The Department of Education grant is part of $223 million presented to historically black colleges and universities. Grant monies are awarded based on each school’s enrollment and the 11,000 students at St. Philip’s College make it the second largest recipient.
St. Philip’s President Adena Willams Loston said the college will receive this grant for several years.
“They come to us in a five year cycle," said Williams. "We’re starting a new cycle this year from 2012 to 2017 and we do expect that our allocation in the next four years will be roughly about $5 to $6 million."
While the school is no longer predominantly black, St. Philip’s is the oldest of the five Alamo Colleges and one of only 97 historically black colleges in the U.S.; its history dates back to 1898 when the school was started by the St. Philip’s Episcopal church.
“The church – being founded in 1895 – within three years of it being founded, it determined it would like to establish a school for black girls coming out of slavery to ensure that the students would have marketable skills and leadership skills,” said Loston.
St. Philip’s will use the grant monies for facility construction, student services, centers for excellence in mathematics and science, veterans outreach, and transitioning programs for students to four-year universities.
The school expects to receive a total of $30 million from the Department of Education over the five year time frame.
St. Philip's College online at: www.alamo.edu/spc
