NIC Receives $1 Million Grant From Albertson Foundation

North Idaho College will be the recipient of a $1 million Idaho Go On grant from the J.A. and Kathryn Albertson Foundation, which announced on November 23, 2009 the distribution of $11 million in targeted, statewide scholarships to help Idaho improve college opportunities and increase post-secondary participation and completion.

"North Idaho College is grateful for this significant commitment to higher education by the J.A. and Kathryn Albertson Foundation," said NIC President Priscilla Bell. "This gift is an investment in the future of Idaho, and it couldn't come at a better time. As the economic recovery continues, students across the five northern counties of Idaho need access to education and training opportunities to enter the workforce and contribute to the restored vitality of the economy. NIC is poised to help meet that need, and this grant and the entire Idaho Go On campaign will go a long way in helping NIC continue to open the doors of opportunity through education."

The Idaho Go On program is a statewide initiative that aims to immediately generate greater awareness and engagement in addressing Idaho's post-secondary success rate and increase opportunities for Idaho students.

While the Idaho Department of Labor projects that three of every four jobs in Idaho will require training and education by 2014, Idaho still ranks 43rd in the nation in the number of students who go on to complete a degree and half of high school students who actually go to college will never earn a degree.

In addition to the $11 million in scholarships awarded to 11 Idaho colleges and universities, the J.A. and Kathryn Albertson Foundation Idaho Go On initiative also includes a $6 million pledge to the Idaho Education Network to increase access to relevant data and increase equal educational opportunities to Idaho stakeholders as well as a $3 million commitment for an awareness campaign about opportunities beyond high school including the KnowHow2Go Idaho program.

For more information on the Albertson Foundation or the Idaho Go On or KnowHow2Go Idaho initiatives, visit http://www.jkafcommunity.com/.