KISSIMMEE, FL - With Congressman Alan Grayson’s strong support, Valencia College this week secured a five-year, $5.25 million federal grant that will help the school expand its award-winning learning opportunities for Central Florida’s burgeoning Hispanic student population.
Valencia College has been a national leader in recognizing and meeting the educational needs of the area’s growing Hispanic community. It currently ranks fourth in the country for the number of degrees it confers on Hispanic students. That same demographic group currently makes up half of its Kissimmee campus, and a third of its overall student body.
Congressman Grayson worked closely with school officials, and with the help of Sen. Bill Nelson they teamed up to capture $5.25 million in grant funding that will give Valencia the added crucial support it needs to meet this ongoing challenge.
“I worked hard to secure this badly-needed grant because Valencia College is doing some of the best work in the country to improve higher-education opportunities for our Hispanic families,” Congressman Grayson said. “Frankly, we still need to swing the doors of higher education open wider, for all those students who are hungry to continue learning. But this grant allows Valencia to build on the great work it has done to expand Hispanic higher-education opportunities. And I’m proud to have helped ensure that the federal government is a stronger funding partner in that special mission here in Central Florida.”
The funding comes from the federal Developing Hispanic-Serving Institutions Program. It’s designed to improve educational conditions on campuses where Hispanics and other minorities make up a large part of the student body. In the first year, the roughly $1 million grant is broken in two $525,000 awards. One will be spent on career and technical education programs in high-demand fields at its Kissimmee campus. The other will bolster advisement services on Valencia's East Orlando campus to help more students graduate and transfer to bachelor’s degree programs.
“With Title V funding, we’ll be able to help more students achieve the dream of completing a college education, to not only better themselves but better our communities,” said Susan Ledlow, Valencia’s vice president of Academic Affairs. “We thank Congressman Grayson and Senator Nelson for addressing the needs of Hispanic students and working tirelessly on Valencia College’s behalf.”
Valencia is already a leader in the field of Hispanic higher education. In 2012, its DirectConnect to UCF program was singled out by Excelencia in Education. The Washington D.C.-based group cited the joint Valencia-University of Central Florida effort as the nation’s top program for increasing academic opportunities and success for Hispanic students at the associate level.
Valencia’s recent “Got College?” initiative, which aims to increase the percentage of Osceola County high-school graduates who attend college, was recognized in September as a “Bright Spot in Hispanic Education” by the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanics.Valencia partnered with the Education Foundation of Osceola County and the Osceola County School District on this initiative, which began in 2013.
Congressman Alan Grayson represents Florida’s 9th Congressional District, which includes Osceola County, as well as parts of Orange and Polk counties.
