Recognizing the dismal rates of Latinos attending college, several visionary members of the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) Council #2 approached the Chancellor of the Alamo Community College District (ACCD) in 1997 to develop a program providing scholarships to two generations of Latino students: parents and their children. Since then, LULAC Council #2 has donated $25,000 annually to fund 25 scholarship endowments per year for the children of each new cycle of 25 recipients ($1,000 for each child). The child is “vested” in the program at the point his or her parent completes his or her educational objective (a certificate, Associate degree or the first two years of a transfer program to a four-year institution), making the child eligible to claim the scholarship upon high school graduation. The ACCD Foundation matches LULAC’s donation with another $25,000 to fund scholarships for the program's adult participants ($1,000 for each person). To date, 63 students (76% of whom are Hispanic) have achieved their educational objectives by completing a certificate, associate degree or the first half of a 2+2 transfer plan, thereby ensuring their children college educations when they graduate from high school. A total of 225 students have been accepted into the program, and LULAC has donated $275,000 for the scholarship endowment.
Institution:
San Antonio College
Academic Level:
Community College
Issue Area:
College Prep
Issue Area:
Outreach
Year:
2008
Designation:
Examples of Excelencia
Designation:
Finalist
Key Personnel:
Vera, Mary
Address:
San Antonio College
Address 2:
1300 San Pedro
City:
San Antonio
State:
TX
Zip:
78212 Website:
Goal/Mission:
LULAC’s Parent/Child Program aspires to increase the college participation rates of both parents and children who are low-income and first-generation college students.
Outcome:
Over a five-year period (1997-2004), the outcomes of the Parent/Child Scholarship Program have been impressive. Forty-one percent have successfully completed the program, and 23% have completed an Associate degree or a certificate. Eighty-four percent of these have either received Associate degrees or transferred into four-year academic programs after completing the first half of a 2+2 transfer plan. Although participants are more at risk for failure than San Antonio College’s general student population because they are low-income and first-generation college students, a comparison of program completion rates with non-program participants shows that program participants are five times more likely to complete a certificate or Associate degree than non-participants - 23% compared to 4.2%. Additionally, 17% have transferred to a four-year college or university compared to only 9.9% of San Antonio College's general student population. Fall to spring semester retention rates exceeded those of non-program participants by 30%, and fall to fall retention rates were 27% higher than those for non-program participants.
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