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Invest in Your Future with Complete Your Degree Program

Want to turn your ‘someday’ into today? The Oceana Community Foundation wants to help you increase your earning potential and enjoy a life filled with more opportunities and benefits. The Foundation is ready to invest in nontraditional students (adults of any age) & your careers with our Complete Your Degree (CYD) program! The CYD program helps to reduce the barriers, guide the way, and provide the support needed to reach your goals! Partnering with MCC & WSCC, the CYD program is geared up to help local adults achieve degrees and credentials. Adult learners residing in Oceana County are encouraged to apply by following the application instructions at our website, under the scholarship tab. The application remains open year-round to meet more student needs along their career pathway, allowing people to apply at any time!

Through the Complete Your Degree program, students have access to renewable academic scholarships, emergency aid funding for barriers (like childcare, food, medical care, and transportation needs), and access to a Success Coach. The Coach supports, advocates and provides motivation towards success at your school. The Foundation is committed to students of all ages by supporting them, investing in them, and helping them until they reach their goals. One of our newer CYD students, Lauryn Moore, shared her experience with deciding to go back to the college and her challenges, “Not only could I never afford to go, but I had no clue how to get started. All the odds were against me as I would be the first in my family to attend college. The CYD program gives me hope and the ability to encourage others just like me.”

Together with the state’s Futures for Frontliners, MI Reconnect programs and other state or college resources, CYD will fill the remaining cost of tuition at MCC or WSCC. These scholarships are renewable for participating students until they graduate or transfer to a different school. The student needs to apply only once into the program and when accepted, will receive needed support until graduation or transfer.

The CYD program was designed to make a more meaningful impact with scholarship dollars for our adult learners and our community. This program helps to reduce employment skill gaps in our community, thereby increasing household prosperity and fostering a more vibrant economy. The program will begin its third year in fall 2024, currently supporting 11 students, with three who have successfully completed their degree! These three graduates earned their RN degree, IT networking degree and Electrical certification/apprenticeship. Alan Cruz, who completed his electrical certificate in fall of 2023 and earned an apprenticeship, shared “All I had to worry about was to give it my 100% and complete my certificate! I believe it will be so rewarding once I reach my goal of becoming a master electrician and have my own business.”

Don’t wait and sign up now! Learn more about this initiative by contacting Foundation CEO, Tammy Carey, at tammy@oceanafoundation.org or Program Officer, Hannah Naples, at hannah@oceanafoundation.org or call the Foundation office at 231-869-3377.