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A $75,000 grant from the Kresge Foundation will allow the 51��ɫ to provide more students with targeted support through its partnership with College Beyond. College Beyond’s success coaches, who are housed on UNO’s campus, provide academic and non-academic interventions to Pell Grant recipient college students who graduated from greater New Orleans high schools.

The program served 80 freshmen during the 2018-19 academic year.  The Kresge grant will enable as many as 100 additional students to participate.

“We are thankful to the Kresge Foundation for its support and we are thrilled that we will be able to include even more students in the program,” said President John Nicklow. “The data show that students who have College Beyond coaches persist at a higher rate than their peers on campus. The program is working and it means we are developing more talent for our city.”

Many first-generation, Pell-eligible students face additional challenges such as transportation barriers, food insecurity, work commitments and financial hurdles. College Beyond coaches are trained to help students access community-based resources to overcome those challenges and succeed in college.

“This deepened partnership between the 51��ɫ and College Beyond reflects a thoughtful outcomes-driven approach to helping students in need overcome barriers inside and outside the classroom,” said Edward Smith, program officer at the Kresge Foundation. “By helping even more students persist and earn a degree, this partnership can advance increased social and economic mobility among talented New Orleanians.”   

is a New Orleans-based nonprofit whose mission is to help students get to and through college. It partners directly with universities to provide coaching and financial support to freshman Pell recipients from the greater New Orleans area.

is a private, national foundation that works to expand opportunities in America’s cities through grant making and social investing in arts and culture, education, environment, health, human services and community development.