NEWS & EVENTS

U.S. Dept. of Education awards funds to improve outcomes for postsecondary students

TOMS RIVER, NJ – Ocean County College has been awarded grant funding in the amount of $949,275 to be distributed over the course of three years as part of the U.S. Education Department’s Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE).

The FIPSE grant helps eligible institutions of higher education improve educational opportunities for students from underrepresented communities, by providing funding to support programs that address basic needs such as food, housing, transportation, health care, and dependent care, and report on best practices that improve student outcomes.

Funds will assist OCC’s FIPSE Grant Student Financial Resource Center in its mission to help students meet financial needs in the areas of food security, transportation, technology, health, housing, and dependent care. These are areas of the student’s life outside of academic support that can make reaching their academic goals, staying in classes, and ultimately graduating, challenging.

“It is incredibly exciting to have the ability to provide holistic financial support to the students of Ocean County College,” said James Campbell, OCC’s FIPSE Grant project manager. “There are many resources available to students, but few that can have as significant an impact on the life of a student as the ability to provide a financial safety net.”

Services provided by OCC’s FIPSE Grant Student Financial Resource Center include direct financial assistance for students as well as connection with campus and community programs for long term support, and are focused in the following areas:

• Basic Needs Security: obtaining food security, hygiene and cleaning products, and support in utilizing campus and community-based resources, including the Helping Hands Food Pantry.
• Transportation Support: including funding for public transit, ride sharing, gasoline, and one-time emergency auto repairs.
• Dependent Care Support: vouchers for temporary childcare and dependent care items such as diapers, Depends, formula, nutritional shakes, etc.
• Emergency relief: Funding is available to help contribute to auto repair costs, healthcare costs, emergency housing costs, and utilities payments, along with connection to resources both on and off campus that may provide long-term assistance in these areas.

The Basic Needs grant funds $949,275 over the three-year period, and 100% of the college’s program costs are funded by the grant. More information about the grant program is available on the FIPSE web site.

For more information about OCC’s Student Financial Resource Center program, visit the center online at ocean.edu/fipse-grant-student-financial-resource-center.