Three Ohio Colleges Win $4 Million Federal Grant to Help Students Who Stopped Out Return and Finish Their Credentials
Wilmington College in Wilmington, Clinton County, Ohio, announced on October 30 that it has joined Cincinnati State Technical and Community College and Southern State Community College in winning a five-year, $4 million federal grant to help students who stopped out of college return and complete a credential.
The project is supported by the 2026 Strengthening Institutions Program, administered by the U.S. Department of Labor on behalf of the U.S. Department of Education. Cincinnati State leads the partnership, which spans a large urban public community college, a private liberal arts college and a rural public community college, allowing the partners to test which approaches work across different institutional settings.
More than 37 million working-age Americans have attended college but earned no credential, according to the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center's 2025 Some College, No Credential report. More than 1 million of them returned to college in the 2023-24 academic year, but they represented less than 3 percent of that population.
'Students who leave college before finishing have already invested time, money and hope in their education,' said Cincinnati State President Robbin Hoopes. 'By working together to help them finish, we can open doors for those students and strengthen the workforce our region depends on.'
The project builds on CState Complete, a Cincinnati State initiative developed through an earlier Strengthening Institutions Program grant that combines personal outreach, peer connections and coordinated assistance. From fall 2024 through fall 2025, CState Complete helped 988 students return to Cincinnati State, and 98 participating students graduated, earning 104 credentials.
Wilmington plans to explore faculty connections as a way to reconnect with former students, while Southern State will adapt outreach and support to the needs of rural learners. 'A pause in college does not have to mean the end of that journey,' said Wilmington College President Corey Cockerill.
Throughout the five-year project, the colleges will operate as a collaborative learning community, measuring effects on re-enrollment, retention and credential completion, and will share their findings and practical guidance with other colleges.
Wilmington College official announcement
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 威尔明顿学院College Hall（资料图）。CC BY-SA 4.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / College Hall at Wilmington College (file photo). CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
