National-Louis University Receives $20K Grant Award from The Institute for Mexicans Abroad

CHICAGO--On November 17, 2010, National-Louis University was awarded $20,000 from the Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs through The Institute for Mexicans Abroad (IME-Becas) Higher Education grant program, whichprovides financial assistance to university students who are either Mexican immigrants or children of Mexican parents. At National-Louis, this funding will be used to support Harrison Fellows of Mexican descent who are undocumented. These students are unable to apply for financial aid needed to cover part of the remaining tuition balance after the Harrison Fellowship is applied. In addition to being of Mexican descent, candidates for this award must earn a minimum 3.0 GPA by the end of the FY2010 Fall term. Candidates are required to attend a leadership training course during the Winter term and submit a written reflection over the Spring term. All eligible candidates will be notified in late December. This grant will be overseen by Ana Maria Soto, Executive Director of Latino Initiatives.

In Fall 2010, National-Louis launched the Elizabeth Harrison Fellowship Program, a co-curricular bachelor degree program designed to ensure academic success, degree completion and professional acculturation to first-generation, traditionally underserved African American and Latino students in two high-demand fields: elementary education with math and/or science endorsements or business administration. Fellows are required to be on campus from 9am to 4pm Tuesday through Friday and are either taking classes, gaining work experience (volunteer and work study), or doing homework in the Proyecto Center staffed by a full-time Success Coach. Currently, there are 52 Fellows and 38 (or 72%) are Mexican or children of Mexican immigrants.