As of July 1, Del Mar College is once again offering Adult Education classes for free.

For four years beginning in 2014, the college served over 8,000 students with a $6 million Adult Education and Literacy Grant from the Texas Workforce Commission. But in 2018 the grant was not renewed, forcing the college to drop the course.

But now, there are two grants that are currently active through Del Mar College. One grant assists with GED preparation, or high school equivalency preparation, along with career training services. The second grant is focused on English Language Learners and English as a Second Language.

Both grants are once again funded by the Texas Workforce Commission. The grants are open to residents of Nueces, Aransas, Bee, Brooks, Duval, Jim Wells, Kenedy, Kleberg, Refugio, and San Patricio counties.

“Our enrollment targets are 634 students for the High School Equivalency grant and 297 for the English Language Learners grant for the first year,” Director of Adult Education and Literacy Grant Elizabeth Zamora said.

The Adult Education, career training services, and ESL all have abundant classes offered. The class size is typically no more than 20 students at a time with ages of students who attend ranging from 16 years old to mid-60s.

 “Students typically have daily struggles and challenges such as transportation, technical skills on a phone or computer, childcare, and work,” according to Assistant Director of Adult Education and ESL Jennifer Howard.

Del Mar tries to accommodate these factors by offering morning and evening classes in-person and asynchronous online classes.

According to the Del Mar College website, online courses offered give the students the freedom to complete the course when they choose as it is offered at their own pace. For those who prefer in-person classes, Del Mar also offers condensed courses that meet over two months and held twice a week for three hours.

“These students inspire the families, classmates, and colleagues in their lives, but they inevitably inspire the teachers they work with, and they demonstrate the kind of commitment and persistence that we should all incorporate in our lives.” Zamora said.

Howard hopes with the return of the grant, more people can take advantage of the program. “We can help the community see that it is easy to get into a class, and once you’re there it is not as hard as you thought it would be,she explained. “We hope to continue to make dreams come alive, if you can dream it and get here, we can help you move forward.”

For more information, contact Adult Basic Education at 361-698-2101 or ael@delmar.edu.