Gov. Patrick Announces $4 Million in Grants for Community Colleges

Governor Deval Patrick announced $4 million in grants to support increased skill training and workforce alignment, improved student learning outcomes and efficiency measures at community colleges across the Commonwealth.

For Middlesex Community College this means increased funding for programs that allow students in "gateway classes" to receive help with study skills and coursework from trained tutors, College President Carole Cowan said. 

"Our grant will focus on a classroom methodology that uses trained peer leaders to provide study skills and tutoring required for our students in a particular class," Cowan said.

The grant will allow students struggling in introduction level courses receive additional instruction to make sure they succeed in the course. 

"Through this grant, tutoring will now be linked to gateway courses that may be challenging for our students," Cowan said. "It will ensure that they receive the tutoring and extra academic support they need to help successfully meet the requirements of that course.”

Ultimately, the grant money that Middlesex receives will allow the college to offer their students more resources to use to succeed in their entry level classes, Cowan said.

“It will allow Middlesex to implement exciting classroom strategies to support student success," Cowan said.

The grant is the fufillment of Gov. Patrick's community college initiative, which is aimed at producing a more educated workforce in the Commonwealth, said Patrick in a press release on Tuesday. 

"A stronger community college system is good for students, employers and the whole Commonwealth," said Gov. Patrick. "These additional resources will further accelerate this transformation, and help get people to work.”