WSU Loses Migrant Education Program: PULLMAN, Wash. – A Washington State University program that for more than four decades helped educate migrant workers and their children has lost its federal funding.
The program helped students to pass the GED tests, which certified they had high-school-level skills. It was the oldest program of its kind funded by the U.S. Office of Migrant Education and was the university's first program for minorities.
Over the years, some 3,700 students enrolled in the High School Equivalency Program. Of those, 80 percent were Hispanic, mostly from central Washington, while 20 percent were Indians, WSU said.
When the grant was not renewed this summer, six faculty and staff members lost their jobs. The university will reapply for the grant in 2010 in hopes of continuing the program, said College of Education interim dean Phyllis Erdman.
