Motlow State Community College will receive a $250,000 state grant to help high school students earn two-year degrees in the high-demand field of mechatronics. The two-year grant will support Motlow's Middle College Mechatronics program at Oakland High School. Warren County High School also received support.

Because high school students don't qualify for college scholarship assistance like Tennessee Promise and Hope Scholarships until they earn their high school diplomas, most of the grant will go toward the cost of tuition, fees, textbooks and materials for students who enroll in Motlow's Middle College Mechatronics program.

The program will help advance Tennessee's Drive to 55 initiative to equip at least 55 percent of working-age Tennesseans with a college degree or credential by 2025.

The Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development estimates a deficit of nearly 2,000 mechatronics-qualified workers each year.