HSI Grants

In June 2020, MSU Denver received approximately $2,765,922 from the HSI/MSI CARES Act as a Covid-19 grant. These funds have been used to support:
•  Students with online tutoring
•  Faculty with on online teaching tools through the Association of College and University Educators (ACUE)
•  Faculty and Students with learning and teaching assistants to help with classroom and administrative support
•  Transfer peer mentors program that helps first-year transfer students navigate the transfer process
•  Book/supply vouchers to students participating in the Admissions, and Center of Equity and Student Achievement’s new mentoring program to help Colorado students transition successfully from high school to college
•  Students/faculty/staff with the opportunity to rent a laptop

Contact us and learn more about what we can do for you!

Michael Benitez, Ph.D

VP for Diversity and Inclusion

303-605-7221

[email protected]

Higher Education Emergency Relief Funds (HEERF)

Pathways to Possible is a grant-funded program designed to serve students of color, low-income students, and students from rural communities. The program seeks to support students as they transition into the university with summer bridge coursework, and individualized advising support throughout their college experience. The program will also provide participants with financial support in the form of stipends and laptops to reduce the financial stress of attending the university.

• Serving a cohort of 285 students, all of whom are provided with $1,000 stipend and a laptop.
• On-going support after first year until graduation.
• Built-in milestones for students to feel prepared and connected to career opportunities prior to graduation.
• Paid internships and connections to on-campus employment after first year.

Come and read about our program at detail with this newspaper article by Lindsey Coulter about Pathways to Possible.

Contact Us

Eric Silva

Program Director

303-605-5620

[email protected]

Look at our POHA Scholars of 2020 – 2021 at the bottom!

The Postbaccalaureate Opportunities for Hispanic Americans (POHA) Program at MSU Denver focuses on encouraging students from diverse backgrounds and those with an interest in serving diverse populations to pursue post-baccalaureate study in nutrition at MSU Denver. While dietitians and nutrition professionals around the country serve a very diverse population, approximately 91% of Registered Dietitian Nutritionists (RDNs) are white females.

The POHA-Denver program aims to diversify the field of nutrition and dietetics by:
•  Conducting outreach to students in high schools, community colleges, and in baccalaureate programs
•  Providing financial support to help students navigate barriers to participating in post-baccalaureate degree programs
•  Hiring diverse support staff to fuel the grant efforts and to provide advising for current and prospective students
•  Offering financial-literacy training focusing on loan payback and budgeting
•  Development of regular seminars and an annual conference focused on diversity in dietetics and health care

The grant also aims to promote cultural intelligence among faculty, students, staff, and practitioners in the field.

Over the 2020-2021 Academic Year, the POHA Program awarded $60,000 in scholarships and research stipends to diverse nutrition students in our POHA Scholars Program.

The program also offered quarterly financial literacy trainings to scholars.

The program provided monthly cultural intelligence trainings to faculty, staff and students. As a result, the MS in HND has increased the diversity of its student body, with the percentage of students of color increasing from 4% in 2019-2020 to 13% in 2020-2021.

Contact us and learn about our story and to add a little spice, and some of our personality!

Jessica Toro

POHA Program Manager

303-615-0990

[email protected]

For more information visit the website