Redlands Awarded $2.06 Million Grant Benefiting Native American, Low-Income Students

Redlands Community College has been awarded a five-year grant totaling $2.06 million dollars by the U.S. Department of Education that will allow it the institution to improve its capacity to increase the participation, academic success and graduation of Native American and low-income students, as well as increase the college’s capacity to offer high-quality digital learning and enhance mental health resources for students.

As part of the Native American Serving Non-Tribal Institutions (NASNTI) Program, Redlands will use the funding to improve the equipment and facilities of the Learning Resources Center (LRC), increase student and faculty training for digital fluency; and improve mental health, academic and wrap-around supports for the college’s Native American and low-income students.

“We are planning to renovate a section of the Learning Resources Center to accommodate collaborative workspaces, digital production, accessible meeting, tutoring and assessment space, a lending library for devices, and additional classroom and presentation space for use in our online/hybrid distance learning courses,” said Jill Burgess, director of the NASNTI Part F grant. 

The college will also be using grant funds to purchase electronic devices to establish a lending program piloted for Native American and low-income students who are unable to acquire a device for themselves. Additionally, a NASNTI Student Counselor will also be added to the staff to provide counseling, crisis intervention, referral, mental health workshops and other supportive services.

“This is the second NASNTI grant Redlands has received in the past year and provides another opportunity for us to expand our resources for our Native American and low-income students,” President Jack Bryant said. “The past 18 months have highlighted the need for greater access to technology and mental health resources, so we are looking forward to being able to provide more support to our students in these areas.” 

This capacity-building grant is designed for Native American and low-income students, and is 100% funded by the U.S. Department of Education as part of the Native American Serving Non-Tribal Institution (NASNTI) program.