Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Career Scholarships Csa topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Students, families urge more funding for career scholarship accounts; witnesses describe pathways to careers
Summary
Multiple students and families testified that Career Scholarship Accounts (CSAs) and Career Scholarship Account program funding enable vocational and certification pathways that would otherwise be unaffordable; testimony included personal accounts of CNA, HVAC and aviation programs.
Students and family members told the subcommittee that Indiana'funded Career Scholarship Accounts (CSAs) and related career scholarship funding expand access to vocational and technical programs that help students obtain credentials and college credits.
Speakers included Victor McGuire, a junior in an aviation program who said the career scholarship helped him pursue pilot-related coursework and credits; Margaret Bloomer, a Cardinal Ritter student who said CSA funding paid for CNA training, clinicals and testing fees; and Angel Acosta, who said an HVAC certification funded by CSA provided a reliable trade pathway. "The financial burden that has been lifted off of me and so many other students," Acosta said, urging lawmakers to expand funding.
Parents and educators described wait lists and limited funding. Bloomer and other students said some programs require scrubs, equipment and testing fees that are barriers if not covered. Multiple witnesses told senators there is a waiting list for CSAs and urged the legislature to expand the program so more students can use it for graduation pathways and career-ready credentials.
Committee members asked about program administration and capacity; no formal action was recorded in the hearing transcript.
