Grove City College Awarded $408K Grant

GROVE CITY, Pa. – Grove City College received a lot of exciting news this week.

The college has secured a $408,033 grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. to expand its work helping rural ministers thrive with the creation of the Center for Rural Ministry.

The CRM will continue to foster the partnership of college, church and community that was the hallmark of the College’s Project on Rural Ministry. PRM is a four-year initiative to study and help ministers who serve under-resourced parishes. 

“The momentum we have built over the past four years, enabling pastors to thrive through numerous initiatives, is worth sustaining and further embedding within the life and witness of Grove City College,” said Charles Cotherman, PRM program director who will lead the CRM. “This generous grant will begin to make that possible.”

Lilly Endowment made the grant through its Thriving in Ministry initiative, which also supported the development of the PRM. 

The project worked with more than 30 Protestant clergy from diverse denominations in four states within 150 miles of GCC since its launch in 2019. 

This year’s conference, “Leading Like Jesus,” is set for Sept. 15 and 16 at Tower Presbyterian Church, 248 S. Broad St. 

The event will feature speakers, teachers and preachers and offer workshops on counseling, preaching and youth ministry. The conference is open to the public. Click HERE to register.

Also this week, GCC was named one of America’s best colleges, according to The Princeton Review’s annual guide to the nation’s outstanding colleges and universities.

The publication of the 2024 edition of “The Best 389 Colleges” puts GCC among the top 15 percent of the nation’s higher education institutions.

Outstanding academics, interesting professors, Christian community, high quality campus life and a focus on students are among the factors that students value most about Grove City College, according to the guide.

“It’s truly encouraging to be recognized once again as one of the best colleges in America,” Paul J. McNulty, GCC president, said. “I’m especially thankful for GCC’s characteristics most valued by students, including our outstanding academics and Christ-centered community.”

GCC will welcome more than 600 new students to campus this month as the 2023-24 academic year begins. 

The more than 570 incoming freshmen are academically and geographically diverse, with 47% coming from private, classical, parochial and homeschool backgrounds and 46% from out of state. Standardized test scores reported by the incoming students indicate more than 70% were in the top 90% nationally, with nearly half scoring in the top 10 percent.

The College expects more than 40 transfer students to join the campus community this fall.

Published by The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.