FOR info about the program and to apply, go to wvinvests.org.
If only the state worked so fast to solve most problems.
In less than four months, West Virginia’s free community college tuition program — West Virginia Invests — is accepting applications.
The day before the regular session of the Legislature convened this year we urged legislators to think of themselves as quick studies and advance this program.
To their credit, SB 1 emerged only days before the session ended with passage in both chambers by overwhelmingly bipartisan majorities.
Then last week, the community college system’s board passed an emergency rule implementing the program now.
Apparently, nearly a dozen applications were received before the press release was issued Thursday morning.
The chancellor of the state’s Community and Technical College System expects about a 20% uptick in enrollment at the state’s nine facilities.
We described this program as a solution that found a problem in January. The problem was the CTCS’s declining enrollment.
The number of students in CTCS schools had declined nearly 25 percent over the past five years. The number of students enrolled in West Virginia’s community colleges in the 2017-18 academic year was 23,900 compared to more the 31,700 in 2013-14.
For now, students may receive free tuition for only certain certificates and degrees that satisfy a workforce need, as determined by the state Department of Commerce. The idea is that graduates of these programs will end up in a specific job rather than with just a piece of paper.
Judging by the list of eligible programs at one school we looked at, we saw associate’s degrees, certificates and other programs that should satisfy most applicants.
What this program does is fill the gap for any tuition costs that remain after existing federal and state grants and scholarships are factored in.
Anyone who graduated from high school or home school, or earned a high school equivalency degree, is eligible to apply. However, there are some criteria applicants must meet for eligibility, including drug tests, maintaining a cumulative GPA of at least 2.0, etc.
Though today’s economy increasingly requires credentials beyond high school, it does not demand a four-year college degree. Instead, many “new collar” jobs — with skills learned at local two-year community colleges — are highly in demand.
This program will take time to push those CTCS enrollment numbers to the head of the class.
But it’s encouraging to see we’re no longer content to be idle about achieving that goal.
