MACON — The United States Department of Education has awarded a $1.1 million grant to Mercer University to provide support services for up to 140 students per year for five years. The support will be offered to first-generation college students, students with disabilities and Pell-grant eligible students on Mercer’s Macon campus.
The grant will fund scholarships for participating students, tutors and study skills and intensive coursework in the summer, as well as workshops throughout the year. In addition the grant funds two counselor positions and an administrative assistant. The program is designed to help retain students who sometimes struggle to make the transition to college.
“We were excited to learn that we were awarded a grant from this very competitive program, because it will enable us to help students to succeed,” said Michelle Currie, director of TRIO programs at Mercer, which will oversee the grant. “This will help us to be more proactive in working with these students in the hopes that they will be retained, graduate on time and go on to be successful after graduation.”
In addition to a for-credit summer program, students will receive mentoring, one-on-one counseling, participate in cultural events, travel to career and professional school fairs and attend workshops on financial aid.
About Mercer University
Founded in 1833, Mercer University is a dynamic and comprehensive center of undergraduate, graduate and professional education. The University enrolls more than 8,200 students in 11 schools and colleges – liberal arts, law, pharmacy, medicine, business, engineering, education, theology, music, nursing and continuing and professional studies – on major campuses in Macon, Atlanta and Savannah and at three regional academic centers across the state. Mercer is affiliated with two teaching hospitals — Memorial University Medical Center in Savannah and the Medical Center of Central Georgia in Macon, and has educational partnerships with Warner Robins Air Logistics Center in Warner Robins and Piedmont Healthcare in Atlanta. The University operates an academic press and a performing arts center in Macon and an engineering research center in Warner Robins. Mercer is the only private university in Georgia to field an NCAA Division I athletic program. For more information, visit www.mercer.edu.
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