PULLMAN – The WSU College Assistance Migrant Program (CAMP) was named one of the top 10 programs nationally to exceed requirements at the National Association of State Directors of Migrant Education annual conference April 11.
CAMP’s mission is to provide financial and academic support to students from a migrant or seasonal farm worker background to help them complete their first year of college.
“The program really helps the transition for students to a university,” said Lucila Loera, assistant vice president for enrollment management.
The Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) states that university CAMP programs must have 86 percent of students complete their first year and at least 84 percent of students choose to continue their college education. For the 2009-2010 year WSU met and surpassed the guidelines with 97 percent of WSU CAMP students finishing their first year and 95 percent of those students chosing to continue their education.
“Part of our success is the dedicated staff, institutional support and the strong foundation when it started,” Loera said. “WSU CAMP is always on the cutting edge. We are trying new things, finding ways to improve our services and activities, and are closely connected to other university CAMP programs as well as the Office of Migrant Education in Washington, D.C.”
WSU CAMP started because other universities in the region had the program, Loera said. Now WSU is one of six regional universities with a CAMP program.
Latest reports from the Washington State Migrant Student Data and Recruitment Office indicate there are 31,197 students of migrant farmer background in the state of Washington, and 8,056 of those students are in grades nine through 12.
Loera said CAMP is a way for WSU to demonstrate commitment to migrant families and students. Because of CAMP, WSU offers a bilingual ALIVE new student/family visitation session, for parents who are not fluent or do not speak English.
Every CAMP program competes for funding; by exceeding requirements of the GPRA, WSU is a step above other universities. This recognition will help secure federal funding in the future, Loera said.
CAMP has 75 students enrolled for the 2010-11 school year but more are expected to enroll by the fall, Loera said.