AANAPISI - FAQ & Grant History

Purpose of Grant

Situated in the heart of Northern California's Silicon Valley, Mission College's enrollment consistently approaches 50% Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI).

There are different AAPI subgroups represented at Mission College, with Vietnamese (32.7%) and Filipino (21.5%) being the largest within the larger AAPI category.

Sixty-five percent of Vietnamese students are first generation and 50% have a low socioeconomic status. Similarly, 43% of Filipino/a students are first generation and 38% have a low socioeconomic status.

After Mission College was designated as an Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institution, it was awarded the highly competitive federal Title III AANAPISI Part A grant in 2010. This grant was designed to bridge AAPI student success gaps and targets those in the English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) course sequence to transition successfully to college-level English.

Since then, the AANAPISI grant continues to support our college’s vision and mission in providing the leadership and resources to empower every student to find their mission while ensuring that all students are provided with equitable access and support towards a quality education and the opportunity to pursue and achieve their goals.

We are responsive to the learning needs of our APIA community and are dedicated to a diverse educational and culturally engaging campus environment that prepares our students for productive participation in a changing world.

Background of AANAPISI

The goal of the AANAPISI programs is to improve the transition, progression, graduation, and transfer rates of Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) students at Mission College.
Fully funded by the U.S. Department of Education's Title III program, AANAPISI implements a comprehensive set of best practice strategies to overcome the documented obstacles of AAPI students on campus.
The programs work alongside the major units of the college including Student Support Services, Instruction, and the Office of Research to pilot such programs, activities, curriculum, and other resources to promote student success.
AANAPISI's aim is to strengthen the pipeline at Mission College to assist AAPI students from matriculation through degree attainment and transfer to four-year colleges/universities.

More Facts

On average, 54% of all Financial Aid monies are awarded to AAPI students. Furthermore, most AAPI students were assessed into pre-collegiate-level courses with very high numbers enrolled in ESL. This contradicts the widely held notion of the "model minority myth" in which all Asian American and Pacific Islander ethnic groups are financially stable and well-educated.

In an effort to increase its capacity to better serve Mission College's AAPI population, a joint collaboration has been made between the Office of the President, Office of Instruction, Office of Student Support Services, Office of Equity and Student Success, and the Office of Research, Planning, and Institutional Effectiveness to identify best practices and address overall institutional improvements.

Part A activities include improving ESL curriculum and ESL student transitions to college programs, strengthening academic and student support services for AAPI students, and strengthening institutional research capacity to collect critical AAPI student data.

The following year, Mission College submitted another grant application and was awarded the federal Title III AANAPISI Part F grant in October 2011. This grant implemented strategies to overcome the documented institutional weaknesses and deficiencies presenting obstacles to success of AAPI students transferring to four-year colleges/universities especially in Science, Technology, Education, and Math (STEM) majors.

While the grant focuses on developing strategies that are culturally relevant to Asian American and Pacific Islander students, these resources are available to ALL students and will promote success and retention of ALL Mission College students.

The AANAPISI grant continues to support our college’s vision and mission in providing the leadership and resources to empower every student to find their mission while ensuring that all students are provided with equitable access and support towards a quality education and the opportunity to pursue and achieve their goals.