Duncan Announces Grant Competition for Retraining Displaced Workers

Secretary of Education Arne Duncan today announced a new $7-million grant program for community colleges to provide job training for laid-off autoworkers and other unemployed people.

“Community colleges are invaluable resources for adults seeking to acquire new skills that are needed by employers,” Mr. Duncan said during an appearance at Milwaukee Area Technical College. He is one of several cabinet secretaries and other high-level officials in the Obama administration traveling to the Midwest this week to visit communities affected by layoffs in the automobile industry.

The grants will provide seed funds for community colleges and other organizations to develop programs that help adults develop new career skills.

The new programs can offer services such as tutoring and academic and career counseling, or remove financial constraints for adults returning to college by assisting with child care, transportation, or textbook costs. The programs are meant to serve as national models that can be replicated elsewhere in the country.

The Department of Education expects by mid-September to award 28 grants of $300,000 to $750,000 each over a three-year period, with projects beginning on or about October 1. However, the new programs, which will be financed through the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education, or Fipse, must be sustainable beyond the grant period.

The grant application will be published in Friday’s Federal Register. —Karin Fischer