From staff reports
Pennsylvania’s State System of Higher Education, working with the State System Foundation, has announced an initiative to help prevent dropout among at-risk students.
The Keystone Extraordinary Emergency Program (KEEP) will provide immediate grants to financially struggling students who are considering dropping out, according to a Clarion University news release.
The student success program will be available as a pilot this fall to students at Clarion, California, and Edinboro universities, with the expectation of refining and scaling the program to the rest of the State System at a later date, the release said.
KEEP will be overseen by the State System Foundation, which worked to secure startup funding for the new program from an anonymous private foundation in Pennsylvania, according to the release.
A majority of the funding during the next two years will go directly to students for emergency aid, with some going to support the necessary infrastructure development to manage the program and ensure the quick distribution of funds, the release said. The State System Foundation plans to secure additional grants to continue the program and expand it across the entire system.
More information about how students can access KEEP will be available at a later date, the release said.
