San Diego Mesa College has received more than $3.7 million in grants to support underrepresented students wanting to pursue careers in biomedical or behavioral science as well helping improve the academic success of low-income Hispanic students.

The college was awarded $2.62 million from the U.S. Department of Education to improve retention and academic success for low-income Hispanic students under a five-year Title V grant. Mesa was one of about 20 colleges and universities selected for the funding through a competitive process.

Mesa Colleges grant proposal, called Proyecto Exito or Project Success, calls for the college to offer more tutoring, mentoring, summer programs and career development. Officials say they will be redesigning courses, strengthening student support and expanding training for faculty and staff.

This is the first Title V grant received by Mesa College. About 32 percent of the colleges fall enrollment was of Hispanic or Latino descent, officials said.

Mesa is thrilled to receive this grant, which will enable the college to create the conditions that lead to higher student retention and completion for our Latino students, college President Pamela Luster said in a statement. Our student population mirrors that of the greater San Diego area, and as such our commitment to our growing population of Latino students is critical. Their success is our success, and as educated citizens our students contribute to greater economic advances for our community and the region.

Julianna Barnes, vice president of student services, said in a statement that the grant will strengthen the college's institutional capacity to better support Latino students and will level the odds for success for all students.

Mesa also recently learned it would be getting nearly $1.1 million over five years from the National Institutes of Health to extend a program that helps underrepresented groups studying biomedical or behavioral sciences to pursue careers in research.

The Bridges to the Baccalaureate Program has been in place since 2005 and is the result of a partnership between Mesa College and UC San Diego. Officials say 97 of the 102 Mesa College students participating in the program have transferred or plan to transfer to a four-year college or university and some students are en route to earning a doctorate.

The program focuses on academic research and provides for faculty mentors, tutors, counselors and training workshops.

Students participate in an eight-week, full-time undergraduate summer internship at UC San Diego that includes six hours a day of laboratory training with top research scientists. They also attend lectures and seminars with faculty from UCSD, the Salk Institute for Biological Sciences and the Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute.

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Mesa College lands $3.7 million