Latino Educational Achievement Program (LEAP)

Northwest Technical Institute’s Latino Educational Achievement (LEAP) Program serves as a post-secondary educational outreach and scholarship program for the Northwest Arkansas language-minority community.  

Career Coaching

Students who speak English as another language are encouraged to contact the LEAP offices to visit with Shay Lastra, the bilingual LEAP Coordinator.  As a state-trained career coach, Ms. Lastra helps students and their parents to prepare for post-secondary education by helping with

  • Technical career choices

  • The Accuplacer Test

  • Scholarships applicable to NWTI

  • Financial aid, including the FAFSA application

  • The NWTI enrollment and registration process  

High School Meetings with Students

High school students in the Rogers and Springdale School District may contact Ms. Lastra directly to set up a time for her to meet at their school during their lunch period.  To request more information about scheduling a high school meeting with Ms. Lastra, click here.

High School Presentations

High school presentations (in both English and Spanish) about NWTI’s technical diploma programs for Springdale and Rogers Schools are also provided through the LEAP Program.  High school counselors and teachers may request information about scheduling a “Why NWTI Workshop” for their classroom by clicking here.

The LEAP Scholarships

The LEAP Program offers two tuition-waiver scholarships, one each semester, to Hispanic/Latino students accepted into a NWTI diploma program.  For additional information about the LEAP Scholarship, click here. 

LEAP Application

The Jose Esparza and Associates Scholarships

In addition to the LEAP Scholarship, the LEAP Program manages the Jose Esparza and Associates Scholarship, a partial scholarship for students with DACA status and for those who are undocumented.  For information about the Jose Esparza and Associate Scholarship, please click here.