OLLU and San Antonio College (SAC) have been awarded a $3.1 million Title V cooperative grant from the Department of Education, Rep. Lloyd Doggett announced Friday. The grant will fund the “Camino hacio el Exito” project that is designed to improve graduation rates for Hispanic, first-generation and/or low-income college students.

“OLLU and San Antonio College have a shared mission of serving first-generation college students,” said OLLU President Sister Jane Ann Slater. “This grant will allow our institutions to work together to forge a better and wider path so that more students can complete a college degree.”

The “Exito” project will provide services for at least 1,000 students and assist them as they transfer from SAC to OLLU to complete a four-year degree. Funds will be used to provide dedicated advisers and personal counselors to assist students as they work toward graduation. In addition, the grant will improve student performance and persistence by placing additional courses online, hiring and institutionalizing additional personnel to expand the availability of tutoring and online learning materials, and acquiring new technology to improve student learning and engagement.

Title V was created to assist Hispanic-Serving Institutions in their efforts to improve opportunities for Hispanic students. At least half of SAC students and 75 percent of OLLU undergraduate students are Hispanic, low-income and/or first-generation college students.