SUNY Oneonta has joined an inaugural group of 26 colleges and universities pledging Federal Work Study (FWS) funds to help K-12 schools close achievement gaps heightened by the COVID-19 pandemic, answering a call from the U.S. Department of Education to increase the number of college students employed as tutors, mentors, success coaches and in other roles that support school-aged children. The initiative will advance the Department of Education’s work with AmeriCorps and Johns Hopkins University through the National Partnership for Student Success, which aims to help students and schools recover from the impacts of the pandemic and thrive by recruiting an additional 250,000 tutors and mentors over three years.