FY2022: Early College Expansion Planning Grant

Fund Code: 467

Purpose:

The purpose of this competitive targeted grant is to provide significant planning and support resources to currently Designated Early College programs to significantly increase the scale of their programs and in turn the number of underrepresented students accessing postsecondary education in Massachusetts. For this grant opportunity, programs will commit to significantly and thoughtfully expanding the current scale of their program, typically with a ramp up to at least 25% of the school population being served.

Each awardee will also be expected to establish a leadership team to work with a design consultant/coach procured by DESE and submit their expansion plan in writing at the end of FY22.

Expectations for the outcomes of this grant:
Plans generated by this grant opportunity are expected to generally align with the Guiding Principles and Designation Criteria.
They should include but are not limited to:

• Identifying new strategies to intentionally recruit, enroll, and serve underrepresented students who have faced systemic barriers to high education.

• Developing new strategies to promote a widespread supportive school culture around postsecondary access and success as well as support college acculturation and immersion as part of the Early College experience.

• Building new capacity to scale through additional staffing, outreach efforts, increased support services, curriculum alignment, additional college coursework opportunities, and other supports to help students overcome barriers to postsecondary access and success.

Priorities:

Prioritization will be given to those partnerships serving a majority of high school students with high needs. According to the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, students who are high needs are those designated as: low income, economically disadvantaged, an ELL, a former ELL, or a student with disabilities. Prioritization will also be given to partnerships that aim to serve students who are underrepresented in higher education, which also includes students who are first in their generation to attend college, and racially minoritized students. Priority will also be given to districts and schools in chronically underperforming status and schools who commit to serving at least 25% of their entire school population.

Eligibility:

This grant is open to Designated Early College programs. The list of MA Designated Early College Partnerships is available here: Early College Designees - College, Career and Technical Education (doe.mass.edu).

Either the K–12 institution or institution of higher education (IHE) partner can serve as the fiscal sponsor, however, the resources provided are intended to support both partners in building capacity for expansion of the number of Early College students to be served by FY24.

Funding Type:

State

Funding:

Up to $75,000 is available per partnership. Up to 10 grants will be awarded. Additional funding opportunities will be available in FY23 and FY24 to support the implementation of the scaling plans.

Funding is contingent upon availability. All dollar amounts listed are estimated/approximate and are subject to change. If more funding becomes available, it will be distributed under the same guidelines that appear in this RFP document.

Fund Use:

Competitive targeted funds from the state are designed for current Early College Designees to build capacity in their designated Early College programs in an equitable manner.

This grant cannot be applied towards capital expenses.

Project Duration:

Upon Approval – 06/30/2022

Program Unit:

Early College Office

Contact:

Kristin Hunt, Early College Director

Phone Number:

(781) 338-3310

Date Due:

November 19, 2021 — Priority Deadline
January 19, 2022 — Extended Deadline

Required Forms:

• Part I — General — Program Unit Signature Page — (Standard Contract Form and Application for Program Grants)

• Part II — Budget

• Part III — Responses

Submission Instructions:

Complete proposals must be received via email to Rebekah Barr by 5:00 PM on January 19, 2022.

Awarded Recipients: Upon award, recipients will be required to enter the approved budget and Part I in EdGrants. Once selected, recipients will be contacted with further instructions on the process.

Last Updated: November 2, 2021