Announcing Come to Believe’s Design Grant Cohort

Dear Friends of CTB,

“Your two-year college model for first gen, Pell eligible/undocumented commuter students aligns with our mission, but…can we pull it off at my university? Will there be consensus for it? Do we have the bandwidth to launch and sustain a successful Come to Believe college?”

We have heard these questions as my CTB colleagues and I have met with university leaders from around the country. They say, “We want to be part of what is happening at Arrupe College of Loyola University Chicago and the Dougherty Family College at the University of St. Thomas, but…”

To address those concerns, CTB’s education programs manager Sam Adams came up with our design grant program. The design grant allows university leaders to do a deep dive into our model without committing—it’s a feasibility study and, thanks to our generous supporters including the Carson Family Charitable Trust, participating in the design grant program doesn’t cost universities anything.

Here's how it works. Universities interested in learning more about our model apply for the design grant. If approved, the grant funds the expenses for representatives of the university to visit either Arrupe or Dougherty Family College (DFC). They also participate in virtual retreats that we provide, covering such topics as the curriculum for our model, the wrap-around support services that promote student retention and completion, and the financing and fundraising for a college. We will facilitate focus groups for prospective students who live near the universities to learn what interests them and why they might attend a two-year college. We cover stipends for a program manager and for a design team to represent the university. This is the exploratory phase when universities can conduct their due diligence and learn more about the CTB model. After exploring, if universities wish to continue, CTB will customize our services as they seek approval from their boards of trustees to create a new academic unit—our two-year college model.

We have selected the members of our first design cohort. These colleges and universities share several characteristics: access to generous state financial aid programs; a commitment to expanding access and affordability on campus; steady trends in undergraduate enrollment; underperforming two-year colleges nearby; and most importantly—large numbers of students from low-wealth backgrounds in their communities who would benefit from access to the CTB model.

We congratulate the innovative leaders at the following universities:

Butler University, Indianapolis, IN—according to our research, there are 25,000 students currently enrolled in Indianapolis area high schools who will be Pell eligible if they pursue postsecondary education;

College of Mount Saint Vincent, Riverdale, NY—located in the Bronx, where there are 80,000 higher schoolers who will qualify for Pell grants if they go on to college;

Mercy College New York, with campuses in the Bronx, Dobbs Ferry, and Manhattan—there are 200,000 students in high school in New York City and in Westchester County who will qualify for Pell;

Saint Ambrose University, Davenport, IA—there are 10,000 potential Pell eligible student with an hour or less commute to St. Ambrose’s campus.

In addition, we have received a request to explore from Fr. Greg Boyle, S.J., the founder of the Los Angeles-based Homeboy Industries, the world's largest gang rehabilitation and re-entry program. A few months ago, Greg and his colleague Fr. Frank Buckley, S.J., contacted me. “It’s time for the homeboys and the homegirls to have a college,” they said. We look forward to helping Greg, Frank, and their colleagues explore a college model for the homeboys and homegirls and identify a university partner during the design grant process.

The key word here is explore. By participating in CTB’s design grant, universities (and Greg Boyle) can substantively assess whether they can “pull off” our model. The program provides time to build consensus on campus, as various stakeholders serve on the design team, attend virtual retreats, or visit Arrupe and DFC. These activities help universities assess and decide whether they can launch and sustain successful versions of our model on their campuses. Each participating institution is awarded $30,000 from CTB. The design grant is an opportunity to learn about CTB, about the successes at Arrupe and DFC, and to discern thoughtfully whether our model works for them.

Again we salute the innovative leaders who will be members of our first design grant cohort. Their institutions’ commitment to serving as vehicles of social mobility for students who are too often left out of higher education is admirable. We promise to keep you posted on the activities of our design grant. We are excited about what this could mean for students in Indianapolis and Iowa and LA and NYC. Thank you for your interest and support. Thank you for your prayers for these students and for our efforts at CTB, and—enjoy the rest of our newsletter!

God’s blessings,

Steve Katsouros, S.J.
President/CEO
Come to Believe Network
New York, NY