ALBANY - Governor David Paterson Thursday announced the first awards for the College Access Challenge Grant Program, a two-year, $8.2 million federal grant initiative that focuses on motivating New York’s at-risk youth to successfully prepare for and graduate from college. The Governor directed the New York State Higher Education Services Corporation (HESC) to administer the College Access Challenge Grant Program.

The 30 awards were selected through a competitive process and will provide targeted support to schools, agencies and community-based organizations across New York. These grantees will receive a series of sub-grants of less than $50,000 to support specific services for high-need students and their families. These services include:

• providing information to students and families to help them understand college and career choices;
• promoting financial literacy and debt management;
• conducting college and career planning outreach activities;
• assisting students with completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid;
• conducting professional development for guidance counselors at middle and secondary schools, and for college financial aid administrators and admissions counselors.

 
The 30 College Access Challenge Grants recipients are:

• Jamestown Community College, Jamestown, NY
• New Settlement Apartments, Bronx, NY
• Commission on Independent Colleges and Universities (CICU), Albany, NY
• SUNY Cobleskill, Cobleskill, NY
• On Point for College, Inc., Syracuse, NY
• Institute for Student Achievement, Lake Success, NY
• Today’s Students, Tomorrow’s Teachers, Elmsford, NY
• College & Community Fellowship, New York, NY
• The College Initiative, Bronx, NY
• Young Women’s Leadership Network, New York, NY
• Goddard Riverside Community Center, New York, NY
• St. John’s University, Queens, NY
• Research Foundation of the CUNY, New York, NY
• Central Park East High School, New York, NY
• Learning Leaders, New York, NY
• City School District of Albany, Albany, NY
• Hispanic Scholarship Fund, New York, NY
• High School for Law, Advocacy & Community Justice, New York, NY
• New York Institute of Technology, Old Westbury, NY
• City School District of New Rochelle, New Rochelle, NY
• Harlem RBI, Inc., East Harlem, NY
• Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY
• Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, NY
• Sunnyside Services, Sunnyside, NY
• Brooklyn College Community Partnership / RF CUNY, New York, NY
• The Facing History School, New York, NY
• Si, Se Puede, Huntington, NY
• New York State Financial Aid Administrators Association, Inc (NYSFAAA)
• ASPIRA of NY, Inc., New York, NY
• SNAP Long Island, Patchogue, NY