The U.S. Department of Education recently awarded Oklahoma City Community College a five-year, $1.16 million federal TRIO Program Educational Opportunity Centers grant. The grant will help promote college readiness and accessibility to adults pursuing postsecondary education.

“This grant helps OCCC continue its mission of providing student success,” said Dr. Mautra Staley Jones, OCCC President. “Within our community, we know there are many adults who have a desire to attend college, but they don’t know how to make it happen. This grant will give us the tools to help them, and we’re honored that the U.S. Department of Education recognizes this important work.”

The grant will fund the Guidance for Realizing Individual Transformation, or GRIT, program, which will serve first-generation and low-income adult learners in the Oklahoma City metro area. Target areas will include Grady, Kingfisher, Lincoln, some areas of Oklahoma and Pottawatomie counties.

The GRIT program will also focus on students who have English as a second language and military families and veterans, as well as other marginalized and underrepresented populations in higher education. The program is funded to serve 850 participants.

The primary goal of the program is to increase the number of adults who enroll in colleges and universities. Services provided under the grant include counseling and information on college admissions and services to improve the financial and economic literacy of participants.