To commemorate National Hispanic Heritage Month and fill the growing need for a robust, well-educated Hispanic workforce in Texas, WGU Texas has signed an agreement with the Texas Association of Mexican American Chambers of Commerce (TAMACC). TAMACC, is a 39-year-old Austin-based organization, consisting of 24 local Hispanic chambers of commerce throughout Texas, and represents more than 15,000 Hispanic business members. WGU Texas is the first university to partner with TAMACC.
WGU Texas will award five Hispanic Achiever Scholarships, each valued at up to $5,000 ($1,000 per term for up to five terms) to encourage TAMACC members and their employees to get a college degree, Members and their employees will also receive a five percent tuition discount (for up to two years) and can also apply for scholarships offered through the WGU Texas Institutional Partners Scholarship program.
“To succeed in our state’s competitive economy, Hispanic business owners need workers with top-notch credentials and management skills,” said JR Gonzales, Executive Vice Chair at TAMACC. “WGU Texas is offering our members an affordable and credible path to get their college degree, while continuing to successfully grow their businesses.”
The demand for educated and skilled workers in Texas continues to rise. By 2020, 62 percent of the jobs in Texas will require post-secondary education, according to a study by the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce. However, while the fastest growing workforce fields require college degrees, Hispanics continue to have the lowest post-secondary degree attainment of any population. Currently, fewer than 17.18 percent Hispanic Texans have attained a two- or four-year degree.
John Flores, a network engineer in Houston, Texas, and a father of two sons under the age of three, earned a B.S. Information Technology from WGU Texas in a year and a half and is now working toward his master’s degree. “The best thing about WGU Texas is that the university values the knowledge you already have, and teaches you what you don’t know,” he said.
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