SUMMARY: The Strengthening Community College Training Grants program builds on four rounds of Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training (TAACCCT) grants, which focused on capacity building at community colleges and large-scale systems change within community college consortia. TAACCCT evaluations provided many relevant insights into the investments and partnerships necessary to drive systemic change to address the skills development and retraining needs of adult workers and learners. Those insights provided a foundation for the Strengthening Community Colleges grant program, now in its second round. This round builds on the lessons learned through TAACCCT and the first round of SCC investments, with a new focus on advancing equity by identifying and addressing equity gaps that directly or indirectly impact labor market outcomes for underrepresented and marginalized populations and communities.
This Opportunity is built around four core elements:
- Advancing Equity
- Accelerated Career Pathways
- Results-Driven Project Design
- Sustainable Systems Change
Ultimately, these grants should enable increased capacity of community colleges to equitably increase access to employment through educational and economic opportunity, by focusing on specific industry sectors and career pathways that will lead to skill development, rapid reskilling, and employment in quality jobs. These efforts will yield sustainable systemic change in education and training through collaboration between community colleges, employers and the public workforce development system that align education and training, work experiences, and industry-recognized credentials that lead to career growth.
DEADLINE: Applications were to be submitted by June 2, 2022, and October 21, 2022. A similar October deadline is anticipated annually.
ELIGIBILITY: The eligible lead applicant must be a community college that is a public institution of higher education as defined in Section 101(a) of the Higher Education Act and whose most common degree awarded is an associate degree.
FOR MORE INFORMATION: https://www.dol.gov/agencies/eta/skills-training-grants/scc