High school students statewide will benefit from additional funding awarded to the Center for College Readiness at Minnesota State Community and Technical College. Director Michael Cary said the Center, created in 2008 with a $2.2 million grant from the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities System, was recently notified that it will receive another $1.1 million from MnSCU. Through the Center, M State instructors and their colleagues at MnSCU colleges and universities provide services and curriculum for teachers and students in grades 8-12 to improve college readiness and reduce student placement in remedial courses. "The latest award will provide money to further develop these programs and make them available to Minnesota public schools," Cary said. According to recent estimates, 43 percent of students attending community colleges and 29 percent of students at public four-year universities require remedial classes. Cary said students required to enroll in these classes "tend to drop out of college at much higher rates than students who do not have to take remedial courses." For those who do complete their degrees, remedial courses can increase the cost of higher education and delay their graduation dates. Because the programs are online, they are available to students anywhere in Minnesota and are designed for use by high school teachers as part of their regular curriculum. Participating students, high school faculty and college faculty form learning communities with the goal of improving academic success and reducing the number of students who require remedial courses when they enroll in college. The Center, which currently has 16 participating high schools in the state, offers high school teachers and students academic support in math and writing through the MathWorks, Ready or Not Writing and Step Write Up programs developed by M State instructors Don Drummond and Paul Carney. A reading program, Ready or Not Reading, will be launched in November, and a science program will be developed during 2010. While the Center is located on M State's Detroit Lakes campus, instructors from a growing number of MnSCU colleges and universities are involved in the program. The Center targets students who are underrepresented in the state's higher education institutions. Those students are defined in Minnesota as first-generation college students, low-income students and students of color. For more information, visit the Center Web site at www.centerforcollegereadiness.org, or contact Michael Cary at 218-846-3807 or michael.cary@minnesota.edu.