The Virginia Foundation for Community College Education

Since 2006, The Foundation has supported hundreds of students across Virginia's 23 Community colleges through its scholarships and fellowships program. Thanks to our generous partners, The vfcce has awarded more than $6 million in scholarships, helping students increase their chances of success. for The 2022 -23 academic year, 130 scholarships were awarded, totaling $549,400. The prestigious fellows program awards high-achieving second-year students with full scholarship support to complete associate degrees and develop leadership skills through a cohort model. Since its launch in 2011, 257 students have received financial support, mentoring, and leadership training through The fellows program. College attainment for parent students (caps)the Virginia Foundation for Community College Education (vfcce) launched a scalable initiative in 2023 to support single parents from low-income backgrounds. The College attainment for parent students (caps) program advances a two-generation, anti-poverty solution that increases employment and income opportunities by providing financial assistance and coaching services to 100 parent students across five colleges. While The pilot program is serving students directly, it is also helping to identify structural challenges that are hindering parent-student success.

The rural Virginia horseshoe initiative (rvhi), established in 2014, has been renamed to The gerald l. baliles rural Virginia horseshoe initiative award continuing The mission to raise educational attainment levels for students in rural Virginia. Rvhi provides career coaches in rural high schools to encourage high school and College completion and offers financial incentives and to assist adult learners return to higher Education and training.14 rural Community colleges are eligible to participate in The program. The program has two 10-year goals. One is to reduce The number of residents of The rural horseshoe region that have not earned a high school diploma by half, from 20% to 10%. Since 2012, that metric has lowered to 12.7%. The other is to double The population in The rural horseshoe with an associate degree or career certification. In 2012, that percentage was 26%. As of this report, that metric is up to 33%.in fy'23, 9,652 students were served by 65 high school career coaches, either on a one-to-one basis, or in small groups. A total of 61,107 high school students have been served by a career coach between july 1, 2014 and june 30, 2023. Thanks to engaged donors, The vfcce provides match funding that is leveraged by local College foundations to support The program.

The great expectations program helps young people who have navigated The foster care system complete high school, gain access and succeed in College, and transition successfully to living independently. Great expectations students have almost tripled The average College graduation rate for foster youth, with 23% of ge students obtaining a College credential compared to only 8% who graduate nationally. Almost 1,612 degrees, diplomas, certificates, and credentials have been awarded to 933 students who have experienced foster care since great expectations' inception in 2008. Approximately 25% of great expectations students graduate with academic honors, and many graduates continue to set their goals and expectations of themselves higher and higher.

By 2026, The Virginia employment commission expects there to be 2.6 million middle skilled jobs in Virginia jobs that require some training, but not a four-year degree. In 2016, Virginia's general assembly enacted landmark legislation, The new economy workforce credential grant, providing state financial aid for up to 2/3 of The cost for students pursuing approved noncredit workforce development programs that prepare students for high demand careers in targeted industries in The commonwealth. Over 53,000 students have earned credentials in these high demand training programs in industry sectors such as healthcare, skilled trades, transportation and logistics, Education, and information technology. Upon completion, students see average wage gains of 55 percent and gain access to benefits such as employer-paid medical insurance, paid vacation, and sick leave. Although public funds support two-thirds of program costs, oftentimes, particularly for those from underserved communities, The remaining one-third or other non-tuition barriers including transportation, childcare, and equipment costs, serve as a barrier to starting or completing a short-term credential.