WASHINGTON The U.S. Department of Education is sending the Community College of Rhode Island (CCRI) $262,880 that U.S. Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) helped secure for the schools Student Success Centers. The Student Success Centers will prepare low-skilled youth and adults for high wage job training and higher education. These Centers are designed to coordinate and enhance student services and academic support and to improve student satisfaction and retention. The Centers consolidate student support services and provide a single point of student contact for information about other College resources, programs, and personnel. The Centers will be connected to Rhode Islands school districts as well as adult basic education and GED providers to form an upward mobility education ladder.Student Success Centers officially opened on CCRI's three main campuses, Warwick, Lincoln, and Providence, in January 2005 and a fourth Success Center is planned to for the Newport campus this year. Reed worked with his colleagues in the Rhode Island Congressional delegation in securing the funds last November in the Fiscal Year (FY) 2005 Omnibus Appropriations Bill. The bill was signed into law on December 8, 2004.It is crucial to the future of Rhode Islands economy that we have the best trained and most knowledgeable workers, Reed stated. These new Centers offer students a central place for literacy and learning services, academic support, career guidance and more so that they will be successful in meeting their goals, earning their degree and obtaining a high paying job. For more information on the Student Success Centers: http://www.ccri.edu/successcenters/