Campus Compact has received a $239,000 AmeriCorps planning grant to expand College Renaissance Corps (CRCorps), a new national service corps focused on leveraging the power of community colleges to enhance educational and economic mobility in historically underserved communities.
The planning grant, made possible through the American Rescue Plan, will provide a 12-month runway to explore and build new partnerships with community colleges in nine states—Arizona, Florida, Indiana, Illinois, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina, and Ohio—and the District of Columbia. The national grant builds on planning currently underway in Colorado and Texas through funding from Serve Colorado and the One Star Foundation.
“We are grateful to AmeriCorps for making this strategic investment in this new body of work for the Compact,” said Bobbie Laur, president of Campus Compact. “We have a rich history of connection to community colleges and are excited to strengthen these relationships through innovative partnerships in the field.”
Ultimately, CRCorps will engage community college students enrolled in industry-based certification and degree programs to serve as part-time and full-time AmeriCorps members. During their terms of service, CRCorps members will act as near-peer ambassadors to prospective community college students, offering information about the educational and professional opportunities available to them with a community college degree.
“Community colleges will shape inclusive economic recovery, and it’s essential that the education and training opportunities they deliver are connected to communities through local engagement and within a national context,” says Eric Lugo, national director, College Renaissance Corps. “CRCorps hopes to connect community college students to this movement by deploying service learning in a creative, substantive, and authentic way. ”
Today, CRCorps is actively engaging community college administrators and thought leaders to support the national program. City Colleges of Chicago will serve as an anchor in Illinois while additional other partnerships are explored over the next 12 months.
“We are proud City Colleges of Chicago will serve as an anchor community college system for this pioneering work," says Juan Salgado, chancellor of the City Colleges of Chicago. "At City Colleges, we’ve made key investments to better respond to workforce demand in industry sectors that prepare our students for upwardly mobile careers. Augmenting the student experience with paid, work-based learning provides our students with critical financial resources and a competitive edge in the marketplace. We look forward to exploring how AmeriCorps can strengthen these opportunities for our students.”
CRCorps planning is led by a National Advisory Council, which guides the vision, operations, strategy, fundraising, and continued expansion of the CRCorps program.
“We believe community colleges are a critical piece of the higher education system and vital to reaching the nation’s goal of ensuring that 60 percent of Americans earn a high-quality degree or credential after high school,” says Chauncy Lennon, vice president of learning and work at Lumina Foundation and member of CRCorps National Advisory Council. “Innovative partnerships between community colleges and industry are key to solving the nation’s most pressing talent shortages.”
CRCorps national planning will begin in April 2023. To learn more about CRCorps, visit: compact.org/current-programs/americorps/college-renaissance-corps.