Great Lakes Community Investments Grant Application 2011

Great Lakes Community Investments Grant Application Emergency Grant Assistance for Pell-Eligible Students

Grant Summary Grant description: This three-year, $1.9 million grant opportunity will allow WTCS colleges, beginning with the 2012-2013 academic year, to provide emergency grant assistance to Pell-eligible students facing unforeseen financial challenges. Through this grant opportunity, which will be administered by Scholarship America® Dreamkeepers®, students in need can receive small grants to address unexpected expenses that too often get in the way of continuous enrollment and eventual program completion. Grant amount: Dependent upon 2010 enrollment figures submitted to the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) Application deadline: 5:00 PM on April 13, 2012 Grant period: August 1, 2012 through July 31, 2015 Notification of conditional May 15, 2012 selection: First year grant disbursed Beginning August 15, 2012 Contact information: Ben Dobner, Community Investments Program Manager [email protected] 800-345-5815

A financial emergency for the neediest of students can be the beginning of the end of their college experience. What some perceive as one of life’s little financial obstacles can, for others, create a burden that results in having to drop out of college. To address this issue, Great Lakes Higher Education Guaranty Corporation (Great Lakes) is offering a grant opportunity for colleges within the Wisconsin Technical College System (WTCS). This three-year, $1.9 million grant opportunity will allow colleges, to provide emergency grant assistance to Pell-eligible students facing unforeseen financial challenges. Through this grant opportunity, which will be administered by Scholarship America® Dreamkeepers®, students in need can receive small grants to address unexpected expenses that too often get in the way of continuous enrollment and eventual program completion.

The Issue The average need that is unmet by financial aid per WTCS student is growing. As the need increases, so does the financial burden placed on these students. Any unexpected expense such as a car repair, medical bill, or daycare for a sick child can become a reason for a student to drop out of college. It doesn’t have to be this way.

The Goal Great Lakes’ goal with this grant opportunity is to decrease the number of Pell-eligible WTCS students who leave college due to an unforeseen financial emergency. We want to learn whether providing small grants— typically ranging from $200 to $500— to help students overcome financial obstacles increases the likelihood that they will complete their program of study.

of 8 How It Works To facilitate an evaluation of whether emergency grant assistance does in fact increase student program completion, Great Lakes established three objectives:  Identify a large group of similarly situated students for whom baseline data can be established  Allow for the consistent implementation of an emergency grant assistance program  Minimize the program administration cost for postsecondary institutions

We selected WTCS colleges for purposes of this grant, and chose Dreamkeepers, a program of Scholarship America, to administer it. Dreamkeepers has a proven campus-based system for promoting, delivering, and tracking financial emergency assistance for students. The turnkey program has the infrastructure in place, including staff training, online tools, and promotional materials, to make it easy for colleges to implement, track, and report results.

Great Lakes Through this grant opportunity, Great Lakes will provide funding to:  Allow selected colleges to issue emergency grant assistance to Pell-eligible students who demonstrate a financial hardship  Pay 100% of the Dreamkeepers program administration fees  Defray the college expenses associated with administering the program

Participating Colleges WTCS colleges selected for participation are expected to:  Implement the Dreamkeepers program, including use of the Dreamkeepers online grant application  Provide baseline retention/completion data for their 2008 and 2010 Pell grant recipients  Report student data as outlined in the “Reporting Data” section of this application twice per year for three years to gauge program impact relative to the baseline  Conduct fundraising activities to sustain the Dreamkeepers program

Dreamkeepers Scholarship America’s Dreamkeepers team will:  Provide implementation guidelines, materials, and online tools to streamline program set-up, administration, and reporting  Customize the program to meet unique WTCS college needs  Provide fundraising support to enhance internal capacity  Offer public relations support to help colleges build program awareness  Provide ongoing strategic and tactical support to sustain the program

Overview of the Dreamkeepers Program Dreamkeepers is an emergency grant assistance program designed to help students receive both financial assistance to get them through their emergency, as well as access to additional resources and student services that help students reach their educational goals, ultimately helping to secure a better future for themselves and their families.

Scholarship America's national Dreamkeepers team trains participating Dreamkeepers colleges to implement and administer the program. Implementation guidelines, materials, and online tools are available to streamline set-up and administration, while allowing significant customizations to meet the unique circumstances of each college. These tools include an online application and review system that makes it easy for students to apply to

of 8 the program and for colleges to process applications quickly. In addition, participating colleges can access the Dreamkeepers Network portal for training and information sharing as well as for assistance building their capacity to raise funds to sustain the program. Ongoing strategic and tactical support is provided by Scholarship America to the national network of Dreamkeepers colleges.

