Coal’s decline in power production hits Navajo Nation hard
bachelor’s degrees, $1,000 for associate’s programs and $500 for trade certifications.
“It’s a recurring scholarship to see students through to graduation,” Newby said.
As of May, 260 scholarship recipients had earned certificates and degrees, among them Kelso Peterson, 26, who earned an associate’s degree in industrial process engineering from San Juan College.
“The scholarship helped out a lot with books and tuition,” Peterson said. “It pretty much paid for everything.”
Corwin Largo, 27, gets $1,500 per semester to earn an industrial engineering degree. He interned at the Army Research Lab in Maryland this summer and expects to graduate next May.
“All my federal Pell Grant funding ran out, so the scholarship helped pay my tuition, food and books,” Largo said. “It’s helped a lot.”
The colleges have set up internships for scholarship students at public and private entities, including a first-ever internship this summer for one scholarship recipient, Adriane Tenequer, with The Boeing Co., said Navajo Tech President Elmer Guy.
“This is a unique program that specifically helps communities affected by the decline in the coal industry,” Guy said. “It’s making many opportunities available for Navajo students, but there’s still tremendous need out there.”
PNM hopes its efforts will encourage more public and private entities to assist the Navajo Nation and Four Corners communities as coal continues to decline.
“That part of the state has contributed a lot of money from extractive industries into the state economy,” Darnell said. “We owe that region something in return.”