WASHINGTON, D.C. Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis recently announced $500 million in grants to community colleges and universities around the country for the development and expansion of innovative training programs. The grants are part of the Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training initiative, which promotes skills development and employment opportunities in fields such as advanced manufacturing, transportation and health care, as well as science, technology, engineering and math careers through partnerships between training providers and local employers. The U.S. Department of Labor is implementing and administering the program in coordination with the U.S. Department of Education.
Mitchell Technical Institute was awarded a $2.55 million individual grant to build outreach capacity by creating a unique technical education at a distance (TED) model supporting Trade Adjustment Assistance-eligible and low-skilled workers throughout South Dakota. This model will address the challenge of providing hands-on lab activities in remote locations and ultimately it can be replicated to address other training needs, not only in South Dakota, but throughout the nation.
In total, 297 schools will receive grants as individual applicants or as members of a consortium. The grants include 27 awards to community college and university consortia totaling $359,237,048 and 27 awards to individual institutions totaling $78,262,952.
These grants emphasize evidence-based program design. Each grantee is required to collect rigorous student outcome data annually and conduct final evaluations at the end of the grant period to build knowledge about which strategies are most effective in placing graduates in jobs.
