SOUTH PORTLAND — KeyBank is donating $500,000 toward a student success initiative at Southern Maine Community College that will guide students to college completion and strengthen their personal and academic development.

The KeyBank of Maine Foundation recently announced that it has awarded a three-year grant that will provide support, structure and incentives for students through a new program called Path to Graduation (P2G).

The program provides students with scholarship funds and dedicated success coaches who will work with them on college skills, financial literacy, education and career planning, and academic and personal achievement.

About 90 students are taking part in the program during the 2014-15 academic year. The number will grow to 150 students a year in future years.

“KeyBank believes educational environments and support systems that help students realize their full potential are critical for student success,” Sterling Kozlowski, Maine Market president, KeyBank, said at an announcement ceremony at SMCC.

The P2G participants are first-time, full-time and college ready students who have a financial need who will be enrolled in their first semesters as a group in a success course led by their coach. In addition to individual advising support, the program teaches students personal resilience and leadership skills. Students who successfully complete the first year will serve as mentors during their second year to the next incoming class of P2G students.

The grant is the largest gift ever made by the Key- Bank of Maine Foundation. KeyBank gave SMCC $100,000 in 2004, which was used to form SMCC’s Entrepreneurial Center.