By Scott Harvey
Commerce – Texas A&M University-Commerce is one of eight Texas universities that will offer specialized programs for returning students.
The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board Tuesday announced a campaign for college dropouts to return and finish their bachelor's degree. The Grad Texas program targets adults who have 90 or more credit hours toward the 120 hours needed for a degree.
The program's website, www.GradTX.org, features an online transfer tool that allows returning students to enter completed coursework and preview how their credits would count toward a bachelor's degree at a participating university.
A recent study by the Center on Education and the Workforce shows that the average weekly wage for workers without a college degree in 2010 was $712. Workers with a bachelor's degree earned an average of $1,038.
A&M-Commerce and the University of North Texas System are the only regional schools currently participating in the program.