Guam Community College

GCC receives $25K grant from Citi Foundation for Post-Secondary Education Accessibility Initiative

More than a dozen high school students are getting a head start on their higher education careers by taking college level English and math courses this summer at Guam Community College, thanks to a $25,000 grant from Citi Foundation entitled the Post-Secondary Education Accessibility Initiative. The goal of the program, now in its third year, is to prepare up to 20 eligible public high school graduates for college level work and reduce possible barriers to college access. Participants are receiving academic tutoring in English, reading and math, and attending college coping skills workshops and team-building activities, including cultural diversity and personal money management courses.

GCC Career and Technical Education counselors in Guam’s public high schools identified the students interested in the Citi Foundation’s Post-Secondary Education Accessibility Initiative, and guided them through placement testing and the registration process. Eight of the students are dual enrolled in both the grant’s English and math classes, while five of the students chose to take only a math class. The English classes began on June 4 and will run through July 16 from Monday – Thursday. The math classes will run from June 28 – July 30, Monday through Friday. A Citi officer will conduct a budgeting course for students during one of the workshops.

“We are happy to be able to work with GCC to offer this opportunity to high school students that want to jumpstart their college careers, and we are excited about being able to impart some financial management information to them through our workshop portion of the grant,” said Agustin Davalos, Citigroup Country Officer/Country Business Manager. “These are the students that we hope will one day become our business and community leaders.”

GCC President Dr. Mary Okada says the college is grateful for the grant partnership with Citi Foundation, and for the opportunity it presents to high school graduates and to potential GCC students. “Opportunities like the one Citi Foundation is providing this summer to encourage students to attend college serve to underscore the importance of the partnership between businesses and higher education institutions in our community,” Dr. Okada said.

The math portion of the program, which starts June 28, has room for seven more students. High school graduates interested in the Citi Foundation Post-Secondary Education Accessibility Initiative math course should contact Counselor Hernalin Analista at 735-5589 for more information.

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