Maryland Higher Education Commission

ONE STEP AWAY
Complete College Maryland State Grant Program

Governor Martin O’Malley set a statewide goal that 55% of adult Marylanders will hold an associate or bachelor’s degree by 2025. This represents an eleven-point increase over the State’s current attainment rate of 44%. To that end, the Governor and the legislature authorized the Maryland Higher Education Commission (MHEC) to establish a competitive grant program to support higher education institutions’ college completion efforts (HB 70, Chapter 395 (fiscal year 2012), and SB 150, Chapter 148 (fiscal year 2013)).

MHEC, in consultation with the State’s Complete College America Advisory Committee, determined that a competitive grant program supporting the “near-completer” efforts of Maryland public and non-profit independent bachelor’s degree granting institutions would help move the State towards its college completion goal. The new One Step Away State Grant Program complements other statewide completion initiatives such as ADAPTS, the State’s reverse transfer program which supports associate degree completion.

Purpose: The purpose of the One Step Away State Grant Program is to increase college completion rates by providing bachelor’s degree granting Maryland institutions with seed monies to identify, contact, re-enroll, and graduate near-completer students. Near-completers are those students who have earned a significant number of credits toward a bachelor’s degree, or may have enough credits for a bachelor’s degree but have stopped out or dropped out for more than twelve months without obtaining an undergraduate degree.

Grant Applicant Eligibility: All accredited Maryland public and non-profit independent four-year bachelor’s degree granting colleges and universities may apply.

Target Student Population: For the purposes of this grant, near-completer students are defined as students who enrolled for the first time during the 2005-2006 academic year or later, have stopped out or dropped out from enrollment at the higher education institution for at least 12 months, have completed at least 75% of the credits needed to earn a bachelor’s degree (e.g. 90 credit hours or more for a 120 credit program), and are in good academic standing.

Grant Period: December 12, 2012 through June 15, 2014 (18 months).

Award Amount: $25,000 - $60,000 dependent upon the scope of project
Institutional Match: Institutions must provide in-kind or matching funds in an amount equal to at least 1/3 of the total project cost (e.g. $25,000 in match for a $50,000 award for a total project cost of $75,000).

Student Financial Aid: Institutions that are awarded a One Step Awaygrant may be eligible for additional funds of at least $10,000 to be used solely as financial aid for returning near-completer students. These student financial aid funds will be awarded for campus-based administration to qualifying students. Institutions must prioritize the award of these financial aid funds to those near-completer students demonstrating the most financial need.

APPLICATIONS DUE: November 12, 2012 4 p.m.

Application Materials:

FY 2013 ONE STEP AWAY Request for Application (docx)           
Budget Summary FY 13(xlsx)

FY 2013 ONE STEP AWAY Request for Application (pdf)                 
Budget Summary FY 13(pdf)

FY 2013 Abstracts