Article by DMC College Relations Tuesday, April 7, the Del Mar College (DMC) Board of Regents will hold their regular monthly meeting beginning at 1 p.m. in Room 106 of the college’s Center for Economic Development at 3209 S. Staples (78411). Get online directions and facility map.  The regular meeting also will be livestreamed. Community members may access the meeting by going to the online video link at www.delmar.edu/webcast/ by 12:55 p.m. A copy of the Agenda Notice and Board Packet is available online as follows:www.delmar.edu/regents-and-community/board-of-regents/_resources/agendas/agenda-4-7-26.pdf. Meeting agendas and other resources are also available on the DMC Board of Regents web page at www.delmar.edu/regents-and-community/board-of-regents/index.html. The health and safety of students, faculty, staff and visitors are a priority for Del Mar College. To view the College’s guidelines, visit www.delmar.edu/rtc/index.html.      

Article by: Richard Guerrero, Jr. As the spring semester moves into high gear, the thoughts of high school upperclassmen are undoubtedly focused on what comes next. For the undecided, Del Mar College has them covered with an information awareness initiative called “Discover Del Mar” that’s offered each fall and spring semester so that South Texas high schoolers can explore their options.  This semester, nearly 850 high school juniors and seniors from 27 South Texas public, private and charter schools visited the college’s Windward Campus on March 26. Among students attending, DMC officials visited with 39 students from Banquete High School, 25 students from Odem High School, 56 students from Hebbronville High School, and 24 students from Por Vida Academy in Corpus Christi, just to name a few. Veronica Barbosa, Student Enrollment Specialist with the Student Enrollment Center, says 12 DMC departments provided breakout sessions for the visiting students.   She added that the DMC team sent school counselors a short video on what to expect when the students arrive on campus. “Discover Del Mar creates a meaningful bridge between high schools and higher education, giving students direct access to college resources and opportunities while helping Del Mar College build connections, showcase its programs and inspire future enrollment through real, on-campus experiences,” Barbosa said.

News release provided by Elizabeth Christian Public Relations Texas Mutual Insurance Company—the state’s leading provider of workers’ compensation insurance—has awarded a $100,000 grant to Del Mar College (DMC) to support workplace safety training. The funding will strengthen safety programs offered through DMC’s Continuing Education and Workforce Programs & Corporate Services Departments, providing valuable training for area employers and their employees, along with the broader community. 2026 marks the 13th consecutive year that Texas Mutual has awarded a $100,000 grant to support safety training courses targeting several workforce sectors in the Coastal Bend. Over the past year, Texas Mutual’s grant funding supported DMC safety training for nearly 700 students. These individuals took 78 classes that totaled more than 1,520 course hours. The college’s comprehensive safety training is designed to meet diverse workforce needs. Courses emphasize both prevention and preparedness that empower participants to identify hazards, apply best practices and respond confidently in critical situations. Safety training addresses the needs of several employment sectors ranging from construction, healthcare and industrial to equipment operations, maritime, energy and food service. DMC provides industry-recognized safety and certification training, including the OSHA 30-Hour course, healthcare CPR and AED instruction, mariner safety techniques and heavy equipment operator training. In many instances, these courses are offered at little to no cost by using Texas Mutual funds to support the college’s safety training programs. The grant removes financial barriers among individuals and employers, especially underserved populations and small businesses, giving them access to essential safety education that otherwise might be out of reach. Learn more about Del Mar College’s safety training offerings by visiting delmar.edu/ce/index.html.  For more information on Texas Mutual and its work in the community, visit texasmutual.com. -### About Texas Mutual Insurance Company Austin-based Texas Mutual Insurance Company is the state’s leading provider of workers’ compensation insurance, serving nearly 40% of the market and over 80,000 businesses. Since 1991, Texas Mutual has provided stable, competitive coverage, exceptional service and industry-leading safety resources to help build a stronger, safer Texas. Texas Mutual is also the parent company of Texicare, a health affiliate dedicated to providing innovative solutions that increase access to more affordable, easy-to-use, quality healthcare for Texas businesses, employees and families. With nearly $4.8 billion paid to policyholders in general dividends and $100 million invested in organizations strengthening our community, Texas Mutual is committed to the future of Texas.

