Fiscal Stability and Sustainability

Fiscal Stability

FISCAL STABILITY AND SUSTAINABILITY

Community College of Philadelphia expands access and economic inclusion by offering high-quality education at affordable prices. Each year, thousands of students are forced to walk away from their dreams due to their inability to pay tuition while supporting themselves. These are students who aspire to more secure and meaningful lives for themselves and their families, yet are deterred by the costs associated with attending college.

In this extraordinary year, COVID-19 has created new impediments for the City’s most vulnerable residents, and for our students. As the City’s college, we needed to offer holistic student strategies and tools that integrated support services in a way that made it easy for students to get the help they needed, whether it was emergency funding for transportation and food, insights into college life, or proactive counseling that helps students persist.

 

Critical Pandemic Relief Delivered to Students

The College received three grants from the U.S. Department of Education as part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act: Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF). One of the grants provided emergency financial aid grants to students. Another allowed the College to recover institutional expenses related to disruption of campus operations due to the COVID-19 crisis, and the third was awarded to the College as a Minority Serving Institution. The third was divided among student awards and institutional expenses. By summer 2020, the College determined that 9,329 students were eligible to receive the awards and more than $5.9 million was awarded. More than 5,400 students received awards of $500. The College was also able to obtain more than 1,800 loaner laptops for students through CARES Act funding.

In addition, the Community College of Philadelphia Foundation answered student requests for assistance with resources like food and other basic needs through awards totaling more than $107,000. Funds will continue to be awarded to students as they are available.

 

Octavius Catto Scholarship

In spring 2020, the College worked in lockstep with Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney to announce the Octavius Catto Scholarship, which will enhance college accessibility and ensure that more students obtain postsecondary degrees and credentials so they can prepare to enter the workforce and have fulfilling careers.

Combining last-dollar funding with special wrap-around support services,the program will address obstacles like tuition and fees as well as burdens that hit many Philadelphians – especially those living in poverty – particularly hard, including costs associated with food, transportation and books.

Those eligible to be included in the inaugural class of 500 scholars must meet the following criteria:

 

  • Be a new, first-time Community College of Philadelphia student
  • Have a high school diploma, Commonwealth Diploma or GED from any high school in Philadelphia, a Pennsylvania state cyber charter, or home school
  • Attend Community College of Philadelphia full-time (12+ credits per term)
  • Be a Philadelphia resident for at least 12 months
  • Complete the FAFSA each year and document an Expected Family Contribution (EFC) below $8,000
  • Demonstrate college readiness or one level below college readiness in placement testing
 

The City will invest $47.4 million over the next five years in the Catto Scholarship, which is projected to support over 4,400 students, known as Catto Scholars. This investment is in addition to $39.3 million in City operating support to the College over each of the five years, for a total of $196.5 million over five years.

 

 

Expanding Opportunity Through Scholarship

Expanding Opportunity Through Scholarship

Joseph and Marie Field Foundation
Opportunity Scholarship

The Joseph and Marie Field Foundation Opportunity Scholarship, launched in fall 2019, was created to support Philadelphians who graduated from high school but put off going to college, and those who started at the College a couple of years ago, but did not finish.

Thanks to a $1 million gift from the Foundation, qualifying students receive an opportunity to get started or finish their college education debt-free. A total of 112 scholarships were provided in its inaugural year, giving deserving Philadelphians a gateway to the middle class for themselves and their families. Fourteen of these students had obtained a degree by June 2020.

Wanamaker Finish Line Scholarship

During FY2020, the Community College of Philadelphia Foundation awarded more than $600,000 in student scholarships and awards, including the Wanamaker Finish Line Scholarship. Students selected to receive funding are eligible for up to $1,800 toward the completion of an AAS degree or certificate.

50th Anniversary Promise Scholarship

In an effort to continue to expand access to higher education to Philadelphia students, the 50th Anniversary PROMISE Scholarship provided Philadelphia high school graduates the opportunity to attend the College debt-free. The College covered tuition and fees for eligible students for up to three years or until the completion of their associate degree.

Exposing Younger Students to STEM

Grant dollars also are used to create educational pathways to high-growth, high-impact industries. The New York Life Foundation, in partnership with the Afterschool Alliance, provided a $100,000 grant to the College in fall 2019 to fund two STEM Academy Virtual Summer Camps for rising seventh and eighth grade students.

Offered through the College’s Division of Access and Community Engagement, the two camps combined live instruction and pre-recorded lessons to provide 40 students an engaging experience.

In session one, students delved into “Minecraft World,” where students created their own virtual worlds while learning coding basics. In the second camp, with help from MIT’s App Inventor, students developed their own apps, which will be available on Google Play.

 

Helping Our Student Parents

Child care costs are a common barrier for students, especially those who are essential workers and working on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Child Care Access Means Parents in School, or CCAMPIS, program is funded by a $1.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education. The program, offered and managed by the College’s Women’s Outreach and Advocacy Center, supports the participation of low-income parents enrolled in post-secondary education through the provision of child care stipends paid directly to the child care provider. Student-parents who meet certain eligibility requirements can receive child care assistance for children ages six weeks to five years old. Child care is available for before and after school, and summer care as needed is provided for children ages five and above. The goal is to provide access to affordable, quality child care, thus removing a barrier that impedes successful completion of an academic degree.

The grant, originally awarded in October 2018, runs through September 2022.

“If I had to describe CCAMPIS in one word, it would be ‘incredible.’ The impact that CCAMPIS has made in allowing me to receive a college education without the financial burden is incredible. The feeling of being able to go to school and still have time with my family is indescribable. Finally, I am proud to be graduating, an accomplishment made possible with the help from the CCAMPIS grant.”

--Nicole McCullough, Class of 2020
Health Care Studies

 

Operating Budget

Operating & Capital Expenditures

 

 

Operating & Capital Revenues

 

 

 

Honoring Our Retirees

The College recognizes the commitment of our hardworking faculty and staff, particularly those who retired this year. We thank them for their service to the College and our community.

Francis Alsis
Jody Bauer
Fay Beauchamp
Paul Bonila
Donald Bowers
Anthony Brauner
Deborah Brewington
Simon Brown
Nancy Carr
Ricardo Chamberlain
Vijay Chauhan
Carol Clark
Ruby Colbert
Ray Correa
Deborah Cost
Eleanor Cunningham
Ramon Diaz
Arnold DiBlasi
Kim Edwards
Yvonne Ellis
Grace Flisser
Leslye Friedberg
Clyde Gay
Assefa Gebreselassie
Stan Gilbert
Kathleen Harter
Geraldine Hawkins
Jane Jacobs
Stephen Jones

Patricia Kelly
Dorothy Koteski
Elena Koublanova
Jacob Lane
Jose Mason
Gary Mitchell
Robert Moskowitz
Kathy Mulray
Tuong Nguyen
Dennis Ostopowicz
Joanne Patti
John Pinto
Tom Quinn
Cynthia Reid
Judith Reitzes
Deb Rossi
Richard Sabree
Nicholas Salvatore
Maurice Sampson
Pairat Sethbhakdi
Julie Simmons
Dawn Sinnott
Jim Spiewak
Carol Stein
Jean Strupczewski
Michelle Sun
Mohamed Teymour
Charles Tremblay
Adib Waheed

 

In Memoriam

The College honors those members of our community we lost during the 2019-2020 academic year. We are grateful for their invaluable contributions to the College and to our students. Any omissions here are inadvertent.

Edward Baker
Barbara Edney
Richard Greer
Angela Martino
Stephanie Minniti
Francis Real
David Tinley