The Texas Department of Agriculture will give a $100,000 grant for a Lampasas higher education center that will offer vocational training and the opportunity to graduate from high school with an associate's degree.

Mayor Judy Hetherly, who is coordinating the effort to establish the Lampasas County Higher Education Center, learned last week that TDA would award a $100,000 Parallel Pathways to Success grant for the college project.

The city of Lampasas, Lampasas County, the Lampasas Independent School District and the Lampasas Economic Development Corp. also have allocated $25,000 apiece in 2010 to fund the campus, which may operate out of the former Lampasas Middle School facility at 207 East Avenue A.

The four entities may give another $25,000 each in 2011 to complete the funding Ms. Hetherly believes will be necessary to start the higher education venture.

Private donations will supplement the college budget, although Ms. Hetherly said official fund-raisers have not been scheduled yet. One couple recently gave $1,500 for the education project, the mayor noted.

The Lampasas County Higher Education Center should be fully funded from tuition and student fees within three years of opening, Ms. Hetherly said.

Partnerships with Central Texas College, Texas A&M University-Central Texas, Texas Tech University and Texas State Technical College will allow the higher education center to offer associate's degree programs and career/technology certifications, possibly beginning next fall, Ms. Hetherly said.

Initial certification and job training programs, she said, will be based on a Lampasas High School health science technology curriculum, which allows students to graduate from high school as certified emergency medical technicians or certified nurse assistants.

In addition, adults who work in health care industries will be able to receive continuing education in Lampasas, Ms. Hetherly said.

"Our hope is to put those classes in place for those who are already in the field," the mayor said.

Training for other high-demand occupations may be available a few years after LCHEC's opening.

Dual-credit courses are scheduled to be offered through LCHEC beginning in the spring.

Ms. Hetherly said Lampasas-area residents especially will benefit from an "early college high school" option expected to be offered through LCHEC by 2013. Students under this program could begin taking college courses as Lampasas High School freshmen or sophomores without having to drive to Killeen or more distant campuses, Ms. Hetherly said. Early college high school graduates would be eligible to finish their high school careers with both a high school diploma and an associate's degree.

At its Sept. 16 meeting, the LEDC board will discuss hiring Dr. Chuck McCarter, executive director of East Williamson County Higher Education Center in Taylor, as a consultant for the new Lampasas education center. Along with the Taylor campus, McCarter also oversaw a biotechnology campus in Temple.

"He has set up this type of college twice, and he's been successful both times," Ms. Hetherly said.

McCarter helped both campuses attain financial sustainability within three years of opening, the mayor said.

A chief executive officer also will be hired to direct LCHEC operations full-time, Ms. Hetherly said.