San Diego State University has been awarded a $75,000 SEMILLAS grant to increase involvement in a peer counseling program in order to serve a significant number of Latino students, the non-profit organization Excelencia in Education announced today.  San Diego State University is one of only five colleges and universities across the nation chosen by Excelencia to receive a grant.

    The SEMILLAS grants, supported in 2010 by the Kresge Foundation, are part of Excelencia in Education’s “Growing What Works” national initiative.  The initiative supports the replication of effective educational programs to advance Latino achievement in either two-year or four-year colleges. The long-term goal of the project is to increase the use of these effective programs for the country’s fast-growing Latino college age population.

    SEMILLAS is the Spanish word for seeds.  It also stands for Seeding Educational Models that Impact and Leverage Latino Academic Success.

    According to the US Census Bureau, Latino young adults are less likely to have earned an associate degree or higher than other young adults. In 2008, eight percent of Latinos 18 to 24 years-of-age had earned a degree, compared to 14 percent of all young adults. Latino adults, 25 years and over, were also less likely to have earned an associate degree or higher than other adults, with 19 percent of Latinos earning a degree, compared with 29 percent of blacks, 39 percent of whites, and 59 percent of Asians. Meanwhile, census projections estimate that Latinos will be 22 percent of the nation’s college-age population by 2020.

    “As the largest emerging student population in the country, college success for Latino students has far-reaching implications for our communities, our future workforce and our national economy,” says Sarita Brown, president of Excelencia in Education.  “The recipients of the 2010 Kresge SEMILLAS grants are critical to our national effort to increase Latino college completion and thus achieve the country’s college completion goals by 2020.”

    These colleges and universities received grants for work in one of three program areas:

    1. Integrating services to improve retention for first-generation Latino college-goers.

    2. Promoting seamless transfer for Latino students moving from two-year to four-year institutions through effective student and academic support services.

    3. Developing and sustaining academic programs and practices designed to engage Latino students in the learning process for successful completion.

    “The Kresge SEMILLAS grant will allow us to expand our peer counseling program in San Diego’s urban schools as well as other California State University campuses to help more Latino students by replicating our most promising and innovative programs,” said Stephen Weber, President of San Diego State University.

    Excelencia in Education is a Washington, D.C.-based non-profit organization whose mission is to accelerate Latino student success in higher education.