Application Period Opens for Project Degree Completion Award

All APLU institutions are strongly encouraged to apply for APLU’s 2015 Project Degree Completion Award. All application materials are also available at www.aplu.org/PDCaward. The deadline to submit a letter of intent is May 29 and applications are due June 30. The winner will be announced during the APLU Annual Meeting on November 15-17 in Indianapolis and will receive $15,000 to further its degree completion-related efforts.

Additionally, up to five finalists for the award will be showcased at a prominent session during the APLU Annual Meeting at which a representative from each institution will present an overview of their work and sit on a panel to discuss innovative degree completion practices.

The award, which is made possible through the generous support of the Lumina Foundation, seeks to identify and honor APLU institutions that are using innovative methods or programs to decrease achievement gaps and/or increase retention and graduation outcomes for all students or specific groups of students. It is also designed to share those innovative practices with other public universities and encourage them to draw from those successes.

Formerly known as the MVP Trailblazer and Opportunity Awards, the Project Degree Completion Award serves to further enhance APLU’s Project Degree Completion — a joint effort between APLU and the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) in which nearly 500 public colleges and universities have pledged to collectively award 3.8 million more degrees by 2025. Together, this increase will represent the public four-year institutions’ contribution toward the national goal of having 60 percent of working age adults in the U.S. possess a college degree.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me or APLU’s Project Degree Completion team at pdc@aplu.org.