In this episode of our local program Making Democracy Work, host Maggie Castrey speaks with Jordan Schreiber, Ozarks Technical Community College's director of Student Success.
One of the goals of democracy is keeping its citizens gainfully employed and contributing to their communities. Jordan, please tell us about the Fast Track Grant program at OTC and how that might help. How are the benefits structured?
Schreiber: The Fast Track Workforce Incentive Grant is a financial aid program for adults that addresses workforce needs by helping adults pursue a certificate, degree or industry recognized credential in an area designated as high need in the state of Missouri, and the program is designed to ensure that when combined with other state and federal financial aid programs outside of student loans, that all tuition and fees are fully covered. And even if a student has all of their tuition and fees covered by another program, such as a federal Pell Grant, the student can still have up to $500 of money in their pocket to help with books or other educational expenses.
Well, who's eligible for this? What's a typical student look like?
Schreiber: Students who are either 25 years of age or older or are under 25 and have been out of school for more than two years. Students must be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident and have been a Missouri resident for the past two years. Also, students cannot have a bachelor's degree, and on their most recent Missouri tax return, they need to, if they file jointly, be under $80,000 a year adjusted gross income. If filing any other status, under $40,000 per year.
What programs at OTC qualify for this grant support?
Schreiber: Well, OTC has over 90 Fast Track eligible programs. So, in the interest of time not going through all of those, these are programs designated as high need that are very career focused, workforce focused. So, this could be programs in healthcare, business, computer IT programs, manufacturing, teaching, just to name a few. And the program also covers some short-term programs like medical assisting that aren't typically covered by federal aid eligibility.
When was this program started, and why and how long do you expect the support to last?
Schreiber: The program began in 2019 to address the need for skilled workers in Missouri and help Missourians earn a livable wage. Fast track is part of the state's goal to have 60% of working age adults have a high quality degree or certificate by 2030, so it is a high priority for the state. Right now, the funding is authorized through 2029, but this continues to be a priority of the governor as well as the legislative bodies.
How many students have used the benefits since it started?
Schreiber: Over the course of the grant, about 1,200 students statewide have used the program, which equates to about $5.3 million in disbursed funding. OTC is the largest user of the grant in the state. In fact, we have more fast-tracked students than all the other 11 community colleges combined.
Where do students do their coursework? Are night and weekend classes available for full-time workers?
Schreiber: So, it depends on the program that the student is interested in. The focus of Fast Track is primarily hands on programs, and often these require labs or clinicals in person. However, there are programs that are fully available online, such as business. In addition to that, any student, no matter their program, if they have general education credits they need to complete, those also have the option of being online. We do have several evening classes available for those hands-on programs as well as we just started a night and weekend cohort of our direct entry Associate of Science in Nursing. So, students who are looking to become a registered nurse can work full time and have the option to pursue that with the Fast Track grant.
How is the grant program funded?
Schreiber: It is funded through legislative appropriations, so the funds are drawn directly down from the Missouri State Treasury, based on annual budget legislation dedicated to higher education and workforce development. What is important, though, is that this functions as a last dollar mechanism. So, Fast Track operates as the last bit of aid. So, first the students are going to have their federal aid eligibility applied as well as other state programs outside of loan programs, so it really is designed to come in and pick up the rest of the tab, depending on the student situation.
Where can people find more information about this program?
Schreiber: There are a couple places that students can go if they're interested. Of course, they can go to ozarkstech.edu and just use our search bar to look for Fast Track. We have a page with not only application instructions, the programs that are eligible, contacts if they have more questions and some FAQs that we've gotten over the years. And the State of Missouri on their website also has a link to the Fast Track Workforce Incentive Grant where they list all of the program eligibility options for all schools in the state of Missouri.