A $40,000 donation from Sean Quinn, CEO of Wafer World, will provide financial support for Palm Beach State College (PBSC) engineering technology students.
The Wafer World STEM Scholarships were announced this month at a STEM reception at the Florida college.
“We’ve got a tremendous shortage of trained workers, and we’re trying to solve the problem. We feel the best way to do that is by providing scholarships to kids that have financial needs to take these great minds so they can be productive in our county,” Quinn said.
Wafer World, a silicon wafer manufacturing company based in West Palm Beach, is an industry partner for the PBSC engineering technology program, providing support through donations and collaboration. The $40,000 donation is the largest donation the company has made to date.
NASPA grants
NASPA – Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education has selected five colleges to receive 2025 NASPA Emergency Aid Microgrant awards. The $10,000 grants, sponsored by TIAA, provide vital financial support to students facing unexpected financial crises.
Among the recipients are three community colleges: the Community College of Aurora, LaGuardia Community College and South Louisiana Community College.
At the Community College of Aurora (CCA) in Colorado, student advocacy coaches work one-on-one with students to understand their circumstances and create a personalized success plan to support both academic achievement and career readiness. The NASPA grant means the coaches can access a source of financial assistance to provide students who are experiencing crisis or emergency situations.
“As living expenses continue to rise, ensuring basic needs support remains essential to making socioeconomic mobility through education a reality. NASPA’s Emergency Aid Microgrant will expand the Division of Student Success’ capacity to deliver timely assistance to students facing emergency situations, helping them stay enrolled and on track,” Andrea Rascón, project coordinator for CCA’s Office of Student Advocacy, said in a release.
California
MiraCosta College will use a $1.2 million state grant to tackle the critical nursing shortage in the San Diego area by significantly expanding its nursing program.
The grant will help to address a worsening healthcare crisis in MiraCosta’s service area. The San Diego region faces a 46% shortfall in registered nurses, with 1,925 open positions and only 1,037 new graduates in 2022-2023, according to regional labor market data shared by the college.
The Rebuilding Nursing Infrastructure grant is part of a statewide initiative. It will allow MiraCosta to increase student enrollment by 26%, enhance clinical training through new simulation technologies, establish California State University transfer partnerships, and create an innovative licensed-vocational-nurse-to-registered-nurse apprenticeship model, according to the college. MiraCosta also will use the funds for faculty recruitment and development, clinical placement expansion and equipment upgrades.
“This funding directly translates into a better learning experience,” said Dr. Yvette Duncan, a nursing instructor at MiroCosta. “Our students will train on the same state-of-the-art simulation equipment they will use in a hospital, making them more confident and clinically competent on day one of their careers.”
This investment builds upon MiraCosta’s prior efforts, including the recent opening of Teresia M. Heyen Hall for Nursing & Allied Health, a 20,450-square-foot, state-of-the-art facility.
New Jersey
Long-time Raritan Valley Community College (RVCC) supporters Frank and Pat Russo have donated $375,000 to the New Jersey college to provide five full scholarships each year for the next decade. It is the largest scholarship commitment in the college’s history.
The couple has supported student success at RVCC for several years, first by endowing the Frank S. and Patricia F. Russo Scholarship in 2019, and then transforming the annual RVCC Giving Day with a “Match Challenge” for two consecutive years (at $50,000 each).
“The role and intrinsic value of community colleges is undeniable,” said Frank Russo. “Our support of several recent students of Raritan Valley Community College provides objective evidence of that. We hope our commitment to RVCC is a model for others to follow.”
Frank and Pat Russo both had careers in the telecommunications industry at AT&T and then, for Patricia Russo, as CEO at Lucent Technologies. They were difference makers in the corporate world and have carried that forward into a range of philanthropic interests.
North Carolina
Central Carolina Community College (CCCC) has received $10,000 grant from the TELUS North Carolina Community Board to support career and technical exploration in the field of electric vehicle technology.
The college will use the grant to run an EV cart competition, through which local 9th and 10th graders design, build and operate their own electric go-karts. Through hands-on activities, students will learn about automotive mechanics, fabrication and restoration, while also gaining valuable insights into clean energy and sustainability practices. according to CCCC.
“This innovative initiative promotes teamwork, problem-solving, and critical thinking while introducing students to the practical applications of electric vehicle technology in education,” said Sara Newcomb, CCCC’s dean of business and applied technologies.
Oregon
With a $600,000 grant from the Oregon Department of Energy, Chemeketa Community College will launch an energy efficiency and building technology training program.
The college will offer short-term training and apprenticeships in both English and Spanish, providing students with skills for the renewable energy workforce. Some of the areas training will cover are HVAC, home weatherization strategies, electrical panel upgrades and more.
Klamath Community College also received a grant from the department. With $338,395 in funding, the college plans to increase rural Klamath and Lake counties’ HVAC workforce by developing skilled professionals who are knowledgeable about consumer information regarding resources, education and incentives for use of clean energy equipment and practices.
Pennsylvania
HACC, Central Pennsylvania’s Community College, and its partners in the community will use a $399,329 grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry to provide training to healthcare employees in the Lancaster area.
The grant, originally awarded to ASHLIN Management Group, will support a nursing assistant apprenticeship program in the region. The program creates a skilled nurse aide pipeline while addressing workforce shortages in South Central Pennsylvania.
“The grant will allow Lancaster area skilled nursing facilities to upskill current employees to become nurse aides – employees who have demonstrated a good work ethic, are dependable and wish to pursue a direct resident care role within the facility,” said Susan Biggs, executive director of healthcare education at HACC. “These nursing facility employees become HACC students while completing the apprenticeship, and it is our hope that if they continue their healthcare education, they choose HACC as their education provider.”
South Carolina
Greenville Technical College has received a $20,000 grant from the Sisters of Charity Foundation of South Carolina to further its efforts to support the ASPIRE program, which addresses key barriers to economic mobility for high-risk, high-need students at the college.
The grant will allow Greenville Tech to expand the reach of ASPIRE by providing enhanced access to academic support services, personalized mentoring, textbook stipends, emergency financial assistance and cultural enrichment activities. These supports help students to overcome challenges, persist in their education, complete a degree or certificate, and ultimately break cycles of generational poverty.
“Our students, most of whom are first-generation college attendees, are supported in ways that help them find their footing on a path that may be new to them, but holds the promise of being a road more traveled for generations to come in their families,” said Michael Burgess, director of the Aspire Scholars Initiative.
Texas
San Antonio College is celebrating a $100,000 gift from the Charity Ball Association that will help keep the college’s youngest community members safe from the Texas heat.
Thanks to the gift, the San Antonio College Early Childhood Center – an on-campus daycare – has installed new shade structures over its playground, providing a safer and more comfortable space for outdoor learning and play. The gift will also fund cooling misters, scheduled to be installed this summer, to further reduce playground temperatures during the hottest months.
