Gates Foundation awards state nearly $1.79 million for community colleges

Two Virginia community colleges will receive $743,000 each from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation as part of $1.78 million awarded the state to expand remedial education programs.

The awards over the next three years will go to Danville Community College and Patrick Henry Community College in Martinsville. The remaining $300,000 will be used by the community college system for efforts to increase the college completion rates of low-income and minority students.

The grants are part of a $16.5 million effort announced yesterday to reach 45,000 students nationwide. National studies have shown that nearly two-thirds of those who take remedial classes never graduate from college.

The Virginia grants will augment programs that align remedial and college-level entry and exit standards; expand accelerated courses and skill-focused instruction; and offer simultaneous enrollment in remedial and college-level courses.

Of about 29,000 students in Virginia who enroll in a local community college every year, 47 percent must first take noncredit remedial classes before they can begin pursuing degrees. -- Karin Kapsidelis