South Texas College is expanding its health related courses thanks to federal funding.

On Friday, STC officials announced they received a $1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Labor. 

“We are going to develop and offer an associate of applied sciences in dental hygienists," STC Regional Health Care Liaison Dr. Jayson Valerio said.

It’s a new program that Alamo dentist Dr. Olga Ruby Salinas says will help fill needs in her dental office.

“When Covid happened, we were one of the professions that had higher risks due to the aerosols produced while we work,” ruby said. “So we lost a lot of hygienists in the workforce."

Through the federal grant, STC will convert a building into a real world learning center in McAllen. Dr. Valerio says the building will have two dental hygienists labs for the upcoming program.

STC hopes to begin offering the program in time for the 2025-2026 school year.

Watch the video above for the full story.