There are more than three-quarters of a million people in Michigan over age 23 who never graduated high school.

Now, there is a way for them to get not a GED, but a high school diploma. There are also job-training courses in construction trades and health care available.

Just think: a high school diploma and training for jobs that are going unfilled in Michigan — and it’s all absolutely free.

The program is called the Michigan 23+ Adult Diploma and Training Program.

Greg Harp, senior vice president with Graduation Alliance, which administers the new Michigan 23+ program, joined Stateside to discuss what the program offers its enrollees, how it stays afloat with no cost to students, why earning a high school diploma, as opposed to a GED, is so critical, and who qualifies for the program. Michelle Hudack, a Clarkston resident and Michigan 23+ student, also joined Stateside to discuss how she learned about the program and her first impressions, what she and her husband Dale, who is also a Michigan 23+ student, are looking to gain from the program, and how the program accommodates her needs as a mother of four.