Project Beacon, a program for student support and retention at Nassau Community College, is set to terminate after this school year after a $2.9 million five-year federal grant is cut.
The program was intended to address student retention and performance among students who have previously left the school for academic problems, according to Jerry Kornbluth, vice president of community and governmental relations at Nassau Community College.
“The program has been really successful in helping students get back on board academically so that they can graduate,” he said.
Project Beacon had 42 students enrolled last semester, and held more than 130 counseling sessions and 10 social work sessions to support students, according to Kornbluth.
Students in the program received academic counseling and time management advice as well as resources available to support them in and outside of school.
“With the removal of Project Beacon because HSI is being lost, those services for these students are being lost,” Melissa Koppenhafer, the school’s grant director, said.
Of the 42 students involved last semester, 40 are returning to the college this month for the spring semester, she said. Of the two not yet enrolled, one graduated from the program and the other is still deciding whether to enroll, according to Koppenhafer.
The grant for Hispanic-Serving Institutions was cut by the Department of Education, which claimed that it and other discretionary funds were racially discriminatory in a September statement.
The grant doesn’t just serve the school’s Latino population; its funds benefit all students, according to Kornbluth.
A Hispanic-Serving Institution is federally defined as a college with a 25% Latino population. When Nassau Community College applied to be one of these institutions, the student body was 31% Latino, according to Koppenhafer.
“The purpose of the grant is to enable HSI-designated colleges to expand and enhance their academic offerings, program quality and institutional stability,” she said. “We decided to support students who had previously been dismissed due to their GPA.
“An HSI grant is meant to serve the whole populace of the school,” she said. “Any student who is in an HSI-designated school can partake in the services that the grant offers.”
The grant started in 2024 and was set to be completed in 2029. The grant was canceled after only one year, but the college had not yet spent its funding allocated for the first year, according to Koppenhafer.
She said the college applied for an extension to spend the remaining year-one funds, which will end in September of 2026.
In a statement about the issue, U.S. Rep. Tom Suozzi, a Nassau Democrat, said the program was used by the college for important student resources.
“This funding has been a lifeline for students. It has helped them stay enrolled, improve academic performance, and complete their degrees or transfer to four-year institutions,” he said. “It has also put them on a path toward careers in critical fields like health care, where our communities need workers.”
“Community college is a chance for students, and this program enhanced that chance,” said Koppenhafer. “It was a great support that we were all hopeful for.”
