Stony Brook University received a grant of $500,000 from the American Talent Initiative and Bloomberg Philanthropies on Friday, Oct. 18 to help fund a new program aimed to provide academic support and equitable outcomes to lower socioeconomic students from Long Island, N.Y.
The new program called “Seawolves at Suffolk” will allow for dual enrollment in both Suffolk County Community College (SCCC) and Stony Brook, with the aim that students will transfer to the University in the end. The program’s mission is to provide earlier access to the University’s resources during a time when enrollment rates in community colleges have declined as these institutions typically aid lower socioeconomic students.
According to a report from Columbia University’s Community College Research Center (CCRC), students in dual-enrollment programs were 10% more likely to enroll in a four-year college following their high school graduation in comparison to students who were not part of a dual-enrollment program.
CCRC also found that demographics including Black and Hispanic students are typically underrepresented in these programs.However, when enrolled, they are more likely to finish their collegiate coursework as opposed to white students.
“The funding for the grant is actually going to paid experiences for students,” Rachelle Germana, Stony Brook’s senior associate provost of the Division of Undergraduate Education, said. “It’s not just about providing [funding] to a summer research or internship experience, it’s also about providing students a paid experience so they can hopefully not have to make the choice between working and engaging in experiential learning.”
Edward T. Bonahue, the president of SCCC, wrote in a press release that the program will highlight the best aspects of SCCC and Stony Brook such as setting students up to prosper academically.
“SUNY Suffolk has always prepared our graduates for success at elite colleges and universities like Stony Brook,” Bonahue wrote. “In fact, our ‘Seawolves at Suffolk’ program already fast-tracks students from the SUNY system’s largest community college to its flagship university.”
In addition to providing paid opportunities over the summer, the grant money will also be used to enhance the academic and career advising resources available to students in the program, as well as fund students taking upper-division courses at Stony Brook before transferring. Students enrolled in the “Seawolves at Suffolk” program will also be given priority registration at the University.
“In short, this partnership will allow us to support even more deserving Long Island students and families,” Bonahue said.
