To get more men into the college classroom, Palo Alto and San Antonio College - along with 8 other Texas schools - have received a portion of a $300,000 grant for a program called Project MALES.
Headed by the University of Texas, its goal is to get more Latino men to attend college. Palo Alto and San Antonio College are the only two San Antonio schools to get a portion of the funds.
Palo Alto President Mike Flores said the lack of male students is evident in school’s student population, which is two-thirds female.
"We know that the success of our community, and in particular the success of families, is really dependent - and it’s critical - that both individuals, both genders, have higher education and access and opportunity to be able to provide for their families," Flores said.
Grant funds will be used to create mentoring programs for males at Palo Alto.
"It will provide our existing Palo Alto College students with role models and mentors, and then it’s going to train those college students themselves that are being mentored to then be able to do the same for future Palo Alto College or college students," he added.
The grant will be distributed over a three year period starting next summer. The ten schools will participate together and host two annual meetings and a student summit to see what methods are working and can be share across the consortium.
