The College of Southern Idaho (CSI) based in Twin Falls was recently awarded more than $2.5 million over five years to support getting more students to attend college. As the first federally designated Hispanic Serving Institution in Idaho, CSI will use the funds to partner with the Jerome School District to increase the number of students who pursue post-secondary education.
Part of the U.S. Department of Education’s Developing Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSI) program, the grant is designed to better position HSIs, defined as institutions with a student population that is at least 25% Hispanic, to better serve students who have historically been underserved by the higher education system.
The percentage of high school students in Idaho who go on to college has traditionally been one of the lowest in the nation, and that percentage bottomed out during the pandemic at less than 40%.
During that same time, Jerome High School’s “go on” rate slipped to 37%.
Although that number rebounded to 46% with the class of 2021, the grant has the goal of getting that number above 50% by the end of the grant period.
The grant funding began in Fall 2022 and will average $500,000 per year for five years.
We are proud to be evaluating the grant. This is our 4th Title V grant evaluation. Others being with Palm Beach State College, FL (“Panthers”), Mesa College, AZ (“SENDAS”), and Texas Tech University (“Sirviendo Estudiantes”).
