$100,000 CARNEGIE CORPORATION GRANT TO THE COLLEGE ACCESS PROGRAM AT THE GRADUATE CENTER SUPPORTS 40 CUNY UNDERGRADUATE PEER MENTORS

College Access: Research & Action (CARA), a program based at the Graduate Center that fosters college enrollment and persistence, has been awarded a $100,000 grant from Carnegie Corporation of New York to support its peer mentorship program. The Carnegie funds, combined with grants from other New York City-based foundations, will go exclusively to support payment to 40 CUNY undergraduate students to serve as peer leaders who provide advising support to incoming students. Through the grant, each peer leader will receive $7,200 for 480 hours of work for the summer and academic year.

CARA, which is part of the Center for Human Environments, helps first-generation college students, low-income students, and students of color gain the knowledge and support necessary to enroll in and persist through college. The Carnegie grant builds on a two-year 1.2-million-dollar grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to develop a peer mentoring program at CUNY. 

Peer Leaders receive training in student support and in career development. Along with expanding campus advising, the peer leader program enables colleges to offer work-based learning opportunities and professional pathways to their students.

This year, CARA is working with 66 schools and community-based organizations and seven CUNY campuses to enhance and expand efforts toward college access, matriculation, and retention.

The co-directors of CARA are Janice Bloom and Lori Chajet, who both received Ph.D.s in Urban Education from the Graduate Center. Distinguished Professor Michelle Fine (Psychology, Urban Education, Women’s and Gender Studies) is the research adviser for CARA.

Published by the Office of Communications and Marketing.