Work While You Learn

The Ready to Work Program encourages the success of low-income students by helping them overcome barriers and start a career path to establish the tools for a better future. The program is designed to promote the success of those Henderson Community College (HCC) students who receive KTAP benefits by helping them transition into college life and providing them with a support system as they pursue a certificate, diploma, or degree.

The Ready to Work Coordinator provides eligible students with:

• Assistance with navigating the enrollment and financial aid process
• Career counseling, advising, and mentoring
• Referrals to community resources
• Referrals to on-campus resources
• Job readiness skills, life skills, and academic success training

In addition, students who participate in the Ready to Work program have the opportunity to gain paid work experience with both private and non-profit employers through a work-study position. These placements can be either on campus or in the community in which the student lives. This work study placement meets KTAP work component requirements and the student is eligible to earn federal minimum wage for the time that they work. This income does not reduce the student s KTAP income.

To be eligible for Ready to Work, you must:

• Be a current KTAP recipient
• Be enrolled at HCC

The RTW Coordinator works closely with the student's KTAP case manager to assure that the student accesses all available resources to be successful in college while remaining in compliance with KTAP regulations.

Through Ready to Work, education is a pathway to self-sufficiency. If you are motivated and ready to take the next step to self-sufficiency in your life, then Ready to Work is the right place for you!

*The Ready to Work program is a collaboration between the Kentucky Community and Technical College System (KCTCS) and the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services (CHFS).

The Work and Learn program is essential to the success of low-income students to help them overcome barriers and start a career path to establish the tools required for a better future. It is designed to promote the success of Kentucky Transitional Assistance Program (KTAP) recipients in adult basic education who are in the process of earning a General Equivalency Diploma (GED) or high school graduates needing basic skills remediation prior to enrolling in college. Students gain work experience while earning a salary that will not reduce their K-TAP income.

The program is a collaboration between the Kentucky Community and Technical College System (KCTCS) and the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services.

The Work and Learn case manager provides eligible students with:

• Career counseling, advising and mentoring
• Referrals to community resources
• Job placement that meets KTAP work component requirements
• Job readiness, life skills, and academic success training
• Paid work experience with both private and non-profit employers
• Assistance with admissions and financial aid for students transitioning to Henderson Community College (HCC).

To be eligible for Work and Learn you must:

• Be working toward a GED at a Kentucky Adult Education site, or
• Possess a high school diploma and need basic skills remediation
• before entering college
• Be a current KTAP recipient

The Work and Learn case manager can work with local DCBS case workers to help participants gain access to resources for transportation, child care, work clothing, and a one-time graduation bonus of $250 once you have obtained your GED.