By Pepper Fisher

PORT ANGELES – Are you, or is someone you know, considering getting a CDL and becoming a commercial driver? If so, you’ll be glad to hear that Peninsula College has been awarded over $880,000 to expand its current Commercial Driver’s License course and to provide more financial aid to students who enroll.

The funds were awarded by the state Board for Community and Technical Colleges.

Camilla Rico, Director of Community Education and Campus Enterprises, says the grant will make it possible to triple or even quadruple the number of people they can put through the program each year. For many of those students, there will be no out-of-pocket expense to take the course. And when they’re licensed, good paying jobs will be waiting.

“Absolutely. Yeah, there’s a huge need in the community. CDL A is some of these large rigs, including some of the short-term, like the food companies, that provide food to our local restaurants. They’ll need a CDL. And then CDL B is for bus drivers. So, we can offer both through this. And we do have some local schools in the area that have wanted some more CDL Bs.”

The new funding will also allow the college to provide tuition assistance to students with financial need who have exhausted or do not qualify for other sources.

“CDL is a very expensive program that is not funded by federal financial aid because it’s a short-term certificate. And so, for students, it’s very expensive. They might end up having to pay five or six thousand dollars out of pocket, and that is not very doable for most people. And so, this will hopefully allow some of those people that have a job waiting for them, but that just have not been able to go through and do the schooling.”

Rico says the next class starts in April, and you can find out everything you need to know to be a part of it by logging on to pencol.edu/ce.