SAN ANGELO, Texas — Dr. Andrew Tiger, interim dean of Angelo State University's Norris-Vincent College of Business (NVCOB), has been awarded a $151,296 grant from the U.S. Department of Education to enhance internship opportunities for ASU business students through the "NVCOB Internship Expansion Program," a press release from ASU said.
The grant was awarded through the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) and funded under the Governor's Emergency Education Relief Fund (GEERF) to support the THECB's Work-Based Learning Opportunity Grants - Internships program.
The NVCOB annually hosts 50-plus students, who participate in paid and unpaid internships with various entities. Through the "NVCOB Internship Expansion Program," most of the grant funding will be used to make all the internships paid and to increase the hourly internship wage to $20 an hour. Additionally, $28,500 of the grant will be used to provide additional financial aid to NVCOB students participating in internships who show financial need.
"We want to grow the yearly number of NVCOB interns to at least 100," Tiger said in the release. "We want our students to be professionally engaged with the community to experience professionalism in the 'real world' and positively impact the Concho Valley. We also want the NVCOB to be the Concho Valley's first choice when hiring business professionals, and internships are a very practical way to accomplish this."
ASU is one of 23 Texas colleges and universities sharing $4.8 million in THECB grant funding, and one of only four from the Lone Star Conference. The Work-Based Learning Opportunity Grants - Internships program is aimed at supporting or expanding existing, off-campus internship programs to strengthen the education-to-workforce pipeline, drive student opportunity and advance the state's economic competitiveness.
"Creating more opportunities for students to gain professional experience and hands-on training is critical to meeting our goals for Building a Talent-Strong Texas," Commissioner of Higher Education Harrison Keller said in the release. "Together, these grants will bolster the talent pipeline and offer meaningful work-based experiences that drive students into competitive careers and increased economic mobility."
A little more than $655,000 of the $4.8 million in grant funding went to six Texas community colleges for similar enhancements to their apprenticeship programs.
