II
Amount Funded: $123,979
Category: Direct services to students and families; Need-based financial aid; Education research
Award Year: FY 2007

A TG Public Benefit grant recipient for two consecutive years, MCC increased college access through pre-collegiate outreach services to first-generation college students, Hispanics, African Americans, and their parents; extended the project to rural schools throughout the college service area; encouraged first-generation student success by offering unique services to increase retention and graduation rates; promoted collaboration among partners; and improved college enrollment and graduation rates among Hispanic students through empirical research that informed the collaborators and others about higher education perceptions among Hispanic parents.

Grantee: Partnership for Learning
Location: Lansing, Michigan
Project Title: College Goal
Amount Funded: $75,000
Category: Direct services to students and families
Award Year: FY 2007

The grantee boosted the percentage of families (especially first-generation families) that took early preparation steps toward college such as pursuing challenging course work, saving money, exploring colleges and careers, learning in the home, and building real partnerships with educators. Additional efforts increased the percentage of students who accessed financial aid information and resources by February of their senior year.

Grantee: Partnership for Learning
Location: Lansing, Michigan
Project Title: Online Marketing Strategies to Boost First-Generation College Completion
Amount Funded: $86,938
Category: Direct services to students and families; Education research
Award Year: FY 2007

The grantee equipped colleges and higher education access organizations with online strategies to deepen their relationships with first-generation college students and parents in ways that boost preparation, access, and retention. The project involved a multi-stage research process, a report that provides easy to implement strategies, and dissemination through state and national networks.

Grantee: St. Edward's University
Location: Austin, Texas
Project Title: TG Interns for Success
Amount Funded: $81,235
Category: Direct services to students and families; Need-based financial aid
Award Year: FY 2007

The grantee initiated a program of paid internships targeting sophomore- through senior-level students who are financial-aid eligible and underrepresented in graduate education. Interns for Success had three primary objectives: (1) to expand experiential learning opportunities proven to promote undergraduate success and retention; (2) to provide resume building internships plus supplementary support services to help our undergraduates prepare for graduate/professional studies and make their applications more competitive; and (3) to provide stipends for these internships to eliminate the financial concerns that might keep students from low- to moderate-income families from participating.

Grantee: San Antonio Education Partnership
Location: San Antonio, Texas
Project Title: College Access and Success for At-risk Students
Amount Funded: $100,000
Category: Direct services to students and families; Need-based financial aid
Award Year: FY 2007

A TG Public Benefit grant recipient for the second consecutive year, received support for two projects. The San Antonio Education Partnership used college scholarships as an incentive and a reward for academic success in high school with at-risk students. These scholarships are the key element in an interactive program leading to college access that provides direct service to students and their families as well as need based scholarships; and 2) used need-based incentive scholarships at the community college level, coupled with developed college plans and demonstrated progress, as an incentive and a reward for college success.

Grantee: South Plains College — Tech Prep
Location: Lubbock, Texas
Project Title: Tech Prep College and Career Centers
Amount Funded: $40,700
Category: Direct services to students and families
Award Year: FY 2007

The grantee provided 10 targeted high schools with a "Tech Prep College and Career Center." The purpose was to assist low-income, first-generation college families in completing the paperwork necessary to attend college. The program provided schools with computer access to career data, college program information, and financial aid information for approximately 4,475 students enrolled within the targeted high schools.

Grantee: South Texas Tech Prep: Laredo Community College
Location: Laredo, Texas
Project Title: Go Get It — Mobile Go Center
Amount Funded: $151,861
Category: Direct services to students and families; Need-based financial aid; Education research
Award Year: FY 2007

The grantee provided students and the community financial aid, grants, and scholarship information. Through the South Texas Workforce Development Board, returning college students received information about an I.D.A. grant which payed for tuition and books should they be identified through visiting the Mobile Go Center. The Mobile Go Center provided direct services to the students and community by providing information on higher education, resources at local, state, and federal levels, and by having forms available such as the Texas Common Application and the FASFA. The unit was able to visit rural areas in the community to deliver higher education information that would not otherwise be served.

Grantee: Texas A&M University
Location: College Station, Texas
Project Title: TG Aggie Summer Institute II
Amount Funded: $236,952
Category: Direct services to students and families; Need-based financial aid
Award Year: FY 2007

The grantee, a TG Public Benefit grant recipient for the second consecutive year, provided the TG Aggie Summer Institute II with outreach efforts to seventh through 12th graders. During summer 2007, the university conducted three- to four-day institutes in each of the Prospective Student Centers (PSC) regions throughout the state. This program is designed to help 1,260 Texas middle and high school students prepare for college with developmentally and grade-level appropriate delivery, materials, and content. The PSCs are located in College Station, Corpus Christi, Dallas, Houston, Laredo, Rio Grande Valley, and San Antonio. After successful completion of the TG Aggie Summer Institute II each senior participant was entered to win a $1,000 scholarship. Six scholarships were awarded for each PSC region. The scholarships will be valid at any TAMU campus across the state.

