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.   

Article by: Richard Guerrero, Jr. When it comes to cybersecurity training, the Cybersecurity Manufacturing Innovation Institute, or CyManII, is focused on creating technical innovations that drive a cybersecure and energy dominant U.S manufacturing enterprise and workforce. CyManII is based at The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) and includes the Center for Infrastructure Assurance and Security, the Institute for Cyber Security and the Cyber Center for Security and Analytics. As part of the organization’s outreach initiatives, CyManII has unveiled its Mobile Training Vehicle (MTV), a state-of-the-art learning lab on wheels. The MTV provides all the advantages of the organization’s classroom and learning lab – the Cyber Range – but in a remote capacity, which gives manufacturers and university students the opportunity to detect, identify and effectively mitigate cyber threats. On Feb. 26 and Feb. 27, Del Mar College students, faculty and staff got a chance to step inside and explore cutting-edge cyber technology the MTV houses, meet CyManII experts and see real-world cybersecurity tools in action. The public is invited to stop by, get inspired and discover how DMC is connected to the future of cyber innovation through its Computer Science Program while meeting with faculty!   Xu adds: “It also highlights the strong Network Administration and Information Security (NAIS) programs we offer at Del Mar College, where we prepare learners for high‑demand careers. We encourage everyone to stop by, engage with the technology, and see how cybersecurity skills impact every industry.”