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THOMPSON ANNOUNCES $2.6 MILLION GRANT FOR NAPA VALLEY COLLEGE

October 5, 2015

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Rep. Mike Thompson (CA-5) today announced a $2.625 million Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSI) Department of Education (ED) grant for Napa Valley College (NVC). The grant will be paid over a five-year period. The Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSI) Program provides grants to assist HSIs to expand educational opportunities for all students and with a special focus on improving the educational attainment of Hispanic college students. The HSI Program grants also enable HSIs to expand and enhance their academic offerings, program quality, and institutional stability.

"These federal dollars will strengthen our community by helping make sure someone's first language isn't a barrier to fully achieving his or her educational goals," said Thompson. "I know first-hand the impact Napa Valley College can have on a student's life. I'm Napa Valley College alum. I came to the school as a high school dropout with an Army-earned GED. Napa Valley College got my life on track. It's an outstanding institution dedicated to bettering the lives of its students, and these funds will allow them to build on their great work."

Commenting on the award, NVC Vice President of Student Services Oscar DeHaro stated, "Napa Valley College is extremely honored to be recognized as a deserving federally designated Hispanic Serving Institution worthy of the investment of these public dollars. The award of this grant reinforces the resources available to all in our community and recognizes the urgent economic need of increasing college education access and completion for Hispanic students in California."

NVC will use the funds to develop a Statistics Pathway course and dual language courses in the sciences. The Statistics Pathway course will provide students with an intensive 6-unit course with content from pre-algebra, elementary and intermediate algebra contextualized in data analysis.

The dual languages courses will help bridge the gap in academic language fluency. They will incorporate Spanish language materials into course materials, allowing Spanish speaking students in these to achieve better academic success, higher levels of recall to test better, and attain better grades on oral and written exams.

Additional pieces funded in the grant are personnel for instruction and academic advising along with other interventions to help ensure student success.

Congressman Mike Thompson is proud to represent California's 5th Congressional District, which includes all or part of Contra Costa, Lake, Napa, Solano and Sonoma Counties. He is a senior member of the House Ways and Means Committee. Rep. Thompson is also a member of the fiscally conservative Blue Dog Coalition and chairs the bipartisan, bicameral Congressional Wine Caucus.

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Issues:Education