Grantee: Texas A&M University — Corpus Christi
Location: Corpus Christi, Texas
Project Title: The Need to Succeed
Amount Funded: $102,500
Category: Direct services to students and families; Need-based financial aid
Award Year: FY 2007

The grantee awarded a "Need to Succeed Grant" to 25 eligible students to help them pay for the cost of attendance at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi. The goal of this project was to provide first-generation and underrepresented students from the greater Houston area with the opportunity to become college graduates. This grant will provide qualifying students $2000 per semester for the 2007-2008 academic year, decreasing students' loan awards and aided in meeting the students' unmet need. Grant recipients were required to participate in SUCCEED! — a program that helps students in their transition to college during the first semester. The services include: (1) money management/financial literacy seminar; (2) tutoring services from award winning tutoring center; (3) study habits seminar; and (4) career services service.

Grantee: Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board
Location: Austin, Texas
Project Title: Collegiate G-Force
Amount Funded: $300,000
Category: Direct services to students and families
Award Year: FY 2007

The grantee, a TG Public Benefit grant recipient for two consecutive years, expanded the number of G-Force members serving in targeted Go Centers — local, community-managed prospective college student centers that focus on creating a school-wide college-going culture and promoting college awareness in the surrounding community. The G-Force is the peer education component of the Go Center strategy that uses students — both high school and college students — and/or volunteers to disseminate the college-going message. The Collegiate G-Force is responsible for mentoring and tutoring high school students, as well as actively engaging in promotional activities developed to draw students to the Go Centers where college-going activities are the focus (i.e., admission application and FAFSA completion). TG grant funding was used to employ 25 G-Force members each at 12 college campuses.

Grantee: Texas State University
Location: San Marcos, Texas
Project Title: Improving Postsecondary Scholarship Access for Students from High Schools in Low Socio-economic Communities
Amount Funded: $52,422
Category: Direct services to students and families
Award Year: FY 2007

The grantee targeted high schools in rural and low socio-economic communities (Rio Grande Valley, Laredo, and Palestine-Tyler) to provide scholarship workshops. The workshops were conducted for students/parents and faculty/counselors/administrators within each community. The student workshops provided participants with the skills necessary to write a competitive scholarship essay, as well as develop a compelling resume for scholarship applications that speak to each student's accomplishments, leadership, and ability to overcome challenges and succeed in college. Separate workshops were conducted for high school faculty, counselors, and administrators. These workshops included on-site and video conference sessions. The program will not only address how high school professionals can guide students in the development of scholarship essays and resumes, but also in how they should develop and write letters of recommendation for their students in order to give them a competitive edge when applying for scholarships.

Grantee: Texas State University
Location: San Marcos, Texas
Project Title: Making Access and Participation Successful
Amount Funded: $224,379
Category: Direct services to students and families
Award Year: FY 2007

The grantee developed a "high school-to-graduate school" educational pipeline composed of four sequential building blocks:

  • Segment one included working with low college-going high schools and was geared to potential first-generation college students and their parents, with a special focus on Hispanic Americans.
  • Segment two encouraged Hispanic first-generation students to develop a long-range view of academic success with retention expressed as transferring to a university.
  • Segment three recognized the role of college algebra in completing a college education. Many students taking this course are first-generation and Hispanic, where data indicate two-thirds of Hispanic college students require math remediation.
  • Segment four was an effort to link a pool of Hispanic seniors to academic success with a bachelor's degree and admission to graduate school.

Grantee: Texas State University (Student Support Services)
Location: San Marcos, Texas
Project Title: E-tutoring
Amount Funded: $14,500
Category: Direct services to students and families
Award Year: FY 2007

The grantee expanded current program services, by offering online tutoring for students. Student Support Services, a federal TRIO project, formerly provided one-on-one tutoring to participants on weekdays, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. TG funding gave the program the capability to offer tutoring beyond the regular workday and work week, making the services accessible to more participants.

Grantee: Texas Wesleyan University
Location: Ft. Worth, Texas
Project Title: Pathways to Success
Amount Funded: $83,550
Category: Direct services to students and families; Need-based financial aid
Award Year: FY 2007

The grantee provided need-based aid for students at risk of not completing their college degree due to financial barriers. It further expanded access to higher education by providing pre-collegiate outreach services through GO Centers at two area high schools. The centers offer information to high school students and their families about the ways and means to make educational access and success possible.

Grantee: Thomas Cooley Law School
Location: Lansing, Michigan
Project Title: Professional Exploration Program: Increasing the Enrollment and Success of Students Who are Underrepresented in Law School
Amount Funded: $277,000
Category: Direct services to students and families; Education research
Award Year: FY 2007

Through TG funding, the grantee expanded its pilot program, called the Professional Exploration Program (PEP). A law school qualification program, PEP is based on skills instruction, performance on a substantive law test, and student self-evaluation of their "fitness" to study the law. Twelve hours of skills training, nine hours of substantive law instruction, and academic and career testing are the major components of the program. Participants are evaluated by a PEP governing committee and accepted or not accepted into the law school based on their performance at PEP. Students considered for PEP are those who applied to the Law School and do not meet the criteria for regular or alternative admission. TG funding accelerated the law school's ability to give access to more underrepresented students.

