MCC Offers New Grant to Accelerate Student Success, Thanks to Bequest

Manchester, Conn. (February 21, 2017) – Manchester Community College provided students in danger of stopping their education a total of more than $20,000 in retention grants to help them pay their tuition for the Fall 2016 semester. For Spring 2017, $27,000 was awarded to students in similar situations.

The newly introduced retention grant, funded by a gift of the Raymond Damato estate, provides critical financial support to students who are making progress toward their degree but have come up against financial obstacles

Last spring, data indicated that a significant number of students who applied to MCC paid their application fee but did not enroll, while others enrolled but couldn’t complete their payments and were forced to drop out for lack of financial resources, according to Dr. G. Duncan Harris, dean of student affairs and enrollment management.

MCC created the retention grant modeled after similar programs at community colleges and baccalaureate institutions across the country. “The retention grant can be used to pay for tuition and books when the expense threatens a student’s ability to continue at MCC,” Dr. Harris said. “We don’t want students to stop going to college just because they can’t continue to pay tuition for one semester. This was our way to help out those who needed support so we greatly appreciate the donation from the Damato Estate.”

Students receive an emergency scholarship based solely on need, but there are some requirements that need to be agreed to by each recipient. Students with a GPA of at least 2.6 can qualify, but to collect the funds they must agree to a payment schedule, meet with an academic advisor to ensure they can stay on track, and then participate in a financial workshop run by bank managers who have volunteered to support the college in advising students on how to succeed.

For the fall and spring semesters, workshops were conducted by United Bank and Webster Bank in conjunction with MCC’s Career Services department, MCC Foundation and the Office of Student Affairs to provide strategies for when the students run up against unexpected college costs, underscore the importance of financial planning and help them balance taking college classes, paying for college and other expenses.