Clark Atlanta University announced this week it’s received two multi-million dollar federal grants that it will use to help students prepare for college and for a behavioral initiative that will also assist other Historically Black Colleges and Universities.
The larger grant, $2.75 million, extends the university’s Upward Bound college prep program. It allows high school seniors to take two college courses that are transferable to any college they attend in the fall. Students also are instructed in college readiness, such as applying for college, financial aid and scholarship programs.
The second grant, which totals $1.8 million, allows the university to establish a new center called HBCU C.A.R.E.S. (Career Awareness, Recruitment and Engagement Services) for Behavioral Health. It officially kicks off September 30, with a first-year budget of $213,333 to fund the program’s set-up.
CAU assistant professor of school counseling Leonissa Johnson plans to set up a career awareness advisory council that will engage the 10 HBCUs that currently have behavioral health programs and eventually create a network of faculty across all HBCUs, the university said on its website.
“We will be very intentional about sharing information and programming with all HBCUs. Our goal is to have a connection with at least one person at each HBCU,” said Johnson.
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