RICHMOND — The State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV) awarded more than $524,000 in grants to four institutions of higher education to help transform on-campus federal work-study jobs to function more like internships. SCHEV awarded the grants as part of the Virginia Talent + Opportunity Partnership (V-TOP).

Germanna Community College, George Mason University, James Madison University and the University of Mary Washington each received grants.

“These grants will help Virginia institutions transform their work study programs to accommodate the specific needs of students, while also providing high quality work-based learning experiences,” said Scott Fleming, SCHEV director. “As we continue to work to make Virginia the best state for education, providing support and flexibility for institutions to apply innovative approaches to programs like work study is critical for student success.”

Germanna Community College and George Mason University will receive three-year grants for $200,000 each to scale current on-campus projects. Germanna will expand an existing pilot from several internal departments to a college-wide federal work-study transformation. Mason will use a recent study of student employment, participation in the Work + Collective Institute and the success of existing federal work-study and internship programs to inform scaled improvements.

James Madison University will receive a two-year grant for $100,000 to transform their existing federal work-study program to provide scaffolded support to students while building capacity for local organizations.

A one-year grant of $24,994 to the University of Mary Washington will support internal information gathering and planning to begin transforming their federal work-study program.

This is the third round of the Transforming Federal Work-Study grant awards. In previous rounds, SCHEV distributed a total of $492,372 to eight institutions including: The College of William & Mary, Longwood University, Northern Virginia Community College, Old Dominion University, Piedmont Virginia Community College, University of Virginia at Wise, Virginia Commonwealth University and Virginia Tech.

The call for proposals for the fourth round will open on January 22, 2025. V-TOP has allocated $920,000 for FY 2025 Transforming FWS competitive grants.

V-TOP is administered by the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia in partnership with the Virginia Chamber of Commerce Foundation and the Virginia Business Higher Education Council. It is funded by the General Assembly’s Commonwealth Innovative Internship Fund and Program.
Media resources including news advisories and releases are available at www.schev.edu/media.

The State Council of Higher Education for Virginia is the state’s coordinating agency for higher education. With Pathways to Opportunity: The Virginia Plan for Higher Education, SCHEV is dedicated to making Virginia the best state for education by 2030. For more on this statewide strategic plan, visit schev.edu/TheVirginiaPlan.