Congratulations to the West Virginia Community and Technical College System for winning a prestigious $635,000 U.S. Department of Education Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE) grant with assistance from DCT Advisors LLC.

Given to organizations pursuing promising higher education innovations, the FIPSE grant will support the System’s Integrated Pathways for Adult Student Success (I-PASS) initiative aimed at addressing the need to expand high-need enrollment, particularly among adults; strengthening Adult Basic Education and Developmental Education; and improving persistence and completion rates.

Major initiatives focus on educational pipeline expansion and leakage reduction, with resources being devoted to an accelerated I-BEST exploratory curriculum involving early career planning, expanded learning support center services, and counselor/ coaches as primary points of contact for adult students, as well as improved recruitment strategies.