CLEVELAND, Ohio — Some Cleveland State students have noticed the increase in adult students on campus.
- A $125,000 grant from the Lumina Foundation will go toward helping students reach their educational goals
- College Now worked alongside Cleveland State University and Team NEO to apply for the "Talent Hub" designation and grant
- The Talent Hub will also build on efforts to establish adult-friendly internship pathways with local employers
"I think people are realizing more nowadays that it’s not necessary right away out of high school to go to college. People save up or figure out what they want to do before they spend the money," said Riley Kuse, a Cleveland State student.
Taylor Portzer is a grad student at Cleveland State and knows the challenges college students can face, especially when they're older.
"I’ve actually been here for four years now. I obtained my undergrad here for free, actually. I’m here on all scholarship and then I actually had the opportunity of a grad assistantship,” said Portzer.
Julie Szeltner, with College Now Greater Cleveland, a college access program, says a $125,000 grant will go toward helping students reach their educational goals, after Cleveland was named a "Talent Hub" by the Lumina Foundation, a private foundation out of Indianapolis that tries to create opportunities for learning after high school.
"There’s a lot of adults who either never started college, or started and didn’t finish, who could really help both the community and the economy and themselves if they got just a little more education,” said Szeltner.
College Now says it worked alongside Cleveland State and Team NEO to get the "Talent Hub" designation, which was awarded because the city meets standards for creating environments that attract and retain today’s students, many of whom are minorities and the first in their family to go to college.
College Now says the Talent Hub will also build on existing efforts to establish adult-friendly internship pathways with local employees.
