TEMPLE, Texas — Temple College is providing a pathway to help get people back on their feet if they started college but dropped out before earning a degree or certificate. It's also helping to get their enrollment numbers up.
The community college is offering the Reskilling Grant after they received $750,000 from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.
Those who qualify can get anywhere from $500 to $2,500 per semester, which can include up to $500 for supplemental expenses.
This program is available to Texas residents who meet the following criteria:
- Have attended college at some point in the past but who have not been enrolled in an accredited postsecondary institution in the previous academic semester or previous six months.
- Enroll in an eligible undergraduate program or short-term workforce credential program on either a full-time or part-time basis.
- File a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). For help, watch this video.
- Have been impacted by COVID-19 in some way.
The grant coordinator, Louis Trevino, wants Central Texans to know this is available because it's an opportunity that doesn't come around often.
"So many of the future students struggle for money to be able to come back to college and this is an opportunity that they would have never have had and thats why its so important for them to find out about this," he said. "It's just a great opportunity for them and Temple College is all about opportunity.
Trevino says this is a chance for people who need to reskill or upskill to get back into the workforce and also for students who want to get back in the classroom.
Trevino says time is running out. The college has $250,000 to pass out before the Fall semester starts in August. Whatever money they don't give out will go back to the state.
To see if you qualify and to also apply for this grant, visit here.
If you don't qualify for the Reskilling Grant, Trevino says there could be other opportunities available to you.
The Texas Reskilling Support Fund Grant Program stems from the allocation of $175 million provided to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board from the Governor’s Emergency Educational Relief (GEER) Fund.
The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board shared statistics in a presentation back in November 2020 that four million Texans have some college but no credentials. They're hopeful the grant money they provided to nearly 100 institutions will decrease and more people with have a degree or certification.
