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Online Company First To Receive State Reimbursement Funds

The Governor's Workforce Cabinet voted to reimburse Graduation Alliance for adult education programming on Thursday, Aug. 15.
Justin Hicks/IPB News
The Governor's Workforce Cabinet voted to reimburse Graduation Alliance for adult education programming on Thursday, Aug. 15.

An online learning company will soon be given state funding to help adults get their high school diploma. It’s the first organization approved to receive grant money from the Workforce Diploma Reimbursement fund.

The Governor’s Workforce Cabinet approved reimbursements for Graduation Alliance up to $6,750 for each eligible Hoosier adult who receives a high school diploma in their program. Its classes offer a mixture of online assignments as well as phone calls and texts with a teacher.

Graduation Alliance was one of six applicants for the program. It was the only one approved. It was also the only one not based in Indiana. 

But Greg Harp, chief development officer at Graduation Alliance says he hopes other adult education organizations will also be approved for grants.

“At the end of the day, we believe this is a big problem,” Harp says. “You know, [there are] over 600,000 people over the age of 18 without a high school diploma in Indiana. One group like us is not going to solve it.”

Graduation Alliance can begin offering online programs on Oct. 1, but Harp says he’s unsure exactly when it will launch in Indiana. It currently offers online classes in Michigan and Ohio. 

Contact Justin at  jhicks@wvpe.org or follow him on Twitter at @Hicks_JustinM

Justin Hicks is a workforce reporter for IPB News based at WVPE in Elkhart. He comes to Indiana by way of New York. He has a master's degree from the Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute at New York University and earned a Bachelor of Music Degree from Appalachian State University where he played trumpet. He first learned about Elkhart, Indiana, because of the stamp on his brass instrument indicating where it was produced. Justin was born and raised in Mt. Olive, North Carolina. He currently lives in South Bend with his dog, Charlotte.
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