The U.S. Department of Education recently awarded OSU Institute of Technology a five-year Title III Part A Project grant, providing the institution with more than $2.1 million in federal funding.
Title III programs help eligible institutions of higher education become self-sufficient and expand their capacity to serve low-income students by providing funds to improve and strengthen the academic quality, institutional management and fiscal stability of eligible institutions.
“Title III grants are highly competitive, and it has been several years since OSUIT has received this type of funding for any project,” said OSUIT President Bill R. Path. “Congratulations to our team for producing a successful grant proposal to bring in federal dollars to help OSUIT integrate exciting, new technologies into our curricula.”
A portion of the grant will be used to increase institutional stability by establishing a new endowment fund. This fund will provide a permanent source of income to support the public mission of OSUIT.
The goal of the OSU Foundation is to secure endowment match funds totaling $433,600.00 from non-federal sources. The endowment, which will be funded in years 4 and 5 of the project period, will be used to support initiatives that foster teaching, learning and student success.
The remaining portion of the grant will support the development, integration and investigation of Extended Reality (XR) technology into OSUIT’s academic offerings.
“OSUIT’s Title III grant will create opportunities for us to learn about the roles that XR technology can play in the delivery of high-quality, workforce education-oriented student learning experiences,” said Scott Newman, OSUIT provost and vice president of Academic Affairs.
As a campus known for hands-on instruction, OSUIT will be able to leverage XR's potential and will examine the expansion of such learning opportunities beyond the traditional lab environments. Through the enhancement of OSUIT’s current instructional delivery model, the grant is expected to advance student learning and improve the sustainability and resiliency of OSUIT and its academic programs.