Private companies are in talks to pick up the price tag for one of Jacksonville Mayor Alvin Brown's education initiatives, setting the stage for it to go ahead this summer.

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida and AT&T have expressed interest in helping to fund the program, which is being called Learn To Earn, Brown said last week.

No city money will go into the program that has been estimated to cost about $150,000, he said.

Brown said he's had conversations with other companies and individuals, whom he didn't want to name.

The idea behind Learn To Earn was an oft-repeated one during Brown's campaign. Plans are to have about 500 students spend a week on a local college campus, participating in classes and doing work-study jobs.

"A lot of kids in our city never imagine going to college," Brown said this week. "Success will be in showing them there's another way."

Details of the program are still being worked out, but the University of North Florida, Edward Waters College and Jacksonville University all have agreed to participate, Brown said.

Students participating in either of the two weeks the program is expected to run will do jobs like work in the cafeteria or library or help professors doing summer classes.