B/CS in DC: Expanding access to higher education, post high school training

BRYAN, Texas (KBTX) – There are a lot of options for people looking to access higher education in Bryan College Station. But many may not know this doesn’t just mean going to college and getting a degree. That’s why a group of local leaders are in Washington D.C. speaking with elected officials about beating current barriers.

The group consists of 35 delegates from Brazos County and has advocates from various local businesses, Chamber of Commerce members, and city leaders. Leighton Schubert, the Executive Vice Chancellor at Blinn College, is on the trip and says speaking with national leaders about higher education is vital to securing a thriving community.

“One of the main things we’re looking at in higher education is how we can reduce barriers for students to have access to higher education. One of the biggest barriers for students is financial barriers. That’s why we want to advocate for increased financial aid, whether that be grants Pell Grants, loans, those sort of things to really reduce those barriers for students to have access to higher education,” he said.

But it doesn’t just have to be to get a degree. The Youth Engagement Office at Texas A&M works to reach students about pursuing education beyond high school.

“We’ve really been focused on how we are helping the youth across the state of Texas understand what their post-secondary options are. So it’s really neat our work in that, we’re not recruiters, we’re not trying necessarily to get students to come to Texas A&M and we’re trying to help address the problem in the state, which is that not enough students are pursuing some sort of secondary education to meet the workforce demands of the state,” Director Stephanie Burns said. “We see a lot is that students don’t pursue post-secondary education for financial reasons and that can feel hard to address because we can’t give every student money.”

This isn’t the only reason students are given to forgo that post-high school education, whether that be a training certificate or degree. Donna Willett, the Bryan ISD Director of Counseling Services says many don’t hear about these options until high school or even ever.

“We have a lot of what we call first-generation like no one in there and their family has gone to college and so many students don’t feel like that’s an option for them,” she said. “Our goal is to share with them, yes, we’d love for you to get a degree but these are other opportunities that are here through our career and technology department. We touch a lot of those we have many of those introduction programs that will get them a basic certificate, then they can move on to more advanced certificates.”

These are the students Schubert says they hope to reach and hope national leaders put some focus on too.

“We have students that come out of a welding certificate making 100,000 dollars a year and that’s an incredible amount of money. It’s honest hard work, but it’s vital to our economy to increase not only the number of workers but also their skill levels as well,” he said. “We feel in higher education that that continuing education is really the great equalizer and that that really moves a generation forward.”