Grantee: University of Texas at Austin — Ray Marshall Center for the Study of Human Resources, LBJ School of Public Affairs
Location: Austin, Texas
Project Title: Central Texas High School Graduate Data Center — Cycle 2
Amount Funded: $200,000
Category: Education research
Award Year: FY 2007

As part of a six-year effort, this initiative is designed to track the progress of Central Texas high school graduates as they move on to colleges and careers. The Data Center's purpose is two-fold: 1) to provide Central Texas independent school districts, postsecondary institutions, and employers with comprehensive, longitudinal research on what local high school graduates are doing after high school, why they are making these decisions, and how a variety of educational, personal and financial factors are related to graduates' success in higher education and the workforce; and 2) to foster best practices through workshops, seminars, and applied research assisting the region's school districts, education service center, and postsecondary institutions to increase the number of regional graduates who obtain postsecondary academic and workforce credentials.

Grantee: University of Texas at Brownsville/Texas Southmost College
Location: Brownsville, Texas
Project Title: Follow My Lead: From Application to Matriculation
Amount Funded: $184,424
Category: Direct services to students and families
Award Year: FY 2007

The grantee, a TG Public Benefit grant recipient for the second consecutive year, built on the success of the "Start Smart-Start Early" Program. UTB/TSC expanded its mentor services by tracking scholarship winners from 2006, providing them with roles to play in the various student support programs such as ASPIRE (A Support Program In Reaching Excellence) funded through a federal TRIO program that provides opportunities for academic development and which assists students with basic college requirements) and the freshman seminar course. Also, graduating high school seniors from the class of 2007 were asked to provide the same one-on-one assistance in completing the financial aid applications and registering for classes to their younger counterparts to whom they could then say "Follow my lead! This is how it's done."

Grantee: University of Texas — Pan American
Location: Edinburg, Texas
Project Title: Destination Graduation
Amount Funded: $60,238
Category: Direct services to students and families; Need-based financial aid
Award Year: FY 2007

The grantee, a TG Public Benefit grant recipient for two consecutive years, provided need-based financial aid to first-generation, low- to-moderate-income students and direct services in the area of student success geared toward increasing college retention and graduation rates for a targeted group of at-risk students. The goal of the project was to foster student success by providing financial, academic, advising, and mentoring assistance to first generation college sophomores who were at risk of not completing their college degree. The program provided support for 20 students with GPAs of less than 2.5, who had lost Texas Grant eligibility at the end of their sophomore year, and had not enrolled for the fall semester of the junior year. The students received semester grants of $2,000 each for the spring and summer 2007 semesters in return for agreeing to participate in mid-term academic progress monitoring and completion of support services programs as required by mentors and advisors.

Grantee: University of Texas — Pan American
Location: Edinburg, Texas
Project Title: Go Center Development Services
Amount Funded: $141,145
Category: Direct services to students and families
Award Year: FY 2007

The grantee increased the number of Go Centers at middle schools and high schools across South Texas, continuing the support of already established Rio Grande Valley High School Go Centers and expanding the outreach of the Mobile Go Center in rural communities of the "Upper South Texas" region immediately to the north of the Valley, as well as Las Colonias (neighborhoods lacking adequate sewer lines and paved roads in the Rio Grande Valley) and other Valley communities.

Grantee: Valley Initiative for Development and Advancement (VIDA)
Location: Weslaco, Texas
Project Title: Dual Enrollment Academics
Amount Funded: $118,500
Category: Direct services to students and families; Need-based financial aid
Award Year: FY 2007

The grantee provided direct outreach services that incorporate a proven case-management system. Services included:

  • Tutoring in engineering, physics, anatomy, English, math and other specialized subjects related to the program and the student's individual academic plans.
  • Individual college planning structured through a college planning calendar, which will serve to ensure a smooth transition from a two-year college to a four-year university. College planning will include assistance with the application process for financial aid programs, loan programs, college admission requirements, different collegiate entrance exams, scholarship programs, and housing requirements.
  • A series of academic growth college workshops designed to promote academic growth and create awareness about academic student success.
  • Summer scholarship workshops where students will create a database using several online scholarship search engines to search for educational funds to assist with post-secondary educational expenses.

Grantee: Vernon College
Location: Wichita Falls, Texas
Project Title: Early College Start
Amount Funded: $68,759
Category: Direct services to students and families
Award Year: FY 2007

The grantee dedicated an Early College Start coordinator to work in the area high schools to provide pre-collegiate outreach services. Information about the ECS program and services were provided to students starting in the eighth grade so that students will have time to plan their high school curriculum schedule. The college developed a partnership between Vernon College and local school districts to provide the opportunity for high school students to complete a college certificate of completion in a technical program of study that is not available in the high schools; award scholarships to high school students to enroll in dual credit/concurrent courses at Vernon College through the Early College Start project; and retain program participants by providing mentoring, counseling, and action plans to remove barriers to success.

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