Adult education, ESL available at Del Mar College and Education Service Center-Region 2

Adult learners interested in high school equivalency and English as a Second Language classes can receive services from Del Mar College and the Education Service Center-Region 2.

While adult students are working to earn high school credentials, they can also co-enroll in workforce training programs with the potential of earning industry credentials as well.

The Texas Workforce Commission provides grant funding to allow students to take advantage of free adult education courses. For the past several years, ESC-2 has been the recipient of the grant.

Before that, Del Mar College was the grant recipient. In recent years, the college has continued to offer adult education at low or no cost through other grants and funding sources.

Now, the commission is splitting grant funding between the two. Del Mar College is receiving the full grant amount to provide free ESL courses for residents of Aransas, Bee, Brooks, Duval, Jim Wells, Kenedy, Refugio, San Patricio and Nueces counties.

Grant funding for high school equivalency is split with ESC-2. Del Mar College will have services for residents of Aransas, Kenedy, Kleberg, San Patricio and half of Nueces counties. ESC-2 will serve Bee, Brooks, Duval, Jim Wells, Refugio and half of Nueces counties.

"We're working hand in hand with Del Mar," ESC-2 human resources administrator Carlos Guerra said.

The grants go into effect in July. Both are two year grants with the possibility of three one-year extensions for each grant.

According to a news release from Del Mar College, they aim to help 635 residents annually complete high school credentials, including over 50 individuals who are incarcerated, paroled or on probation, and reach 300 students whose primary language is not English.

"When students come to Del Mar and they don't have a high school diploma, we enter them into classes that get them prepared for the GED exam, but also what we do is we (offer) them a career pathway," Del Mar College associate vice president of continuing education and off-campus programs Leonard Rivera said. "For instance, it could be book-keeping, it could be welding, it could be in a healthcare track."

That way, when students who choose the career pathway finish their high school equivalency program, they'll also have earned an industry credential they can use to find a job.

At Del Mar College, continuing education courses are stackable and count toward further programs and degrees.

"They could stack that into a Level I Certificate, a Level II Certificate, an associate's degree, or now we have a bachelor's degree," Rivera said.

The ESC-2 can also direct students to career and technology classes, Guerra said.

Both the ESC-2 and Del Mar College programs are free.

"If they stopped going to high school or even stopped out in middle school, it allows them to com back and earn their high school equivalency and it's really just a matter of them making time," Rivera said. "The only expenditure is the time they'll need to invest in courses."

Courses will be offered in the day and evening, as well as online and through distance learning options.

For more information about the Del Mar College programs, potential students can learn more at www.delmar.edu/ce/index.html or by contacting 361-698-2101 or ael@delmar.edu.

For more information about the Education Service Center, Region-2 programs, potential students can call (361) 561-8400.

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This article originally appeared on Corpus Christi Caller Times: Adult education, ESL available at Del Mar College and Education Service Center-Region 2