Reach Higher High School Grant

Important Dates

  • Application Release: TBA
  • Deadline: TBA
  • Application Notification: TBA

Eligibility

Eligibility questions should be directed via email to: Jamie Jacobs, Senior Director of High School Innovation.

Grant Priorities 

MCAN is seeking high schools with a strong commitment from the building principal, school counseling team, and dedicated college and career readiness staff to move the needle on key college access metrics for the Reach Higher High School grant. High Schools that are dedicated to assembling a Postsecondary Advisory Council, coordinating a suite of college access interventions, assessing the college-going culture and school counseling capacity, and collecting and analyzing disaggregated student outcomes data should consider applying.  

Reach Higher High Schools will strategically prioritize the development and implementation of five essential elements to build a college-going culture and improve college enrollment and completion outcomes in the building.

  1. Postsecondary Advisory Council: Reach Higher High Schools will bring together a team of stakeholders to set the school’s vision and college access strategy. The PAC will meet monthly (at a minimum) to strategically develop and implement the school’s college access programming, collect and analyze data, develop and implement data-driven collaborative action plans.
  2. College Bound Michigan: Reach Higher High Schools will host a linked triad of college access events known as College Bound Michigan – Michigan College Month, College Cash Campaign, and College Decision Day– prioritizing the development of a coordinated, strategic effort to execute targeted interventions throughout an entire year.
  3. College-Going Culture Assessment: Reach Higher High Schools will conduct the Postsecondary Success Asset Mapping (PSAM) survey to assess the building’s college-going culture in five asset areas: transition knowledge and skills, content knowledge, learning skills and techniques, critical thinking and problem solving skills, and school-based systems.
  4. School Counseling Self-Assessment: Reach Higher High Schools will assess the current effectiveness of its college and career readiness counseling, support, and programming from two perspectives: Staffing and Capacity and College-Going Culture and Programs.
  5. Student Outcome Data Analysis: Reach Higher High schools will utilize publicly available data sources to collect, disaggregate, and analyze data on key college and career readiness student outcome metrics. Findings will be utilized to develop collaborative action plans.

Grant Award

MCAN expects a highly competitive grant process. Grants of $5,000 will be awarded to approximately 20 high schools. The total amount of funding provided will be subject to the availability of funds. The grant period is generally less than one year, with a start date of October 1 and an end date of June 30. MCAN is committed to reviewing grants and providing a response to applicants by August 31.


Proposal Submission

Proposals are only accepted using Michigan College Access Network’s online grants system, SurveyMonkey Apply. To apply to for all high school grant competitions, select the "Apply Now" button.

APPLY NOW

Application Assistance

You are encouraged to contact MCAN to inquire about eligibility and to request technical assistance. Please contact Deputy Director Jamie Jacobs at  517- 316-1713 for assistance with your application or for help with the online application portal.