SYLMAR : College Gets Grant to Ease Transfers

Mission College has been awarded a $2.5-million federal grant to improve its effectiveness at encouraging students to transfer to four-year colleges and universities, college officials announced Thursday.

The U.S. Department of Education grant will give the college the staff and equipment to evaluate programs aimed at helping students continue their education, Mission President Jack Fujimoto said.

These programs include a transfer center, which guides students who seek admission to a university, he said.

The grant “is a door that leads to improving the student transfer rate,” Fujimoto said. “We will be making every effort to retain all students, especially those who are the first members of their family to attend college, because if they succeed, others in their family will follow.”

The funds also will enable the college to monitor the progress of students who transfer to four-year colleges, Fujimoto said. The college is interested in the success of its Project for Adult Education students, a program that includes about 800 older students who have returned to college.

The grant project director is Neil Farren, Mission’s dean of college advancement, who obtained the grant.