BOONEVILLE, Miss. (WTVA)--The federal government is awarding a total of
$500 million to community colleges for job training programs.
Bryson Rogers and Amber Miller are students at Northeast Community College in the GED program.
Neither have jobs right now, but are hoping the training is a pathway to a better way of life.
"I'm striving for myself and my kids to have a better future in life. And its just a lot to go through having a kid. And, you know I just want to set a real good example," said Rogers.
"I'm here to pick up where I started from years ago when I gave up and wanted to be a follower instead of a leader. And, so I'm here to further my education and get a better start for my life," said Miller.
It's people like Bryson and Amber who are targets of a federal government grant that expands jobs training programs at community colleges across the country.
Northeast was fortunate to link up with a a consortium of schools, both in Mississippi and Louisiana, that received almost $15 million of the money.
Northeast received over $880,000 and is one of the schools in Mississippi taking part in the grant program.
They say it will enhance the GED and job training programs that already exist.
"Ultimately, it's going to be better for people to get a college degree," said Pam Meeks, the director of Adult Basic Education. "So, what we are doing with these career pathways is they can come in, and this is available for people who don't have a high school diploma. They will be working on their GED along with these certification programs."
Those certification programs will include mostly technical and computer-based skills.
The program kicks off in October and enrollment is free of charge.
