Hartnell gets $2.3 million grant to help migrant students get high school diploma

The U.S. Department of Education has just awarded a five-year, $2.3 million grant to Hartnell Community College for its High School Equivalency Program, which helps seasonal farmworkers and their children to obtain the equivalent of a high school diploma.

The grant will also fund programs to help graduates gain employment, receive job training, and apply for postsecondary education.

“A good education is the pathway to success,” Congressman Sam Farr (D-Calif.) said in a statement. “Farmworkers and their families are incredibly important members of our Central Coast community and I’m very pleased to support this program to help them better their lives.”

Hartnell’s high school equivalency program was recently ranked in the top five best performing programs in the United States with an above 90 percent graduation rate.