RICHMOND, Va. (CBS19 NEWS) -- The University of Virginia and Germanna Community College are among 13 higher education institutions across the Commonwealth getting grant funding to develop lab schools.

Governor Glenn Youngkin announced the grants on Tuesday.

“Restoring excellence in the Commonwealth’s education system has been a top priority of this administration since Day One,” he said. “By fostering partnerships between our top-ranked education institutions and Virginia’s most critical employers, we are preparing our young people to graduate workforce or college ready.”

According to a release, a Lab School is a public, nonsectarian, nonreligious school that is established by a public institution f higher education, public higher education center, institute, authority or other eligible institution of higher education.

They are designed to stimulate the development of innovative programs for Pre-K through 12th-grade students.

The 2022 General Assembly awarded $100 million in funding from the Virginia Department of Education to support this program.

UVA has proposed a STEM+CS lab school for seventh and eighth-grade students.

The release says this program will focus on developing a community of practice around education incorporating interdisciplinary, project-based, computing-rich learning experiences.

It will also aim to develop technical skills for future workforce success through real-world and community-based problem-solving and engage students in incorporating their choices throughout the learning process.

Germanna Community College has proposed the Piedmont Regional Pathway to Teaching program, which aims to streamline the educational and licensure process for future teachers.

It will also work to provide students with hands-on instruction in schools and a route to complete the program and earn placement in as little as two years after graduating high school.

Other institutions receiving grants include the University of Mary Washington, Mountain Gateway Community College, George Mason University, Old Dominion University, Virginia Commonwealth University, Eastern Shore Community College, Emory and Henry College, the University of Lynchburg, Virginia Union University, Norfolk State University and Old Dominion University-Chesapeake.

The funding can be used to support designing new lab schools, making one-time purchases needed to launch a lab school, or as operating funds to support ongoing expenses for the operation and maintenance of a lab school.

The DOE is currently reviewing three more planning grant applications and two lab school launch applications.

For more information, click here.