New River Community College is offering a handful of programs in 2021 that provide new tuition assistance to retrain those unemployed or underemployed due to COVID-19.
Through the Re-Employing Virginians (REV) campaign, the governor’s office is providing Virginia’s Community Colleges $27 million to help current and future students cover the costs of tuition and fees in fields that will lead to careers in their community.
To receive REV funds, recipients must be a Virginia citizen, they must have filed a claim for unemployment benefits on or after Aug. 1, 2020, or they must have lost a full-time job due to COVID-19 and currently earn less than $15 per hour or lost a full-time job because COVID-19 caused their employer to close or reduce staffing, and they are now working in a part-time job that pays less than $15 per hour.
The REV voucher will pay up to $1,500 toward the cost of tuition and fees for part-time enrollment (11 semester hours or less) or up to $3,000 toward the cost of tuition and fees for full-time enrollment (12 hours or more) for credit programs.
Recipients of REV funds must be pursuing classes in a high-demand area such as early childhood education, health care, information technology, manufacturing, public safety or skilled trades. NRCC offers more than 60 REV-eligible programs including associate degree, certificate, diploma and career studies certificate credit programs. For a complete list of available programs at NRCC, visit www.nr.edu/rev.
Students must enroll in a qualified program by Dec. 14, 2020, to receive REV funding. This is a one-time funding effort to help Virginians recover from job loss and underemployment due to COVID-19. To enroll or speak with an NRCC REV team member, contact rev@nr.edu or call (540) 674-3738. Contact information as well as a list of frequently asked questions is available at www.nr.edu/rev.