Home » Somerset Community College awarded $2.3M grant to help farmers complete high school education

Somerset Community College awarded $2.3M grant to help farmers complete high school education

Helps workers complete GED

SOMERSET, Ky. (Dec. 8, 2016) — Somerset Community College has been named as a recipient of a competitive federal grant to assist farm workers in attaining a high school education.

SCC’s Project BEAM received the grant for $2.361 million, funded annually for five years. The grant, which stands for Bringing Education and Achievement to Migrants, is housed in Somerset, but is focused on residents in several counties, including Pulaski, Casey, Russell, Clinton, Wayne and Fayette, with additional outreach in McCreary and Adair counties.

According to Project BEAM Director Melissa Adams, the main objectives of the grant are to assist with GED preparation and classes for those working in agriculture. To qualify for the grant, which is funded through the U.S. Department of Education for the High school Equivalency program, enrollees must have worked 75 days on a farm that they did not own in the past two years.

Project BEAM has been in existence at SCC for 15 years. The grant is now fully funded through 2021.