Title III Grant

To ensure the college is meeting its Title III goals, administrators have established the following measurable objectives:

• Decrease the percentage of developmental education classes needed by entering students by 30 percent.
• Increase the one-year, fall-to-fall entering retention rate by 10 percent and graduation and transfer rates by 20 percent.
• Ensure 80 percent of faculty participate in professional development activities related to alternative instructional pathways, including addressing teaching/learning styles and improving the use of effective instructional technology.
• Increase student financial literacy by 50 percent and increase the number of Pell Grants awarded to students by 15 percent.
• Create a “culture of evidence across the college” by having 80 percent of faculty and staff surveyed report increased access to/use of data in assessment and decision-making at the college.

The nonrenewable grant will be distributed to the college in annual installments until 2021 and help PCC implement recommendations from the prestigious Aspen Institute.

As part of the “North Carolina Roadmap to Excellence Project,” four experts from the Washington, D.C.-based educational policies study organization visited the PCC campus in 2015. For two days, they met with employees and students to identify the college’s strengths and areas for improvement before sending administrators a report of their findings.

According to U.S. Department of Education website, Title III funds are distributed through the Strengthening Institutions Program (SIP) and may be used for a wide variety of purposes, including planning, faculty development, and the development and improvement of academic programs. Institutions may also use the grant money on student service programs designed to improve academic success, including those that provide innovative or customized instruction that helps retain students and see them through to program completion.