MOSES LAKE - Big Bend Community College is set to add 1,500 square feet to its Student Success Center with a federal grant.

The $400,000 project includes an addition to the student center and administration building and remodeling existing office space.

The funding comes from a five-year, $3.5 million federal grant for institutions serving Hispanic populations. The project will help meet the educational needs of all Big Bend students, said Terry Kinzel, Big Bend's director of Title V grant programs.

The success center, which has been open one year, is already overflowing with activity, said Kinzel.

Big Bend is designated a Hispanic-serving institution because more than 25 percent of students enrolled in college-level classes at the college are of Hispanic origin. Big Bend's enrollment is 35 percent Hispanic and the college's service district's population is 42 percent Hispanic, according to recent U.S. Census figures.

Due to its designation as a Hispanic-serving institution, over the past two years the college acquired $11.2 million in federal grants spread over five years and became eligible for grants through other sources, such as the Gates Foundation.

"In light of state budget cuts to higher education, any extra federal money is critical to ensuring Big Bend can continue to meet the needs of its students," said President Bill Bonaudi. "Without the designation, the gaps between programs and needs would be wider."

Big Bend is one of three community colleges in the state to earn the designation, along with Columbia Basin College in Pasco and Yakima Valley Community College. Heritage University, one of Big Bend's university partners, is also a Hispanic-serving institution.

Eighty percent of Big Bend students, and 94 percent of its Hispanic students, are first generation, meaning no one from their family has attended college. Nearly 60 percent of Big Bend students are from low-income families. The per capita income in the college's service district population is $11,000 less than the state average.

"First generation students from low income families have a more difficult time navigating college because they can't ask their parents," Kinzel said. "These types of services are helping with access, retention, and transfer for the student population BBCC serves."

Construction of the addition and remodel of the Student Success Center begins in June and will be completed in the fall of 2012.