Lakeland lands $3 million Title III grant
Lakeland University has received a five-year, $3 million Title III grant from the U.S. Department of Education to strengthen Lakeland’s efforts to improve student persistence and degree completion through access to workforce readiness and financial wellness programming.
The grant, one of the largest in the institution’s 164-year history, will help Lakeland remove barriers that delay engagement by some traditional-age LU students in career-connected learning and help remove financial barriers for those students.
“We have numerous student success stories that have resulted through our experiential learning focus, but we’ve found that not enough of our students are accessing those programs early in their Lakeland experience,” said Lakeland President Beth Borgen.
“As Wisconsin’s only Carnegie Opportunity College and our consistent placement on U.S. News & World Report’s list of schools advancing social mobility for its students demonstrate, removing barriers to a degree is central to our mission. This grant will allow us to make sure more of our students have earlier access to career-connected learning opportunities to improve degree completion and set those students up for post-graduation success.”
The grant will fund numerous Lakeland activities including:
A defining feature of Lakeland's academic model is its nationally distinctive Cooperative Education (Co-Op) program, which integrates classroom learning with structured workplace experiences across academic programs.
Students in Co-Op may earn up to one year of academic credit through paid or unpaid professional experiences, strengthening workforce readiness and helping reduce the cost of school. Students graduate with substantial professional experience and employer connections that set them up for the transition into the workforce.
As part of this grant, Lakeland will turn to its considerable lineup of regional employers to serve as partners through the Co-Op program along with mentoring, networking and workforce development activities.
“We’re fortunate to have relationships with more than 400 corporate partners – from the region’s global brands to a variety of non-profit agencies,” Borgen said. “Lakeland has consistently been a talent importer for this region. The programs we’ve put in place with local employers, such as our Co-Op program, benefit Lakeland graduates and the companies that employ them.
“This grant is about making sure all our students can equitably access our programs creating a pathway to a college degree and success after graduation. These funds, combined with gifts from our generous donors through scholarships and other program support, allow us to remove barriers and make a difference in the lives of Lakeland students.”
