Cincinnati State, partners win $1.7 million grant

May 29, 2009

Cincinnati State and two partner institutions have received a $1.7 million grant from the Ohio Board of Regents for an initiative designed to attract students who are interested in science, technology, engineering, mathematics and medicine.

The grant was the third-largest of the 11 announced by the Regents.

The Regents’ $13.3 million overall distribution -- the first for 2009 -- represents the start of the second phase of a $100 million plan funded by the General Assembly to help Ohio attract and keep students who are majoring in the “STEMM’’ disciplines (science, technology, engineering, mathematics and medicine).

The $1.7 million award to Cincinnati State and its partners, Wilmington College and the University of Toledo, is designed to open a new pathway for students interested in information technologies. It represents an effort to reach a particular group of students: those who are academically gifted and prepared to successfully pursue a baccalaureate degree, but for financial or other reasons are unable to attend a traditional four-year school.

Under this program, most participants will earn associate degrees at Cincinnati State in one of five target disciplines, then pursue their baccalaureate degrees either by taking Wilmington College courses at Cincinnati State or distance learning courses offered by the University of Toledo.

The state grant will fund scholarships that will effectively remove cost as a significant barrier. Those selected for the initiative will essentially get a free ride to Cincinnati State and see tuition and fees heavily subsidized at Wilmington College or the University of Toledo.

“The scholarships are intended to attract students who might not otherwise consider Cincinnati State as an option,’’ said Paul DeNu, dean of the Center for Innovative Technologies (CIT) at Cincinnati State.

Here’s how the state grant will work:

• For each of the next five years, at least four students (five if funding permits) will be recruited for each of the five selected CIT programs -- Business Information Systems, Computer Programming and Database Management, Software Engineering, Network Administration, and Computer Network Engineering Technology.
• Assuming they maintain their eligibility, each of these students – at least 20 a year, or between 100 and 125 over the life of the grant -- will receive $4,700 annually toward tuition and fees at Cincinnati State. The remainder of their “hard’’ costs (about $800 a year) will be financed by Cincinnati State through other revenue sources.
• Upon graduation from Cincinnati State, students will have two options. They will be able to complete their BA in Business Administration with a concentration in Business Analysis from Wilmington College on the Cincinnati State campus, or they can complete a BS in Information Technology from the University of Toledo in a totally online format.

Students who select the Wilmington College option will take classes at a significantly reduced rate (approximately $220 per semester hour) and receive $4,700 per year to offset their costs. Students who elect to take the online courses from the University of Toledo will pay the university’s normal tuition and fees, but will also receive $4,700 per year toward those expenses.

Wilmington College and the University of Toledo, for their part, will use grant funds to increase information technology opportunities at their institutions, as well as to offset costs for arriving Cincinnati State graduates.

In announcing the grant, Regents cited the close attention to the “2 + 2’’ relationship between Cincinnati State and its four-year partners, its exceptionally strong cooperative education program and the innovative academic vision of the partners. (All scholarship recipients at Cincinnati State will be required to co-op following their two initial school terms.)

Cincinnati State already has close working relationships with Wilmington College and the University of Toledo, thanks to collaborations on other baccalaureate programs offered on its Clifton campus and distance education projects through the Ohio Learning Network.

The $1.7 million grant was just part of the benefit Cincinnati State will see from the current round of Choose Ohio First scholarship awards. The College is also participating in a partnership led by the University of Cincinnati aimed at attracting school teachers specializing in STEMM subjects. Regents allocated $267,000 for that grant.