Program Requirements Great Lakes is pleased to partner with Scholarship America Dreamkeepers to make this program available to WTCS colleges. To best reflect the current environment for WTCS colleges, Great Lakes has worked with Scholarship America to customize certain elements of the Dreamkeepers program, including a reduction in the standard fundraising goals and the collection of specific data elements that will facilitate a review of the impact of the grant program.. Program requirements for implementation in conjunction with this grant opportunity include:

 House the Dreamkeepers program in an office that handles student support services or student affairs, rather than the financial aid office (while maintaining close collaboration with the financial aid office).  Clearly define and communicate to students what constitutes an emergency situation.  Set guidelines for maximum grant amounts.  Use the words “emergency grant assistance” to describe the program rather than “emergency financial aid.”  Distribute the financial assistance in the form of grants.  Require documentation of the need prior to payment.  Make payments available to students within 24-48 hours.  When possible, make payments to a third party.  Use the following student eligibility requirements: o Completed the FAFSA o Pell-eligible o Enrolled full- or part-time (at least 3 credits) o Maintaining satisfactory academic performance o Completed one term or one year of postsecondary education—OR—allow for lesser award amounts for newly enrolled students  Meet with potential emergency grant assistance recipients one-on-one.  Direct students to additional resources.  Communicate the availability of the program with students, faculty, and staff.  Verify applicants have completed the FAFSA and are Pell-eligible.  Track grant recipients through degree completion or transfer out. o Scholarship America will work with each college during the implementation site visits to use National Student Clearinghouse to collect this data and report.

of 8 Grant and Fundraising Amounts Individual college grant amounts and fundraising goals will be determined by the total (all degree seeking undergraduates) enrollment reported to the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) for 2010 and available on the College Navigator website. The chart below outlines the grant amounts and fundraising goals for each year of the grant.

Administrative 2012-2013 2013-2014 2014-2015 Great Lakes’ Capacity and Academic Academic Academic Commitment Sustainability Year Year Year to Colleges* Funding 0-3,999 Students Grant funding from Great $20,000 $17,500 $15,000 $10,000 $62,500 Lakes Grant funding from college $0 $2,500 $5,000 fundraising efforts Total amount available to $20,000 $20,000 $20,000 students

4,000-7,499 Students Grant funding from Great 30,000 $25,000 $20,000 $10,000 $85,000 Lakes Grant funding from college $0 $5,000 $10,000 fundraising efforts Total amount available to $30,000 $30,000 $30,000 students

7,500-14,999 Students Grant funding from Great $40,000 $32,500 $25,000 $20,000 $117,500 Lakes Grant funding from college $0 $7,500 $15,000 fundraising efforts Total amount available to $40,000 $40,000 $40,000 students

>= 15,000 Students Grant funding from Great $50,000 $40,000 $30,000 $20,000 $140,000 Lakes Grant funding from college $0 $10,000 $20,000 fundraising efforts Total amount available to $50,000 $50,000 $50,000 students *Does not include the approximately $400,000 Great Lakes is paying Scholarship America to administer the Dreamkeepers program

Fundraising Goals To help position the Dreamkeepers program’s sustainability on campuses after the three-year grant period, tiered fundraising goals have been established. Progress toward each college’s fundraising goal will be assessed prior to the disbursement of the 2013 and 2014 grant proceeds. A college’s inability to meet the fundraising goals will not result in fines or penalties, but may result in decreased grant funding for the remainder of the grant period.

of 8 Administrative Capacity and Sustainability Funding In addition to funding the emergency grant assistance for students, Great Lakes is also providing administrative funding that will be disbursed to each college at the inception of the grant for use throughout the three-year grant period. The Administrative Capacity and Sustainably Funding must be used solely for the Dreamkeepers program to aid in the setup, administration, capacity building, and sustainability of the program. Documentation of the use of this funding will be required and must be reported to Scholarship America; therefore, colleges must track the use of the funds.

Reporting Requirements Great Lakes is committed to tracking program success to determine what works best in increasing the number of students who complete a degree. In order to determine if these grants impact student completion, colleges will be required to provide baseline data in this application and will be required to report student retention/completion data to Scholarship America annually through the online application platform. Baseline data will include one year persistence data of all fall 2010 Federal Pell Grant recipients as well as three-year persistence data of all 2008 Federal Pell Grant recipients. Persistence data for Great Lakes emergency grant assistance recipients will be due by June 30 each year.

Over the course of the 3-year grant period for each Great Lakes emergency grant assistance recipient, colleges will be required to enter the following data elements into the Dreamkeepers online data collection tool:  FAFSA completion  Federal Pell Grant eligibility  Completion of current term  Next term status (enrolled, graduated, or transferred)  End of term GPA  Whether the student was directed to additional student services  Three-year tracking of applicants through degree completion or transfer out (colleges will use the National Student Clearinghouse to retrieve this information and then report it through the online application platform)

By collecting baseline data and tracking both one-year persistence rates and three-year persistence rates of emergency grant assistance recipients, colleges, Scholarship America, and Great Lakes will be able to determine the impact this grant has on student persistence and program completion. Great Lakes will only have access to aggregate and de-identified data and will not have access to student specific information. In addition, Great Lakes will share the impact of this grant program only on an aggregate or de-identified college basis.

