Idaho high school seniors can now apply for Launch program

BOISE, Idaho (CBS2) — Idaho high school seniors can now apply for the Launch program. Gov. Little met with students and faculty at Boise State's School of Materials Science and Engineering on Tuesday to discuss the program.

The Launch program will help students who want to pursue an apprenticeship, certificate, training, or two or four-year degree that leads to an in-demand career.

High school graduates pursuing in-demand careers will be eligible for grants of up to $8,000 or 80 percent of tuition and fees.

"What I hear from teachers and counselors is so many kids, basically, their horizon wasn't past that high school degree," said Gov. Brad Little. "As we get more information out there, they're going to know that there's more opportunities."

Those in-demand careers, a list of more than 200 determined by the Idaho Workforce Development Council annually, include healthcare, teaching, computer science and engineering.

The Launch program could help students who major in materials science, like Noah Montrose. He is not eligible for the program since he's already a junior at BSU.

The opportunities for him after school are endless.

"I think working at INL would be cool, something metallurgy, but then again, Micron knocking on our doors, so that would be a great opportunity as well," Montrose said.

The goal of Launch is to give graduating high schoolers a hand-up in accessing post-secondary education.

"To have that extra leap to go to college, to be a bigger incentive, to go to college is nice," Montrose said.

Another goal is to increase Idaho's go-on rate from where it is now, about 37 percent to 60 percent.

"We're putting workforce training on steroids from where it was before," Gov. Little said. "The affordability and the access was a problem. This will significantly help with affordability."

The director at BSU's School of Materials Science and Engineering, Amy Moll, calls the Launch program a game changer.

"For students to be able to think about engineering, focus on their studies, to have those resources so they maybe don't have to work so much, they can really spend the time focusing on their studies. I think it's going to bring an awesome number of students into engineering, and there's all kinds of careers out there," said Moll.

The program has enough funding to offer awards to about half of Idaho seniors - about 10,000 students.

"It's going to be a heavy lift for Boise State and CWI and all of the trade schools to basically ramp up room for hopefully 10,000 more students," Gov. Little said.

The governor encourages students to apply as soon as possible.

Priority will be based on financial need and given to students seeking in-demand careers.

As applications open, Gov. Little's message to employers is, "We're making these resources available, now they need to get with those counselors and say, 'Come see what working in a modern automobile dealership is like, come see what it's like to work in a modern sawmill or modern food processing plant.'"

Applications close in April. Final award letters will be sent in June.

More information on Idaho Launch can be found here. Here is the link to apply.

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