CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The programs have been approved and the applications are online for students interested in West Virginia Invests.
The state’s new last-dollar-in grant program, covering community and technical college tuition and fees, went online on Thursday.
“We have worked very closely with the Department of Commerce and have identified those programs that will be eligible for the West Virginia Invest grants,” Dr. Sarah Tucker, Chancellor for West Virginia Community and Technical College Education told MetroNews.
“We have put those programs on our website.”
The programs offered through WV Invests are most of what the community and technical colleges have offered already, Tucker said.
She also said the programs are based on workforce needs and gave examples of healthcare, manufacturing, IT and energy.
A complete list of programs HERE
The program, which was approved by the West Virginia Legislature in March, already saw 11 applicants before the press release went out on Thursday morning, Tucker said.
She also expects around a 20 percent uptick in enrollment at colleges because of this grant, similar to the state of Tennessee’s program numbers.
Even with that rate of increase, Tucker is not worried about funding.
“The legislature gave us about 10 million dollars for this grant,” she said. “Based on all of the projections that we have done in conjunction with other states that have implemented this grant, We believe that, that is sufficient to cover our costs.”
There are several benchmarks for students applying for this last dollar-in grant including having not already earned a college degree, graduated high school and being a resident of West Virginia for at least one year.
Another one is filling out a FAFSA before the application, which is where the name “last dollar-in” comes from.
The grant will pay for any remaining costs of tuition and fees for a student, after all other federal and state financial aid is given.
To learn more about the program and to apply, visit wvinvests.org.