Adrian College Selected to Receive $100,000
Wal-Mart College Success Award posted 7/15/08
The Wal-Mart College Success Awards program is administered by the Council of Independent Colleges and made possible by a generous grant from the Wal-Mart Foundation.

ADRIAN, Mich. – Adrian College has been selected by the Council of Independent Colleges (CIC) to receive the Wal-Mart College Success Award—a $100,000 grant to help build on Adrian College’s demonstrated successes in enrolling, retaining, and graduating first-generation college students.

The Wal-Mart College Success Awards program is administered by the Council of Independent Colleges and made possible by a generous grant from the Wal-Mart Foundation.

The College was one of only 20 colleges selected through a highly competitive application process to receive the award, which is intended to help institutions that are already deeply committed to the education of first-generation students.

“Over 200 institutions submitted applications and we are pleased and honored to be selected,” says Adrian College President Jeffrey R. Docking. “Adrian College is committed to increasing awareness and access for first-generation students to a college education. A grant of this magnitude will certainly facilitate the recruitment and retention processes on campus.”

Building on the dramatic successes of a long-standing TRIO-funded program at the College, the Adrian College Educational Success Project (ACES) is designed to increase the success of first-generation college students by providing mentors for students from the ranks of faculty and staff members who were first-generation college students themselves. ACES will also provide a series of workshops on “habits of mind” (using the work of educators Art Costa and Bena Kallick) that are essential for college success. Students who successfully complete each semester of the ACES program will receive book vouchers to help defray the cost of course texts.

The CIC was astonished to see the outstanding quality of all the programs entered.

“CIC was delighted that 217 institutions—more than a third of its membership—applied for the grants,” says CIC President Richard Ekman in announcing the awards. “More importantly, we were amazed at the outstanding quality of their programs—truly a testament to the efforts of private colleges to ensure the success of first-generation students. These awards will help strengthen those programs and also provide recognition that their work is important,” Ekman added.

Margaret McKenna, president of the Wal-Mart Foundation, says Wal Mart is proud to support these types of programs.

“Wal-Mart is proud to support programs that enable first generation students to succeed in college,” says McKenna. “Wal-Mart’s partnership with CIC identifies institutions committed to the success of first generation students and will help identify and share effective programs.”

The 19 additional winners are: Bay Path College (Mass.), Bellarmine University (Ky.), California Lutheran University, Carroll University (Wis.), College of Idaho, College of Mount Saint Vincent (N.Y.), College of Saint Benedict (Minn.), College of St. Scholastica (Minn.), Florida Memorial University, Illinois College, Juniata College (Pa.), Kalamazoo College (Mich.), Lesley University (Mass.), Manchester College (Ind.), North Central College (Ill.), Ripon College (Wis.), St. Edward’s University (Texas), Wartburg College (Iowa), and Wiley College (Texas).

According to the CIC, nationwide, at all colleges and universities, only 24 percent of first-generation students succeed in earning a bachelor’s degree compared with 68 percent of students whose parents received a bachelor’s degree. The colleges that have been selected for the Wal-Mart College Success Awards have developed programs that result in higher percentages of graduates among their first-generation college students than the national average, and many graduate first-generation students at the same rate as all other students.

Adrian College, a liberal arts College in the United Methodist tradition, is committed to the pursuit of truth and to the dignity of all people. Through active and creative learning in a supportive community, students are challenged to achieve excellence in their academic, personal, and professional lives, and to contribute to a more socially just society.

The Council of Independent Colleges (CIC) is an association of more than 580 independent, liberal arts colleges and universities and higher education affiliates and organizations that work together to strengthen college and university leadership, sustain high-quality education, and enhance private higher education’s contributions to society. To fulfill this mission, CIC provides its members with skills, tools, and knowledge that address aspects of leadership, financial management and performance, academic quality, and institutional visibility. The Council is headquartered at One Dupont Circle in Washington, DC. For more information, visit www.cic.edu/.

Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT) and the Wal-Mart Foundation are proud to support the charitable causes that are important to customers and associates in their own neighborhoods. Through its philanthropic programs and partnerships, the Wal-Mart Foundation supports initiatives focused on enhancing opportunities in education, job skills training, sustainability and health. In 2007, Wal-Mart, Sam’s Club and the Wal-Mart Foundation gave $296 million to communities across the United States. To learn more, visit www.walmartfoundation.org.

For more information about the Wal-Mart College Success Awards and the programs of the 20 winners, visit the CIC website at www.cic.edu/projects_services/walmart_college_success.asp.