History of Grant

Situated in the heart of Northern California's Silicon Valley, Mission College's enrollment consistently approaches 50% Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI). Despite the campus's large proportion of AAPI students, many face numerous obstacles to postsecondary success and enter college with significant needs for additional academic support.

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More Facts

On average, 54% of all Financial Aid monies are awarded to AAPI students. Furthermore, most AAPI students were assessed into pre-collegiate-level courses with very high numbers enrolled in ESL. This contradicts the widely held notion of the "model minority myth" in which all Asian American and Pacific Islander ethnic groups are financially stable and well-educated.

In an effort to increase its capacity to better serve Mission College's AAPI population, a joint collaboration has been made between the Office of the President, Office of Instruction, Office of Student Support Services, and the Office of Research, Planning, and Institutional Effectiveness to identify best practices and address overall institutional improvements.

After Mission College was designated as an Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institution, it was awarded the highly competitive federal Title III AANAPISI Part A grant. This grant is designed to bridge AAPI student success gaps and targets those in the English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) course sequence to transition successfully to college-level English.

Part A activities include improving ESL curriculum and ESL student transitions to college programs, strengthening academic and student support services for AAPI students, and strengthening institutional research capacity to collect critical AAPI student data.

The following year, Mission College submitted another grant application and was awarded the federal Title III AANAPISI Part F grant in October 2011. This grant will implement strategies to overcome the documented institutional weaknesses and deficiencies presenting obstacles to success of AAPI students transferring to four-year colleges/universities especially in Science, Technology, Education, and Math (STEM) majors.

Such strategies include addressing barriers AAPI students face in Developmental Math Courses and High Risk Transfer Courses, implementing best practice learning cohort models, improving student engagement in their learning, STEM-focused initiatives, and new strategies for faculty development.

Again, while the grant focuses on developing strategies that are culturally relevant to Asian American and Pacific Islander students, these resources are available to ALL students and will promote success and retention of ALL Mission College students. While the current Part A grant cycle is focused on STEM (STEMLINK), the impact of the AANAPISI grant can be felt across the institution, in spaces like the Welcome Center and programs such as the Honor’s Transfer Project.