Foundation for California Community Colleges

California Connects

The Foundation for California Community Colleges, in partnership with community colleges and other learning centers across an 18-county region in the Central Valley, plans to provide outreach, training, and learning support to increase digital literacy skills and broadband adoption, especially among low-income Hispanic residents in the region.

The project plans to distribute laptops to roughly 5,800 socioeconomically disadvantaged students currently enrolled in the Mathematics, Engineering, Science Achievement (MESA) program at local community colleges. The equipment will help encourage and enable broadband adoption among students and their families, many of whom have not previously seen the need or had the resources to acquire computers, learn computer skills, or connect to the Internet. The project intends to track both the increase in library and public computer center use as a result of the program as well as household subscribership figures for MESA students.

Total Award:

$10944843

Project Fact Sheet

Recipient Project Website

BTOP In Action

MESA students with their project evaluator Dr. Blanca Gordo at a launch event.

“If you give a student a laptop, you can’t stop him or her from learning,” said Foundation for California Community Colleges Chancellor Jack Scott. California Connects, in partnership with community colleges and community-based organizations across an 18-county region in the Central Valley, is using BTOP funds to increase digital literacy skills and broadband adoption through providing outreach, training, and learning support to underserved communities.

The Foundation for California Community Colleges is partnering with more than 30 community colleges and other learning centers to implement the Mathematics, Engineering, and Science Achievement (MESA) program, a comprehensive training workshop helping students become digital literacy trainers for their communities. Students participating in the program receive free access to Microsoft® IT Academy training and on-campus certification exams. Students completing the coursework will also receive a free new laptop to help them teach computer skills to local community members. As of June 2013, the program has distributed 5,800 laptops to MESA students and recorded approximately 10,050 new broadband subscribers.

Reports and Documents

Reports to NTIA: