PROVIDENCE — The Community College of Rhode Island has received $2 million from an anonymous donor — the largest individual private gift in the college’s six-decade history, school officials said Thursday.
The sum was announced by Interim President Rosemary Costigan at the institution’s “Opening Day Convocation” ceremony.
“For too long, gifts of this magnitude were limited to four-year institutions, but this donor saw the potential for an outsized impact in expanding equity and access to higher education,” Costigan said in a statement released by CCRI.
“This donor firmly believes in the powerful role community colleges play in transforming individual lives, families, and communities,” Costigan added.
The college said the donation will support a new and free, three-year pilot program, the “Advantage” initiative, which provides students with “personalized academic coaching, targeted tutoring, and comprehensive support services” over seven weeks.
“The program is uniquely designed to help students seamlessly transition into credit-bearing coursework in the second half of their first semester,” CCRI said. “By focusing on these critical first weeks, CCRI Advantage aims to increase student retention, boost academic achievement, and shorten the time to graduation.”
The $2 million donation will cover “incidental expenses,” CCRI said, including tuition, laptops, course materials, and transportation.
“This comprehensive financial support ensures that students can fully prepare for college gateway courses without incurring additional expense and non-transferable credits,” officials said.
CCRI has six campuses throughout the state, including in Warwick, Lincoln, Providence, Newport, Westerly, and Woonsocket.
Christopher Gavin can be reached at christopher.gavin@globe.com.