They'll help them catch up before helping them to move on.

Tuesday morning, the START Center, a non-profit organization in San Benito, that provides an array of service to meet educational, health and immigration needs, among other things, signed an agreement with the Consulate of Mexico-Brownsville.

The Plaza Comunatario will help Mexican adults catch up on their studies from their native land, right here in the US. The deputy consul for the Mexican Consulate says that many Mexicans who come to the US haven't finished primary or middle school.

"All adults who didn't finish for any reason, their school, they can come back and get the same certificate as if they had gotten it in Mexico," says Georgina Barquet.

The new agreement will allow the START Center to reach out to a new population of people, those in transition who don't yet have legal status here.

"Typically our funds are attached to US dollars that are generated in the US and sometimes there are requirements of individuals to have a social security number," says Joe Medrano of the START Center.

The people that come in for the newly offered courses at the START center will use the same standardized books that are used across Mexico and allow them to earn what they call their national certificates. Once they're caught up there, they'll be able to better move forward here, with American studies.

"The idea is that they parlay that and transfer that into a GED and that they are able to get better work and better skills training in the US," says Medrano.

The START center is hoping to serve the new students starting in late fall.