The network is made up of 14 high schools for disadvantaged students that are housed on community-college campuses across the country.
Bruce S. Tractenberg, a spokesman for the fund, said the initiative will complement the New York-based foundation’s existing efforts to fund school-to-work transition programs.
Last year, for example, the fund awarded close to $18 million to programs that help young people prepare for education, career, and community-service opportunities.
“This is obviously an area where we think we can have an impact,’' Mr. Tractenberg said. “It fits nicely with our overall mission, which is basically to help students fulfill their career and educational aspirations.’'
Grant Winners
The winners of the new grants are:
- The Puente Project in California, which received a four-year, $2.05 million grant to promote college attendance among Mexican-American and Latino students at 18 high schools in San Diego, Los Angeles, the San Jose/San Francisco Bay area, and central California.
- The Citizens’ Scholarship Foundation of America, a St. Peter, Minn.-based organization, and the Consortium for the Advancement of Private Higher Education, which will share a three-year, $1.06 million grant to create 20 scholarship foundations in low-income communities.
Under the proposal, the local foundations will be linked with small, independent colleges in their areas.
The foundations will provide academic and motivational support to students as well as financial assistance with their college tuition, William C. Nelsen, the president of the Citizens’ Scholarship Foundation, said.
The collaborative will invite 60 communities to apply for $25,000 grants to launch the programs. The 20 winning communities are expected to be selected by next spring.
“I think it’s an exciting new model of bringing together a community-based organization with a national organization ... to focus on the needs of students in disadvantaged communities,’' Mr. Nelson said.
- LaGuardia Community College and the American Social History Project at Hunter College, both located in New York City, which received a joint $95,160 planning grant to replicate an English and social-studies instruction program through the Middle College High School network.
The network is made up of 14 high schools for disadvantaged students that are housed on community-college campuses across the country.
