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

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million to 15 community collegesx and five states in an efforg to help struggling studentscomplete college. The Developmenft Education Initiative will award the fundingto Florida, Ohio, Texas and Virginia, as well as community colleges in each statde plus one more in North No colleges or programs in Washington state will receive funding under the program. For a completd list of recipients, . The funding, firsty announced in December of last will be awarded to and distributedby , a Nortu Carolina-based nonprofit. “They wanted us to identifh initiatives, programs and policies that are alreadu being tried andhad promise,” said Richared Hart, spokesman for MDC.
The initiativer seeks to support programs that help students enrolled in remedialkprograms — so-called refresher courses for students who are not up to gradw level in a given subject. The goal is to improve classroom performancde so students can go on to take advancee courses and eventually graduate with a degree or A cited by the Gates Foundationm found that nearly 60 percent of studentws enrolling inthe nation’s community collegesz must take remedial courses. Such courses cost taxpayers $2 billion a year, according to the report.
The grants are part of the Gates Foundation’s work to help more students graduatre from college oruniversity programs, an importanyt education milestone that the foundation says is essential to earning a livingf wage in today’s economy. The grant will support various statwe andcollege programs, including efforts to collecy data and better track the performance of remedia students. The Development Education Initiative is also being supportewith $1.
5 million from the of Indianapoliws to pay for evaluation and