He landed an engineering scholarship at West Virginia Institute of Technology and has a master's degree from Princeton.

FORBES: Trading places

His mother couldn't afford to pay college tuition, so he landed an engineering scholarship at West Virginia Institute of Technology, later receiving a master's degree from Princeton University.

FORBES: Trading Places

"It's been a very, very serious and critical situation, " said John David, a West Virginia University Institute of Technology professor and volunteer with the South Appalachian Labor School who has been working in Fayette County.

CNN: July 7, 2012 -- Updated 0222 GMT (1022 HKT)