PROJECT CARES Grant Award Summary

South Louisiana Community College received a $272,364 Project Grant award from the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Postsecondary Education under the TRIO Student Support Services Program (CFDA 84.042), effective September 25, 2025, through September 24, 2026. The PROJECT CARES: Connecting Acadiana Rural to Engage and Succeed initiative delivers comprehensive supportive services designed to enhance postsecondary educational outcomes for disadvantaged college students in the Lafayette region and surrounding rural areas. Key services include academic advising, tutoring, financial literacy instruction, mentorship, and student success coaching, with targeted focus on low-income, first-generation, and students with disabilities to increase retention and graduation rates.

The award supports evidence-based interventions addressing barriers to postsecondary completion while facilitating successful transfer from two-year to four-year institutions. As a minority-serving institution, South Louisiana Community College leverages this funding to expand educational access and remove obstacles to degree attainment for underrepresented and economically disadvantaged student populations in south-central Louisiana. This grant represents one of five active prime federal awards from the Office of Postsecondary Education held by the institution, demonstrating SLCC's sustained capacity in managing federally-funded student support programming.