Coastline College Wins Grant to Aid Brain-Injured Adults

Coastline Community College has been awarded a three-year, $219,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Education that it will use to improve its cognitive retraining curriculum for adults with brain injuries.

The school was one of 72 colleges and universities nationwide to receive a grant from the Department of Education’s Fund for the Improvement of Post-secondary Education.

Competing with 1,895 applicants from colleges and universities nationwide, Coastline was one of only eight two-year colleges to receive grant money, Coastline officials said.

The college is also the only winner that will use the grant money to address the needs of people with disabilities. The grant will be used to redesign curriculum for the college’s Traumatic Head Injury Program at Coastline’s Costa Mesa Center, said Project Director Stacey Hunter Schwartz.

The grant money is given to colleges that have innovative programs, which can also be used as models for other institutions, Schwartz said.

Schwartz will lead a team of 12 Coastline faculty members who will devise the curriculum by drawing on materials and strategies used elsewhere. The group will evaluate the material, incorporate it into the existing curriculum, link it all to a computerized plan, and test its effectiveness.

Said Schwartz: “It takes hours and hours to redesign a curriculum. We’re thrilled to have the funds set aside so we can make our dreams a reality.”