Former students help those who prematurely left college finish degrees

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - A local initiative helping college students who dropped out of school get back into class is what's right with Tampa Bay.

Samyr Qureshi and his trusted friend, Coda are working on a program to help college students with free tutoring.

"A local initiative that is helping adult learners that has some college but no degree. Complete their course work to earn a bachelor's degree," he explained.

The grant-funded program is called Complete Tampa Bay.

Samyr is co-founder of Knack, a peer tutoring program that universities can use to connect students with tutors.

"These tutors have taken these classes before and done well. They are able to come back and help other learners that are looking for assistance," he said.

Samyr went to St. Petersburg College and graduated from the University of Florida. He says the project is needed for colleges and university students.

"Historically, they have been limited with technology and their ability to reach every student on campus and so there's students that slip through the cracks and our technology seeks to serve them," he said.

The goal of the program is to get students who dropped out of college to go back and finish.

"Not everyone has the ability to get help or to understand the material right away and so access to support on-demand is the key to ensuring that folks graduate."

It's a hands-on approach to help returning students find success. Knack just won $25,000 from the Education Innovation Prize challenge, a national competition that encourages development of products and services that can make learning after high school available to more Americans. It's funded by The Lumina Foundation.