With a new year of college getting underway, some Siouxland college officials are warily waiting for some federal program money to arrive.
Western Iowa Tech Community College official Revathi Vongsiprasom on Friday said that earlier in the week the college was facing critical decisions on staffing, while awaiting the decision on a grant proposal for Talent Search in a new five-year grant cycle. There were significant changes to requests for proposals for that most recent application.
On Wednesday, a staffer of U.S Senator Joni Ernst, "informed us that WITCC was in fact funded, the full amount requested," Vongsiprasom said.
Out of 500 applicants, only 175 were awarded.
However, still in flux as of Friday, Talent Search and Student Support Services, another TRIO program which has two separate grants for WITCC, are all awaiting their official Grant Award Notifications.
Talent Search is a federally funded program under the TRIO umbrella.
In summer 2025, some area colleges had uncertainty about receiving grants from the Department of Education for their TRIO programs. A few weeks later, Wayne State University received $1.9 million and Western Iowa Tech Community College received more than $3.1 million as part of a five-year funding cycle.
Talent Search programs aim to increase the number of youth from disadvantaged backgrounds who complete high school and enroll in and complete their postsecondary education by incorporating academic, career, and financial counseling.
