By MICHAEL SULLEN, Staff Reporter |
The adult students program at Amarillo College is a scholarship program that is available to students who are 24 years and older or who are single parents. These services help adult students succeed while they are attending school, Ashley Guinn, a social services coordinator, said.
“Sometimes students have to pay out-of-pocket for their school expenses and it helps knowing that scholarships are available to help alleviate the cost and stress that a student might encounter,” Guinn said. “AC believes that it is important to provide support that will help students remove barriers that may keep them from completing their courses,” she said.
The program receives federal funding from the Carl Perkins Grant scholarship funds from the Amarillo College Foundation.
In addition to helping with tuition, the program awards transportation and child care scholarships and assists with textbooks and supplies.
“We understand that transportation is expensive and child care is necessary,” Jordan Herrera, director of social services, said.
According to Herrea, students who have children often face special challenges while attending college.
“I believe that adult students need services because a lot of the time they are the forgotten,” Leslie Hinojosa, a social services coordinator, said. “People tend to think traditionally that students are young, still at home with their parents and that’s not true,” she said.
“A lot of adult students have children and families that they are having to support and so we are helping them in more ways than one,” Hinojosa said.
“Not only to help them get in classes and see them succeed, but also helping their families in a way. Services are really needed for them and sometimes I feel like they’re forgotten so I’m glad we have what we have for adult students,” Hinojosa said.
Services are available to students who have applied for the program first and then the services are opened up to the rest of the student body on the first day of classes. In addition, to qualify for these services, the student has to be enrolled in an academic degree or certificate program at AC.
To apply for services, students must complete the online scholarship application found at: https://www.actx.edu/foundation/scholarship-applications and answer the questions related to the adult students program.
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