COLUMBUS, Ohio (WOWO) — Ohio is set to invest $50 million in federal funding into programs designed to help low-income middle and high school students explore career opportunities and prepare for education and training after graduation. Gov. Mike DeWine announced Wednesday that Ohio is one of only two states selected to receive funding through the federal Talent Search Program. The award will provide Ohio with $10 million each year for the next five years. State officials plan to use the money to place advisors in middle and high schools who can help students understand their options after graduation, including four-year colleges, community colleges, career and technical education and other career-training programs. The program is expected to reach about 20,000 students across Ohio, with an emphasis on students from low-income families and those who may be the first in their families to consider attending college. The investment comes as colleges and universities across the country face declining public confidence and growing questions about the cost and value of higher education. Gallup polling released in July found that roughly one-quarter of Americans have little or no confidence in higher education. That figure is part of a broader decline in confidence over the past decade. DeWine addressed that issue during the Ohio Department of Higher Education’s 2026 Trustees Conference, challenging college and university leaders to think about how they demonstrate the value of their institutions to prospective students. “What are you selling?” DeWine said. “May sound crude, but you’re selling. They’re buying or not buying.” Mike Duffey, Ohio’s higher education chancellor, said one way to rebuild confidence is to make sure students who enroll in higher education are able to complete programs that match their goals and lead to meaningful career opportunities. “That used to be something that higher education talked about with pride — how selective it was,” Duffey said. “But that is not the message that we want to send. Every student that we admit, we want to complete. If we don’t do that, we’re gonna have a problem with confidence.” The Talent Search funding will focus on helping students make those decisions before they graduate from high school. Advisors will work with students to identify potential career interests and understand what education or training may be necessary to enter those fields. State officials say that could mean helping a student explore a traditional college degree, a two-year community college program, a career and technical education program or another form of workforce training. DeWine said students need exposure to those possibilities before making decisions about their future. “There is a real need today in our K through 12 schools to better inform young people of all the options that they have, whether that is a college option, whether that is a career tech, whether that is a two-year community college,” DeWine said. “What we want for our kids is for them to get passionate about something and get excited about something and therefore they’ll be probably good at doing that and that might be their life’s work, that life career, at least where they’ll start,” DeWine said. “But kids have to be exposed to things.” The federal Talent Search Program is aimed primarily at students from disadvantaged backgrounds. Federal program guidelines generally require at least two-thirds of participants to be low-income students who could also be among the first in their families to attend college. The program provides students with academic, career and financial guidance, as well as assistance navigating the transition from high school to postsecondary education or training. The post Ohio to Invest $50 Million Federal Grant in College and Career Programs for Students appeared first on WOWO News/Talk 92.3 FM and 1190 AM. ...read more read less