Duke Energy recently announced a $100,000 foundation to Moon Shot for Equity — a collaborative project aiming to close equity gaps within regional clusters of two and four-year colleges and universities by 2030.
The effort is designed to help more Greater Cincinnati area students graduate from college. Four local higher education institutions are participating: Cincinnati State Technical and Community College, Gateway Community & Technical College, Miami University Regionals and Northern Kentucky University.
“Duke Energy is proud to invest in the success of our local students,” said Amy Spiller,
president of Duke Energy Ohio and Kentucky. “It is critically important to acknowledge
equity gaps in higher education and take action to reduce those gaps. By supporting
today’s students, we are ensuring a vibrant economy for the future.”
Duke Energy Foundation grant will provide direct assistance to each university as well as support to help with the creation of the online resources portal.
The Moon Shot initiative focuses on four key strategies:
- Enhancing access to need-based financial aid.
- Streamlining transfer pathways by ensuring transferability of college credits between institutions.
- Coordinating between key university offices and services, from financial aid and career advising to student health and counseling, to promote a holistic care model fostering student success.
- Eliminating and revising registration holds that are unnecessary and burdensome to students.
“With this support, we can ensure degree completion for some of our region’s at-risk and underserved community, and accelerate meeting the workforce development needs in the Greater Cincinnati area,” Ande Durojaiye, vice president and dean of the Miami University Regionals, College of Liberal Arts and Applied Science.