FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, April 13, 2022
STEPHENVILLE, Texas — The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board has awarded Tarleton State University a $250,000 grant designed to help Texas college students access internship and apprenticeship opportunities to strengthen the workforce pipeline and advance the state’s economic competitiveness
“Tarleton’s School of Kinesiology and College of Liberal and Fine Arts developed this project to expand their existing off-campus internships and remove financial barriers to internship participation,” said Dr. Laurie Sharp, Assistant Vice President for Strategic Academic Initiatives. “We deeply appreciate this funding opportunity to support students who have been impacted by the pandemic.”
The grant comes from $4.8 million in funding to 23 Texas higher education institutions. It is part of the Work-based Learning Opportunity Grants-Internships program supported by the Governor’s Emergency Education Relief (GEER) funding.
“Creating more opportunities for students to gain professional experience and hands-on training is critical to meeting our goals for Building a Talent Strong Texas,” said Commissioner of Higher Education Harrison Keller. “Together, these grants will bolster the talent pipeline and offer meaningful work-based experiences that drive students into competitive careers and increased economic mobility.”
The grants-internships program aims to support off-campus internships by:
- Converting non-paid internships to paid work-based learning opportunities
- Increasing the number of students participating
- Increasing wages for these students
- Providing financial support to student interns with demonstrated need