Cal State Fullerton has been awarded a $3 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education to expand graduate-level educational opportunities and support to Latinx and other underrepresented students.
The grant from the department’s “Promoting Postbaccalaureate Opportunities for Hispanic Americans” program for Hispanic-Serving Institutions funds the project “ELEVAR: Excelencia for Latinx: Engagement, Validation, Academics Resources.” The university is receiving $596,964 in first-year funding for the grant project.
The project aims to increase the number of Latinx graduate students and other students of color, expand academic offerings and enhance institutional resources for student support, said faculty members Katherine Powers and Volker Janssen, who are directing the project.
The new five-year grant is the fourth “Promoting Postbaccalaureate Opportunities for Hispanic Americans” grant that CSUF has received, totaling $11 million in funding since 2010.
ELEVAR’s objectives and activities are based on feedback from nearly 850 CSUF graduate students and more than 300 faculty members.
“Our goals for ELEVAR are to provide resources for student engagement in real-world learning, support students’ belonging and continue providing a supportive and inclusive environment for Latinx and other underrepresented students of color through faculty training,” Powers said.
ELEVAR will employ 21 graduate student assistants each year in experiential learning opportunities to build organizational and leadership skills, including guiding peers in graduate-level writing, event planning, and communications and marketing.
Janssen said that ELEVAR activities emphasize preparing students for the workforce, which includes expanding hybrid course options and developing a new course focusing on teaching at the community college level. Two social justice and workforce readiness certificate programs will also be offered.
Other support efforts include creating graduate student writing communities in each of the eight colleges, offering an alumni mentoring program, and providing professional training for faculty advisers, teaching faculty and department administrators.
The project also builds on the success of the university’s three previous “Promoting Postbaccalaureate Opportunities for Hispanic Americans” grant projects, all directed by Powers.
The first PPOHA grant, “EPOCHS” (Enhancing Postbaccalaureate Opportunities at Cal State Fullerton for Hispanic Students), was established in 2010 and selected as a 2016 Example of Excelencia. “SOAR” (Strengthening Opportunities, Access and Resources) was funded in 2014, followed by Project upGRADS in 2019.
Project upGRADS was also recently recognized as a 2024 Example of Excelencia by Excelencia in Education for its work to advance Latinx graduate student success.
ELEVAR will implement Project upGRADS’ onboarding practices to acclimate graduate students within college departments, foster professional development for staff advisers, and build a faculty learning community to serve and nurture Latinx graduate students.
With grant funding for Project upGRADS ending next year, faculty and staff overseeing that project will transition to managing ELEVAR.
“We’re looking forward to working with campus partners to make ELEVAR a success to promote educational opportunities for Latinx graduate students,” Powers said.
As a Hispanic-Serving Institution for the past 20 years, the university serves a 52.3% Latinx student population and was recertified with Excelencia in Education’s 2024 Seal of Excelencia.