Article by Melinda Eddleman Del Mar College’s (DMC) Freedom to Dream Tuition Waiver Program is changing lives. A first for DMC, this innovative program is designed to expedite qualifying in-district students’ completion of an associate’s degree within a three-year period by attending full time after signing a commitment contract. The college has now launched the online inquiry and application process for its revised version, Freedom to Dream 2.0, for the 2026-2027 academic year. The web page includes updates that address selected students’ college readiness to ensure their success in reaching their goals. The deadline to apply is April 30. To date, over 1,815 in-district residents have applied for Freedom to Dream 2.0. And, for anyone living within the Del Mar College taxing district but hesitant about beginning a journey in higher education, ask 31-year-old Pamela Mangum about how her life is changing as a participant in the program. The 2013 Tuloso-Midway High School graduate “signed the dotted line” last year and is among more than 1,700 in-district students enrolled at DMC through the Freedom to Dream initiative. The program is supporting her journey to complete her associate’s degree in computer programming, a dream that might have gone unfulfilled without that assistance.   Like many individuals’ experiences, Mangum started college right after high school but then dropped out when mounting family obligations and challenges took precedence. In her case, the birth of her daughter with a medical condition requiring round-the-clock care, her husband’s full-time job and apprenticeship to become an electrician as well as living and medical expenses leading to a paycheck-to-paycheck existence put her college education on hold. Now she can reach her goal through DMC’s Freedom to Dream initiative, and so can a new cohort of in-district students for the 2026-2027 academic year with “Freedom to Dream 2.0.” She notes that focusing on college readiness and the addition of “Success Coaches”  will keep students on track from the beginning to the end of their educational journey at DMC. “Our goal is successful student outcomes as we prepare all Freedom to Dream participants for the workforce or their next path in higher education that they choose to take, ” Dr. Benavides-Dominguez adds, noting the persistence rate among the first cohort between this year’s fall and spring semesters is 82 percent compared to the college’s original goal of 70 percent. Success Coaches’ primary focus is to increase student retention, persistence and graduation rates for Freedom to Dream students. These individuals provide students with personalized coaching so that students meet tuition waiver program requirements, complete educational and transfer goals as well as connect to resources that support academic success. “Freedom to Dream has a requirement that I attend two advising meetings each semester, and I’m extremely grateful for this because my advisor consistently gives me information about scholarships, pathways to check out and easier ways to help me succeed,”  Mangum notes. Compared to the first iteration of Freedom to Dream that Mangum is completing, DMC’s revised Freedom to Dream 2.0 Tuition Waiver Program focuses on “college readiness” as a requirement along with other updates associated with this change:        • Applicants must demonstrate their preparedness for college-level courses by earning college       readiness benchmark scores on the Texas Success Imitative Assessment (TSIA) 2.0 test.       See steps to take the TSIA test and readiness score requirements.      • Freedom to Dream 2.0 will not cover tuition for developmental courses needed to bring         participants up to college level work in English, mathematics and reading. Students can alternately pursue stackable “Marketable Skills Awards” offered through DMC Continuing Education (CE) programs that can count toward academic programs, build workforce skills and are considered by the state as “credentials of value.” Qualifying individuals must live within the college’s taxing district, which includes the Corpus Christi, Calallen, Flour Bluff, Tuloso-Midway and West Oso Independent School Districts and parts of London and Robstown ISDs.  Other criteria include:      • High school graduates must be part of the Class of 2026, including General Education          Development (GED) recipients, and Dual Credit students, who are eligible regardless of the          number of credits they’ve earned.      • Adult learners must have 12 or fewer semester credit hours completed and have attempted no          more than 18 semester hours at the time the fall 2026 semester begins, which is Aug. 24.  Among other requirements original to the program are 1) enrollment as a full-time student with no less than 12 semester credit hours each semester (fall and spring) and 2) maintaining a minimum 2.0 grade point average to continue receiving the tuition waiver. When Mangum completes her journey at Del Mar College, she will be the first in her family to graduate from college. She adds, “This waiver has changed the course of not only my life but my children’s as well.”   To learn more about qualifying criteria for Freedom to Dream 2.0 and to fill out an online request for information form, visit www.delmar.edu/freedom.  Before the April 30 application deadline, interested “in-district” residents can also attend a Freedom to Dream 2.0 information session scheduled at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday for the remaining dates and campuses:      • March 18: Main Central Building, Oso Creek Campus, 7002 Yorktown Blvd. (78414)      • April 15: Coleman Center, Windward Campus, 4101 Old Brownsville Road (78405) Questions? Contact Del Mar College’s Student Enrollment Center at 361-698-1290 or enroll@delmar.edu.