The Carroll and Milton Petrie Foundation Supports LaGuardia Community College Student Success
LONG ISLAND CITY, NY (July 18, 2024) — Earning a college degree and finding a sustainable career are key to a path of social and economic mobility. With the partnership and generous support from The Carroll and Milton Petrie Foundation, LaGuardia Community College/CUNY is making it possible for more students to achieve their dreams of earning a degree and securing a bright future.
“We are proud to support LaGuardia and its hard-working students,” said Cass Conrad, Executive Director of the Carroll and Milton Petrie Foundation. “We hope these grants will help provide food and urgent financial support to students in need, enabling them to stay in school and earn their degrees.”
The Petrie Foundation has awarded LaGuardia a renewed and increased grant of $30,000 to combat food insecurity among students, chiefly through funding for the college’s Food Pantry. Over the past six years, more than 16,000 LaGuardia students have benefited from this program. In addition, last year, Petrie made a grant of $25,000 to enable the college to begin offering Petrie Student Emergency Grants of up to $3,000 each to students in immediate need of help with urgent expenses such as rent arrears. Last month, the Foundation significantly increased its support of this new initiative by awarding a two-year grant totaling $80,000.
Both grants are managed through the LaGuardia Community College Foundation, with services delivered by LaGuardia CARES (College Access for Retention and Economic Success), which connects students with resources, referrals and local community services to overcome financial barriers, stay in school and graduate.
Jay Golan, Executive Director of the LaGuardia Foundation, says the Petrie Foundation has been instrumental in ensuring LaGuardia students’ needs are being met to help them in their academic success.
“About half of all students at LaGuardia Community College come from households with less than $25,000 in annual income and some work two or three jobs to afford tuition and living expenses,” Golan says. “As a result, they may take fewer classes per semester and therefore have a harder time graduating in two years.”
Golan says the continued support from the Petrie Foundation has made it possible for LaGuardia Community College to help students remain in school, rather than being forced to take a leave of absence or drop out.
Dr. Alexis McLean, Vice President for Student Affairs, says the continued support from the Petrie Foundation has made a positive impact in the student retention efforts at LaGuardia.
“Our students encounter financial hardships related to housing insecurity, transportation barriers, childcare expenses, and other needs, all while juggling academic responsibilities,” Dr. McLean says. “Support from the Petrie Foundation has been instrumental in alleviating these challenges by providing immediate financial assistance to cover rent, MetroCards, childcare fees, personal care items and other essentials. By addressing these pressing issues, emergency grants can help students focus on their studies and achieve academic success despite financial obstacles.”
The Petrie Foundation also currently supports LaGuardia’s College and Career Connect (C3) program, which introduces recent high school graduates to college life via a free 3-credit course and other activities (Petrie jointly funds this program along with the Heckscher Foundation for Children) and English Express, which provides asylum seekers and other new arrivals with needs assessments, English language workshops and referrals to educational and training programs at LaGuardia and beyond. English Express is sited within LaGuardia’s Adult and Continuing Education Division.
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The Carroll and Milton Petrie Foundation, a private, independent grantmaking foundation that began active operation in 1998, supports colleges, universities, nonprofit organizations and individuals as they work to improve education and career outcomes for low-income New Yorkers. The Petrie Foundation aims to ensure that all New Yorkers, particularly those from marginalized communities, have the resources and opportunities needed to reach their goals in school, work, and life.
LaGuardia Community College (LAGCC), a Hispanic-Serving Institution, located in Long Island City, Queens offers more than 50 associate degrees and academic certificates, and more than 65 continuing education programs to prepare New Yorkers for transfer to senior colleges and rewarding jobs and careers. An institution of the City University of New York (CUNY), the College reflects the legacy of our namesake, Fiorello H. LaGuardia, the former NYC mayor beloved for his advocacy of the underserved. Since 1971, LaGuardia’s academic programs and support services have advanced the socioeconomic mobility of students from Queens, NYC and beyond.
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