Jackson College makes college more affordable

LANSING, Mich. (WILX) - Helping to build the workforce of the future by making college more affordable in Jackson.

Jackson College hopes its new scholarship program, Jackson College Advantage, will increase the number of workers with college degrees up to 60% by 2030. The scholarship will help students pay for expenses that are not usually covered by financial aid or other scholarships.

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Students like Kaylee Shaw said they wouldn’t be able to afford a college education without some financial help.

“I was able to not work my last semester which was really great because I graduated from the Dental Hygiene Program and we have five board exams to take that last semester,” Shaw said. “So I could put more effort into my studies.”

Shaw just graduated from Jackson College. Instead of focusing on making money to pay for school and other bills, Shaw said the scholarship she received helped keep her focus on passing classes and exams.

“Whereas I was able to take that time during the semester so I could take all of my board exams and then start work immediately after graduating.”

The Jackson College Advantage Scholarship is the first of its kind at the school and it is available to all high school graduates in Jackson County. All you need to do is take 12 credits each semester and maintain a 2.0-grade point average.

“We have never had this kind of a scholarship program that is so inclusive that completely reaches around the whole of Jackson County and some of the -- school districts to be able to say we’re sensitive to your economic conditions. We’re sensitive to the fact that higher education is so critical for student success, said Jackson College President and CEO, Daniel Phelan.

And critical for bringing more trained employees to a highly skilled workforce. “Cause we need staff. We need people. We need people who want to work. We need people who want to work in Jackson. We have those people and a lot of the times it’s just like they’re missing some sort of training, said Amanda Loveland at the Jackson Chamber of Commerce.

Shaw said the scholarship made her feel like the community was supporting her. “And with my degree in health care, I wanted to go ahead and give back to my community as well so it felt really complete with that.”

Anyone who meets all of the requirements won’t have to apply for the scholarship, it will be automatically applied. Some of the money for the Jackson College Advantage Scholarship comes from the Jackson College Foundation.

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