At Jackson State Community College, students are completing the four-month EKG program, but not everyone is taking the certification test. It costs about $100, and financial aid doesn’t cover it.

So the Rural Health Association of Tennessee is using $75,000 from the Amerigroup Foundation to pay those test fees in a broader effort to bring students into the health care profession, says executive director Jacy Warrell.

“That way we make sure they’ve gone through that class and get that actual certificate,” she says.

The value of the certification can be lost on some students, Warrell says, especially in the current job market. Medical aides and nursing assistants are difficult jobs. “And sometimes it doesn’t pay as much as a fast food job,” Warrell explains.

But certified nursing assistants are in high demand, especially in nursing homes. And a certification becomes “stackable,” she says, and can lead into higher paying health care fields, like becoming a registered nurse.

The initial funding should help 300 students and also pay for other entry costs, like sets of scrubs.

The program is meant to dovetail with a new focus on rural health care by Gov. Bill Lee, who has announced spending to boost primary care in smaller communities.