Implementation Visits Scholarship America will conduct an implementation visit at each college applicant between May 15, 2012 and August 15, 2012. The purpose of this visit is to provide l information about the implementation of Dreamkeepers program, review data collection and reporting requirements, discuss fundraising, and establish working relationships between Dreamkeepers and college staff. During this half-day visit, Dreamkeepers would like to meet with the President, chief student affairs officer, chief development officer, chief financial aid officer, and other personnel that will be involved with administering the program.

of 8 Disbursement Process Grants will be disbursed over a three-year period. The Year 1 college grants and the Administrative Capacity and Sustainability grants will be issued by Scholarship America to the respective colleges upon completion of the following tasks:  Signed Grant Agreement between Scholarship America and the college (available at mygreatlakes.org/community)  Completion of an implementation visit by Scholarship America  Set up of the online Dreamkeepers software application

Timeline March 1, 2012 Application period opens March 14, 2012 Informational webinar hosted by Great Lakes and Dreamkeepers April 13, 2012 Applications due to Great Lakes by 5:00 PM Central May 15, 2012 Colleges notified by Great Lakes of conditional acceptance May 15-31, 2012 Colleges return signed Grant Agreement to Scholarship America May 15-August 15, 2012 Scholarship America conducts implementation visits August 15, 2012 First year grant amounts disbursed to colleges by Scholarship America

Submission Information To answer any questions you may have about this grant opportunity and this application, we encourage you to attend an informational webinar on March 14, 2012 at 10:00 AM Central. This webinar will provide an overview of the Scholarship America Dreamkeepers program and will walk through the components of the grant application. Please visit www.mygreatlakes.org/community to register.

Please submit the complete application package (consisting of this application, the Scholarship America Dreamkeepers Application, a letter of support from the College President, proof of tax exempt status, current audited financials, and Form I990) to [email protected] no later than 5:00 PM CST April 13, 2012. Receipt of your application will be confirmed via email during the week of April 16, 2012. A Community Investments Program Manager may contact you for additional information and/or supporting documentation. Colleges will be notified of conditional acceptance by May 15, 2012.

If you have questions about this application, please contact Ben Dobner, Community Investments Program Manager, at [email protected] or 800-345-5815.

of 8 Great Lakes Community Investments Grant Application Emergency Grant Assistance for Pell-Eligible Students

Completion Guidelines Please submit the complete application package to [email protected] no later than 5:00 PM Central, April 13, 2012. Only complete applications will be considered.

We consider a complete application package to include the following: Great Lakes Application (using this template) Scholarship America’s Dreamkeepers Application (available at mygreatlakes.org/community) A letter of support from the College President Proof of tax-exempt status Current audited financial statements Form I990

Both this Great Lakes Application and the Scholarship America Dreamkeepers Application should be submitted in their original MS Word format and not converted into PDF format.

All fields listed below are required.

College Information Name of College: Mailing Address Street: City, State, Zip: , Main Phone Number: Website: Date submitted:

College President Contact Information Name: Email Address: Title: Mailing Address Street: City, State, Zip: , Phone Number:

Chief Development Officer Contact Information Name: Email Address: Title: Mailing Address Street: City, State, Zip: , Phone Number: Page 7 of 8 Chief Student Affairs Officer Contact Information Name: Email Address: Title: Mailing Address Street: City, State, Zip: , Phone Number:

Enrollment Data College enrollment (2010 total undergraduate enrollment (all degree seeking students) as reported to the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) and available on the College Navigator website)

Baseline One Year Retention Data Total number of Federal Pell Grant recipients in fall 2010: A) Of the number in A), the number of students that were still enrolled by the end of B) fall 2011: Of the number in A), the number of students that graduated by the end of fall 2011: C) Of the number in A), the number of students that transferred by the end of fall 2011: D)

Baseline Three-Year Persistence Data Total number of Federal Pell Grant recipients in fall 2008: A) Of the number in A), the number of students that were still enrolled at the end of B) spring 2011: Of the number in A), the number of students that graduated by the end of spring C) 2011: Of the number in A), the number of students that transferred by the end of spring D) 2011:

Administration Availability During the implementation visits, Scholarship America will need to meet with the college president, chief development officer, chief student affairs officer, and chief financial aid officer. The implementation visits are scheduled to occur between May 15, 2012 and August 15, 2012. Please indicate any dates these individuals will NOT be available.

Dates NOT available between May 15, 2012 and August 15, 2012. President: Chief development officer: Chief student affairs officer: Chief financial aid officer: