$14 million funneled toward boosting access to college education
As education is increasingly seen as one of the nation’s most important keys to future economic success, access to higher education plays a large role in ensuring stability. The Department of Education is allocating $14.2 million to increasing access to post secondary education among U.S. students through the Talent Search program.
Forty-three Talent Search awards have been granted to help more than 32,000 students in 25 states and Puerto Rico gain access to resources that will assist in improving their access to higher education.
“The Talent Search program supports students facing difficult challenges and gets them back on track to finish high school and enroll in higher education,” said U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan in a press release. “Through these grants, thousands of students will increase their chances of earning advanced degrees and going on to join the workforce, helping attain critical, national goals of leading the world in college completion by 2020 and improving the economy.”
The five-year grants will give disadvantaged youths and their families access to top-notch tutoring services, financial planning assistance, financial aid literacy support and counseling that is meant to help improve the students’ chances of moving on to post-secondary education after high school. Talent Search grants are geared toward assisting students that are “underrepresented in postsecondary education,” according to the Department of Education, including those with disabilities or in foster care. The grants also assist homeless youths, those who speak limited English and students who would be the first in their families to go to college.
