Oakland Community College has received a $4 million grant

Oakland Community College has received a $4 million grant to aid in workforce funding in an effort to assist with public-private apprenticeships programs. 

This grant has been awarded by the U.S Department of Labor. It is part of a larger amount of over $100 million in similar funding going to 26 private-public partnerships partners to support training in advanced manufacturing, healthcare, and informational technology.  

The funding for these 26 partners was announced by U.S Secretary of Labor Eugene Scalia during his visit to North Carolina State University, in Raleigh: 

“Companies across the country tell me that their greatest challenge today is finding the skilled workers they need,” he said. “This funding will bolster America’s competitiveness by adding more skilled workers to fill millions of open jobs today and in the future.”    

This grant funding is based upon the executive order issued by President Trump called: Expanding Apprenticeship in America, which called for increasing the number of apprenticeships across all industries in the United States.

This program is being called The Apprenticeship: Closing the Skills Gap grant program, and will support the training of over 92,000 individuals in new or already existing apprenticeships programs for a varied range of employers. These will include small and medium-sized businesses, veterans, military spouses, service members re-entering the workforce, and underrepresented groups of people from the current apprenticeships, including women and people re-entering the workforce from the justice system. 

This grant program only supports apprenticeships that include a fully paid work-based learning component together with a required educational and instructional component that results in an industry-recognized credential. 

This program is funded through HB1 fees, and all of the awards range from $500,000- $6 million each.