Bay College receives grant from Michigan Department of Lifelong Education, Advancement, and Potential

Bay College has received a $1 million grant from the Michigan Department of Lifelong Education, Advancement, and Potential via its College Success Go Big Grant program. The grant will help Bay College set up additional means of supporting students as they pursue their education. The College Success Go Big Grant program is intended to support the state of Michigan’s Sixty by 30 initiative, which aims to have 60% of Michigan’s working adult population obtain a college degree or skills certificate by the year 2030.

According to an article on Bay College’s website, Dr. Nerita Hughes, Bay College’s president, was quoted as saying, “The College Success Grants are part of a $45 million student success grant initiative in the State of Michigan and Bay College is thrilled to be receiving a portion of this funding to support our students, faculty and staff training, and our community. We are extremely grateful for the MiLEAP grant, which will allow us to significantly enhance our services for adult learners and our college community.”

Bay College plans to use the $1 million in funding in four key ways to support its student community. In addition to the initiatives laid out below, the school will also use the funding to prepare its faculty and staff to carry out the initiatives via professional development and training.

First, it will expand its Credit for Prior Learning opportunities. Credit for Prior Learning helps adult learners coming back to school get a head start on their college credits and allows them to earn their certificate or degrees more quickly by taking into account any military service, previous job experience, certifications, and other life experiences, and allowing the student to receive credit for them, placing them further along the track of their education.

Bay College will also enhance its competency-based education (CBE) programs. These programs will provide students with more flexible options that may allow them to progress more quickly through their education. The programs take into account what the student has actually learned and what skills they have mastered instead of forcing students to stick to a typical course progression.

Career services will be enhanced to better support students as they finish their education and move into the workplace. Internships, employer partnerships, job placement assistance, and career counseling will all be bolstered to give students more of a helping hand to make the leap from school to a career.

Finally, the school’s guided pathways and adult-student-specific support programming will be enhanced to give these students a more comprehensive support net as they navigate college.

For more information about Bay College, visit the school’s website.