Career stimulus brings over $4 million in full scholarships

Some hopeful news has arrived for those struggling in harsh economic times. Recent indicators show that job cuts are not accelerating, workers who have held onto their jobs continue to get raises and total employment is expected to increase 10 percent (15.6 million jobs) by 2016.

The bad news is that less-educated people continue to be the hardest hit by the recession. Many of those new 15.6 million jobs will require some kind of college degree.

The unemployment rate for those who have not gone beyond high school rose to 10 percent recently. By contrast, the jobless rate among those with 4-year college degrees was less than 5 percent. The disparity between those with 4-year degrees and those without only grows when looking at salary -- the average college graduate earns 80 percent more than those who have no education after high school.  

Maureen Pike of Baileyville, Maine, understands this all too well. She joined President Obama recently at his announcement on the expansion of job training and education programs. The mother of twins, Pike lost her job as a physician's receptionist, but she didn't lose hope. As the president noted that day, "She took it as an opportunity to upgrade her skills and earned an associate degree in nursing from a community college.  As a consequence, today she works as a registered nurse."

Pike was able to take advantage of her local career center to review her financial aid and job training options.

"By my third semester, I qualified for a Pell Grant, which is even a greater relief. This allowed me to be more stable as my unemployment was running out, and I could continue to go to school without constantly worrying about supporting my kids as a single mom," Pike says.

Inspired by success stories like Pike's, eLearners.com has developed the Career Stimulus Package -- a career coaching, employment and scholarship program designed to give Americans the opportunity to seize the career they want and prepare our country for the 21st century marketplace.

The campaign will offer more than 100 full-tuition scholarships worth more than $4 million, job shadowing programs at some of America's most innovative companies and a 40-city Empowerment Tour across the country providing free career counseling services and fundraising for additional adult-driven scholarship dollars.

"The undereducated, underemployed adult population is a silent crisis in America today and it needs a voice -- a very loud voice," explains Terrence Thomas, executive vice president of marketing operations for eLearners.


Visit CareerStimulus.com to schedule an appointment with a career counselor, apply for a scholarship, find a job shadowing opportunity or to see when the Career Stimulus Package Empowerment Tour will be in a city near you. Copyright © ARAnet, Inc.