A grant to create a "Gateway to College" program at Durham Tech was excellent news all around -- for students struggling to finish high school, for Durham Tech, for the public schools and for the community as a whole.

The grant is for $300,000 to aid high school dropouts. It will help Durham Tech answer a question it has been struggling with for years: How to help a population of 16- and 17-year-old drop-outs without harming its core function of educating college-age students?

The grant was announced Tuesday by the Gateway to College National Network. The money comes from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation's Early College High School Initiative.

As Christine Kelly-Kleese, Durham Tech's dean of student engagement and transitions, explained it to The Herald-Sun's Matthew Milliken, the Gateway to College will offer more than just classes.

"We will take care of transportation, we will take care of food if that's an issue, child care if that's an issue -- whatever the life issue that gets in the way, we intend to work with the student to manage that," she said.

The project has been in the works since several Durham officials visited a Gateway program in Portland, Ore., and were impressed by what they saw. Those who made the trip deserve credit for bringing the program home. They include Durham Tech President Bill Ingram, School Superintendent Carl Harris, school board chair Minnie Forte-Brown, City Manager Tom Bonfield, County Commissioner Ellen Reckhow and three members of Durham's Tech's board of trustees: David Dodson, Barker French and John Burness.

When you consider that some 500 students a year leave Durham Public Schools before getting a degree, it's great news that the Durham Tech program will serve 50 students the first year, and 125 the next.

Durham Public Schools has already developed an impressive array of programs and alternative schools to encourage students to stay in school. The Gateway program at Durham Tech will provide another alternative for students who realize they aren't going to go very far without a high school diploma.