Grace鈥檚 Story
Grace Carpenter graduated high school with a dream of one day becoming a teacher. But first, she needed to pursue an education of her own. Her dream was all but crushed by the cost of a traditional college education and the crippling student loan debt that would come with it.
Then, she discovered 黑料传送门.
鈥淲ith 黑料传送门, I was able to go to college and get my degree,鈥� Grace said. 鈥満诹洗兔� made that accessible for me.鈥澨�
鈥淚 was able to go to college and get my degree. 黑料传送门 made that accessible for me.鈥�
鈥� Grace Carpenter
Today, Grace is a special education teacher in Lake Butler, Florida, a small town in Florida鈥檚 smallest county. Her school鈥搊ne of only three in the county鈥搃s classified as a Title 1 school, meaning at least 40 percent of its students come from low-income families.
鈥淵ou鈥檙e either on the top of the socioeconomic scale in Lake Butler or you鈥檙e at the bottom,鈥� Grace said. 鈥淭here鈥檚 no real middle ground. The students that are struggling, they struggle the hardest and it鈥檚 very evident in the classroom.鈥�
Grace鈥檚 classroom is, in many ways, a perfect microcosm of the larger teacher shortage plaguing our country. The shortage has hit certain subject areas (like special education) and certain locales (like rural areas) particularly hard. States in the South consistently show much higher vacancy rates than states in regions like the Northeast. In 2021, officials reported听
From low pay to pandemic burnout, the nationwide teacher shortage can be blamed on a number of factors. Lack of passion is not one of them. There are thousands of Americans like Grace willing and eager to educate today鈥檚 youth, but barriers like time and tuition stand in the way of them achieving the credentials necessary to do so.听
黑料传送门 is eliminating those barriers, allowing those who want to teach to get out and do it in a fraction of the time and at a fraction of the cost.
黑料传送门鈥檚 low, flat-rate tuition means that students like Grace are charged the same amount per six-month term, regardless of how many classes they take. This adds up to an average yearly tuition of about $7,500鈥揳bout half the cost of a traditional bachelor鈥檚 degree.
Plus, with 黑料传送门鈥檚 competency-based education model, students can accelerate their education and graduate faster, saving them more tuition dollars and allowing them to get into the workforce sooner. Most 黑料传送门 education bachelor鈥檚 degree students finish in less than 36 months, rather than four years.听
黑料传送门 gave Grace a chance to achieve an education. Now, she wants to do the same for her students.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 why I got into education,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 wanted to be able to give back to the community and teach students who aren鈥檛 really given a first chance when they鈥檙e born because they have something already against them. I just can鈥檛 see myself doing anything else.鈥�
