Fall semester is just weeks away, and many adults age 24 and older are tapping up to $72-hundred in scholarships to start or finish a college degree or certificate.

Ben Moritz, deputy director of the the Wyoming Community College Commission, said the Kickstart Wyoming's Tomorrow scholarship can be a pathway to good-paying, high demand jobs. Colleges have teamed up with businesses across the state to create credential programs that give students the training they need to succeed in a wide range of fields.

"They need welders, they need construction workers, they need folks for wind farms," Moritz explained. "Having that certificate - that short term credential, which you can complete in three to six months a lot of times - that's what they're looking for."

The Wyoming's Tomorrow Scholarship initiative was passed by state lawmakers in 2021, but the endowment has just $30- million of the $50-million needed to launch. Lawmakers approved funding in this year's session to get money to students who need financial aid now through a bridge program. Moritz said residents should ask their local college's financial aid office about "Kickstart Wyoming's Tomorrow."

Because many Wyomingites age 24 and older tend to have jobs, kids, and other responsibilities, Moritz said each college has created strategies to meet older students where they are.

"There are a lot of programs that can be done online," he said. "You can't learn to weld online, but you can learn to weld in the evenings. So there's a lot of flexibility. It's definitely not 'Monday-Wednesday-Friday from 10am to 11am you've got to be at this class at this time.'"

Wyoming's goal is to ensure that 6 in ten adult residents have an industry-recognized credential by 2025. When the work started under Governor Mead, just 40% had credentials. That number is now over 50%, and Moritz says scholarships are key for reaching 60% because they remove one of the biggest barriers for people of all ages to get good-paying jobs.

"In this day and age, the economy is changing so rapidly that everybody has to be a lifelong learner. Everybody has to be adaptable and be learning new skills," Moritz said.


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New Mexico teachers educating young people about climate change don't want them to feel hopeless - and they've developed an educational curriculum to match that outlook.

Fiana Shapiro, environmental education instructional coordinator for the Sandia Mountain Natural History Center, part of the New Mexico Museum of Natural History & Science, said young people recognize that climate change is going to shape their futures - where they live, their vocation and quality of life. As part of the 350 New Mexico Climate Education Committee, Shapiro has helped develop Climate Hope, a middle-school climate curriculum.

"Most students know what it is, know some basics about it - they might know how it's connected to drought and even dryness," she said, "not necessarily a whole lot beyond that - but it really does depend on the school."

The 350 project has piloted the education curriculum in a handful of Albuquerque middle-school classrooms and held a recent teacher workshop to help them prepare lesson plans.

New Mexico has been hit by major forest fires followed by flooding this summer resulting in deaths, and the destruction of at least 500 homes.

In addition to adapting to a warming world, Shapiro said young people need climate education in order to develop green skills and understand what's needed to combat climate change - starting with reduction and eventual elimination of fossil fuels and including conservation of water and the thinning of forests. In order to engage, she believes kids need to know what's happening in New Mexico and around the world, "and that there are things that are being done already, and that can be done.

"We don't want to leave them with the idea of doom and gloom and everything's going wrong and that's it," she said. "We want to leave them with the idea that there are things that can be done and there's things they can do."

She said the four-lesson curriculum includes information about climate justice - the fact that people contributing the least to climate change are often the most affected.

Mississippians who have just graduated from college this summer may be celebrating now but they also just joined the millions of Americans facing student loan repayment, as their six-month grace period ends soon.

Mississippi residents share $16.2 billion in student loan debt.

Brian Walsh, head of advice and planning at SoFi, a personal finance company, recommended proactive budgeting and emphasized the importance of treating the loan payment as a non-negotiable expense.

"Build your budget as if you have that payment -- maybe you make payments when you don't have to, maybe you throw it in a checking savings account -- whatever it may be, build that budget accordingly," Walsh advised. "Then, figure out the best approach for you when it comes to paying back your student loans."

According to the website EducationData.org, just over 15.% of state residents, or about 447,000 people, have student loan debt, with an average of more than $36,000.

Walsh noted Mississippi college students who struggle with loan payments have multiple options for reducing costs, including processes like consolidation and refinancing.

"Consolidation is through the federal government, where essentially you would be combining however many federal student loans you have, and it makes one payment, makes things easier," Walsh explained. "You can adjust the repayment terms so you can lower your payment but your interest rate isn't going to change."

The Saving on a Valuable Education program, which is an income-driven repayment plan for federal student aid, remains in effect, as approved by the courts. Students can still sign up for the program, choose other income-driven repayment options, or consolidate their loans, according to the government website StudentAid.gov.

Support for this reporting was provided by Lumina Foundation.

A University of Georgia outreach program is giving veterans a new start in agriculture.

With the help of a $750,000 grant, the Farm Boot Camp will offer workshops on a monthly basis for free to veterans who want to learn about farming. The initiative formed by the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences and the College of Family and Consumer Sciences aims to address the growing number of veterans seeking agricultural training.

Kyle Haney, rural health manager at the University of Georgia who oversees the boot camp, said it will equip participants with essential knowledge to kick-start their farming businesses.

"The training this round with Farm Boot Camp, we're going to have, of course, the general agriculture knowledge trainings, but then we are looking at a much more well-rounded training," Haney explained. "Really focusing on farm business aspect, farm marketing, looking at how to sell your products."

He pointed out the training will also provide them access to additional resources tailored to their veteran status. The program is part of a larger statewide initiative called Farm Again, focused on supporting people in agriculture who live with disabilities.

Haney noted the Farm Boot Camp goes beyond farming, serving as a platform for veterans to connect and continue their call to service. He emphasized it also plays a crucial role in expanding the state's workforce.

"Here in Georgia, agriculture is our number one industry," Haney stressed. "With that, that means there's a lot of job opportunities. And we need to make sure that we can fulfill that workforce that we have here for agriculture, and so we really hope with this training program that it's going to provide the veterans the training they need, whether they're going to be farmers or farmworkers."

While the main focus is veterans, Haney added the workshops are open to everyone.