Stony Brook University awarded American Talent Initiative IDEAS grant to boost transfer students from SCCC
Stony Brook University is the recipient of a $500,000 Innovation Driven by Evidence and Advanced Strategies (IDEAS) grant from American Talent Initiative (ATI) College Excellence Program CEP and Bloomberg Philanthropies. The grant aims to amplify the power and potential of transfer students from lower income communities through high impact experiences, research-centered opportunities, and the development of workforce-ready skills.
Stony Brook, a State University of New York flagship university, is partnering with neighboring Suffolk County Community College (SUNY Suffolk) to support a “Seawolves at Suffolk” program. The program provides students transferring to Stony Brook with an earlier pathway for academic and social engagement with the university from admission to SUNY Suffolk through the transfer and graduation from Stony Brook.
“Seawolves at Suffolk” centers around an accelerated on-ramp to a paid summer research/internship opportunity with Stony Brook researchers in the summer prior to students transferring to the university. This is complemented by providing:
- unique workshops
- earlier access to university campus life
- supported student leadership pipelines
- comprehensive advising support with university advisors on the SUNY Suffolk campus
- priority course registration
- mini-grants to take upper-division courses at Stony Brook before transferring
- additional wraparound support from success specialists and career coaches
Through this partnership, Stony Brook will increase its enrollments of lower income transfer students, while eliminating disparities in graduation, and prioritizing long-term economic benefits and social mobility for students. The university has undertaken this initiative to develop a model to address enrollment declines in community colleges, particularly for students from underserved lower-income communities.
Stony Brook was named as an American Talent Initiative (ATI) “High Flier” University in 2023 and
joined ATI as part of a commitment to increase lower-income student enrollment and activate talent across the country. The university was recognized as a national leader in providing college access and success for lower income students by leading the way in Pell Grant recipients’ student enrollment, innovative recruitment, widespread retention and graduation rates. The “High Flier” initiative was led by Bloomberg Philanthropies in partnership with the Aspen Institute’s College Excellence Program and Ithaka S+R.
“Thanks to Bloomberg Philanthropies, accepted transfer students from Suffolk County Community College are already a part of the Stony Brook University community prior to their first day of classes,” said Interim Stony Brook President Richard L. McCormick. “This grant, awarded by the American Talent Initiative, allows us to expand our commitment to social mobility while providing transfer students with paid experiential learning, academic advising, and career counseling opportunities.”
“SUNY Suffolk has always prepared our graduates for success at elite colleges and universities like Stony Brook. In fact, our “Seawolves at Suffolk” program already fast-tracks students from the SUNY system’s largest community college to its flagship university,” said Dr. Edward T. Bonahue, president, Suffolk Community College. “With support from the American Talent Initiative grant, we will provide Suffolk students with an accelerated pathway to engagement at SBU, as well as experiential learning through a Summer Research/Internship Accelerator. In short, this partnership will allow us to support even more deserving Long Island students and families.”
