Riverland Community College was one of seven colleges and universities in the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system honored for outstanding achievements in educational programs and services during the 2010-2011 academic year.

Riverland’s Cycles for Success Scholarship program received the Innovative Partnering and Collaboration award. Cycles for Success, a private-public collaboration with Austin’s public and private K-12 system was created to increase high school and college graduation rates. The Hormel Foundation is contributing $1 million over five years for scholarships expected to assist about 200 students.

Besides, Riverland, the other system colleges and universities honored include Alexandria Technical and Community College, Century College, Minnesota State Community and Technical College, Northland Community and Technical College, Northwest Technical College and St. Cloud State University.

“The awards are one way that we recognize some exceptional work done every day at our colleges and universities,” said Scott Thiss, chair of the Board of Trustees. “Minnesotans can be proud that our staff and faculty developed these award-winning programs and that they are improving access to higher education and increasing student success rates.”

Riverland created Cycles for Success in partnership with Austin Public and Catholic Schools to inspire students at Austin and Pacelli High Schools to graduate and earn a college education locally and thus provide employers with a skilled workforce in high-wage, high-demand occupations. The program focuses primarily on assisting “traditionally underrepresented students” who fall within the middle fifty percent of their class ranking who will not have other resources available to them.

“An overarching assumption of this program is that educating young people is a prudent investment in the workforce, economic, and community development of the Austin area,” Dr. Terry Leas, Riverland college president said. “This collaboration with Austin’s K-12 systems and The Hormel Foundation’s support of Cycles for Success is an extraordinarily generous strategy for filling funding gaps. It shows The Hormel Foundation’s support for improving access to postsecondary education for Austin’s high school students. This support can only enhance efforts to improve high school graduation rates, students’ readiness for college-level courses, and college students’ retention and success rates.”