Adams State University has been awarded a major grant from the U.S. Department of Education to launch Adams State’s “Promoting Post-Baccalaureate Opportunities for Hispanic Americans” degree program.
Adams State, which is federally designated as a Hispanic Serving Institution, sought the funding to help increase the number of teachers, school administrators and college leaders, particularly of Hispanic ethnicity.
The U.S. Department of Education awarded Adams State $593,488 to launch the program. The grant continues annually for five years based on meeting federal requirements, with Adams State receiving a total of $2.9 million over five years.
“I believe this grant will allow us to undertake truly significant work, and I am so glad that the U.S. Department of Education agreed,” said Michael Mumper, Ph.D., project director for the program. “I am really looking forward to directing the project over the next five years.”
The new PPOHA grant has two important, interrelated goals. First, it will fund Adams State’s efforts to redesign and enhance its online graduate programs in Teacher Education, Educational Leadership, and Higher Education Administration and Leadership (HEAL). Teacher Education awarded Adams State’s first graduate degrees in the 1940s and they remain one of the University’s signature programs.
Second, the grant will allow those redesigned programs to more effectively address the persistent and growing shortage of teachers and educational leaders across rural Colorado.
“Indeed, it will give Adams State the resources to partner with rural school districts and colleges to better understand their future staffing needs and to help us to design our graduate programs to meet those needs,” Mumper said.
