The support of our friends and donors makes a difference for both present and future students. Contributions provide our students with the facilities, equipment and tools they need in order to pursue and successfully complete their course of training at Ranken. They also provide needed scholarships for students.
Over the past seven years, donations to the College have averaged $2.7 million per year; these funds are invested directly into our educational mission.
Areas to Support
- Capital Campaign—Ranken recently completed a Strategic Planning Process and many of the initiatives from that plan will require voluntary support from the community. More information about this effort will appear in the future.
- Scholarships—80% of Ranken students receive financial assistance in order to attend the College. Scholarships provide the necessary financial assistance to help our students complete their education and become productive citizens.
- Technical Programs—Ranken’s 14 technical departments (both day and evening) enroll over 2,200 students each year. These programs are organized into five divisions: Automotive, Carpentry and Building Construction, Electrical, Information Technology and Manufacturing. Together, these divisions produce over 900 new graduates and workforce members for the region every year. It takes a considerable amount of resources to be able to offer these programs (from automobiles, collision repair equipment, construction and building materials, electrical supplies, new computers and programmable logic controllers just to name a few). Contributions of all sizes, both cash and in-kind, are needed to support these programs.
- Neighborhood Home Building Program—The Ranken Community Development Corporation (RCDC) has constructed over 50 new homes in the vicinity of campus. Second-year carpentry students, under direct supervision of faculty members, build the homes as part of their training. Once completed, the homes are then sold. Ranken needs and welcomes contributions of cash or building materials to assist with this program which benefits both our students and the community.
- Facilities and Campus Improvements—Ranken is continually investing in its facilities, classrooms, shops and labs to insure that we have modern, up-to-date facilities for our students. We also like to invest in our campus and neighborhood to provide a clean and safe environment for our students. There are various projects both large and small every year that can benefit from financial support.
- Special Projects—Every year special projects come up that require philanthropic support for implementation. In the summer of 2010, Ranken launched a new initiative, Adventure Academy. The week-long event provides exciting and fun career learning experiences for St. Louis middle school students. Each Academy will incorporate hands-on activities for the students such as building and racing go karts, assembling and operating robotic kits, making jewelry, building high-tech computers and constructing bird houses. Contributions are helping to underwrite the start-up costs of the academy.
Previous special projects:
- Fabrication and Welding Shop
- Mary Ann Lee Technology Center
- Myrtle and Earl Walker Residence Hall
- High Performance Racing Technology Program
- Unrestricted Annual Support—Unrestricted or general purpose contributions offer the College the most flexibility and can be used wherever the need is greatest.