(WACO, Texas) – Texas State Technical College has been awarded the Title V Developing Hispanic Serving Institutions (DHSI) grant from the U.S. Department of Education. The grant assists low-income and Hispanic students, ensuring they will have access to an equal opportunity in higher education.
“To become a Hispanic serving institution, you have to have at least 25% of your population be Hispanic,” said Mark Hampton, a TSTC resource development specialist. “Our Hispanic population is 55.18% statewide, so that gives us the designation to be able to apply for a Title V grant.”
The grant entitles TSTC to $2,999,012 over a period of five years. Through the grant, the college will assist a total of 1,225 students over a period of five years, or 245 students per year.
“There are four main goals to come out of this so that group of students will be tracked,” said Adele Clinton, TSTC’s vice president of retention services. “Number one, you have to recruit them. There are enrollment numbers, and then they need to persist from one semester to the next. And then graduate and be placed (in the workforce) and then make higher wages.”
To achieve these goals, the funds will be divided among multiple areas, guaranteeing that students will receive the best education possible. A total of $525,000 will be provided for TSTC faculty and staff professional development, while $813,000 will be budgeted for technical spaces, a project still in development. Another $135,000 will be for new computers separate from the technical spaces. Over half of the grant will contribute to adding new personnel and services.
“The faculty training, the tech spaces, the equipment, the personnel, all of these specific things are going to increase the Hispanic students’ success,” said Shellie Heard, TSTC’s executive director of proposal development,. “Have we been able to do enough? Well, we do a lot and we do it very well, but now we’re able to do more and that’s what we want to do: fill that gap and improve that strength, or strengthen even more.”
One-on-one tutoring, academic advising, financial aid, career counseling, assistance with housing, childcare and transportation will also be supported by the grant.
Clinton is proud TSTC will be able to offer additional support to Hispanic and low-income students.
“As a Hispanic woman myself, the landscape of higher education has changed,” Clinton said. “Populations that haven’t had access historically, to higher education, now do, but our population comes with a unique set of challenges. I can only imagine what this will do for our future Hispanic students to feel that wraparound support.”
For more information about TSTC, visit tstc.edu.
