Santa Barbara City College is the recent recipient of a $3 million Title V grant from the U.S. Department of Education.

SBCC announced last week that the endowment will go toward efforts to start the new “Express to Success” program. The service will provide the resources to transfer to four-year institutions and will help full-time scholars graduate on time from SBCC.

The grant is the largest the college has ever received and will be paid over the course of five years.

According to SBCC Superintendent Dr. Andreea Serban, the funds will be allocated to various groups that make Express to Success possible.

“[The program] will allow us to put in place a number of early alert systems toward students’ progress,” Serban said. “Part of the money will allow us to have a number of consultants and hourly faculty, while part of it will go to financial aid help for students to becoming full time.”

“Express to Success” will be an unremitting program for students who want to graduate or transfer in a timely fashion. Participating scholars will be required to commit to taking 12 academic units each semester and six units during summer sessions, while maintaining a good GPA. The program also requires students to attend mandatory counselor meetings.

“‘Express to Success’ is an extremely positive impact for the college,” Serban said. “We now have the resources for these programs.”

A small group of students will test into the program, which is still in its beginning stages, during the 2011-12 academic school year. Serban said the program will be fully operational during the following year. She hopes the program will motivate students to pursue higher education.

“We hope as a result that more students will be graduating and more will apply if they are college ready,” Serban said.