< Previous58 WORKFORCE 2024 Back-to-School Why Community Colleges Are Taking the Lead W hat’s the price of a quality education? Nowadays that question strikes fear in millions around the nation. Heading into or graduating from a majority of four-year institutions leaves students concerned about the hefty amount of student loan debt they acquire to meet tuition costs. In November 2023, the U.S Department of Education reported that more than 9 million Americans failed to pay their first monthly payment since the start of the Biden Administration’s student loan forgiveness program. To accomplish dreams associated with earning a degree, many find themselves moving into the workforce with a looming cloud of debt. This fact has steered students toward opting out of these competitive top universities and fulfilling the same credentials through a community college. Employers are focused on securing bright, skilled talent quickly and efficiently. This had led to a rapid increase in companies looking to partner with local colleges and universities to create targeted programs for students or employees to earn certifications. For employees this often allows by ALEXIS ELMORE COMMUNITY COLLEGES The second most popular training program at Arapahoe Community College is early childhood education with avenues for teacher, assistant teacher and director certificates in Colorado. Photo courtesy of Arapahoe Community College WORKFORCE 2024 59 them to gain new skills while they work, and it allows students to fast track their way to a degree at a fraction of the cost and enter the workforce equipped to meet current needs. As the U.S. continues to bounce back from workforce shortages, community colleges around the nation have programs and funding in place to fast- track students into their desired career field. Colorado Over the next decade, the state of Colorado can expect thousands of job openings within nursing, elementary and secondary education and construction. These sectors continuously face shortages in available workforce, so state officials have been diligent in creating a long-term solution. In July 2023, Governor Jared Polis and the Colorado Community College System launched Career Advance Colorado, which follows in the footsteps of the state’s fruitful Care Forward Colorado program. Care Forward Colorado differs in that it solely focused on entry-level healthcare programs, resulting in 3,000 students completing a variety of health-care-related certificate programs. “The Care Forward Colorado was for short term certificates that had to be less than two years,” says Arapahoe Community College Dean of Enrollment Michele Brown. “This program covers up to two years in length which is equivalent to the time it takes to earn an associate degree.” The new $38.6 million Career Advance Colorado program, funded through House Bill 23-1246, targets training programs for construction, early childhood education, education, forestry, firefighting, law enforcement and nursing. All of the state’s 19 community and technical colleges are participating, each covering all or a number of the targeted programs, with a goal of preparing 20,000 students to enter the workforce. Just outside of Denver in Littleton, Colorado, Arapahoe Community College welcomed 195 students in August 2023 to its nursing, early childhood education, education, construction management training programs. So far, the college has distributed $648,761.71 to cover all costs associated with each student. “Denver is a very expensive place to live. We often find students that would be interested in going back to further their education, but they can’t afford to go back to school even with financial aid to cover their tuition,” says Brown. “This program is exciting because it helps cover things outside of tuition like book expenses, and in some cases living expenses and childcare.” A data breakdown shows that the college’s nursing program gained the most traction with a total of 133 students. A total of 35 students are in early childhood education, encompassing assistant teacher, teacher and director certificates, while 15 students entered training for elementary education. The law enforcement academy certificate was sought out by 11 students and one student is pursuing the construction management fundamentals certificate. “I am excited for the students who are interested in these programs and want to learn more are able to access education without the financial burden,” says Arapahoe Community College Enrollment Navigator Diana Lee. “They have that hands on experience with our skills lab and early childhood center while building that community.” Virginia When addressing challenges faced within workforce development a path toward a four-year education isn’t always the most lucrative. 60 WORKFORCE 2024 In a world where one can pursue any career, there are often obstacles that prevent students from entering a perceived dream role. On the other hand, many students enter college in pursuit of a degree that does not fit into their lives in the way they had hoped. The National Center for Education Statistics has found that 80% of college students end up changing their major at least once and up to three times over the course of their college career. Time is money, making finding the ideal career route vital. Central Virgina Community College (CVCC), located in Lynchburg, Viginia, knows the important role it plays in showcasing the benefits available in gaining an education through a community college, especially for K-12 students. “You can earn a degree from a state four-year school and then make an average wage of $35,000 a year and have considerable student debt, or you can come here and make an average wage of six figures and have no student debt,” says Central Virginia Community College President Dr. John Capps. According to data from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, community college enrollment saw a 0.5% (equivalent to 22,000 students) increase in 2022, following a steep decline associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. Enrollment numbers show a greater number of dually enrolled high school students and freshmen were behind this uptick. In 2021, CVCC launched its first-ever Career and Technical Education (CTE) Academy for regional high school juniors and seniors to get a head start on earning credentials for in-demand jobs. The CTE Academy offers dual enrollment classes in a number of industries ranging from criminal justice and cybersecurity to HVAC, health sciences, information systems technology and welding. The programs are created based on industry-focused fields and aim to help participants get ahead in developing critical thinking and soft skills they need to be equipped with upon entering the workforce. Capps tells Site Selection that currently 1,013 students are enrolled and receiving hands-on training at the Academy. “Most of the students are high school seniors right now,” says Capps. “They will graduate with an industry credential and an academic award. With this new approach, the students will come in as juniors and spend the whole day here.” In addition, Framatome has invested $400 million to revitalize its Nuclear Training Academy at CVCC, which first opened at the college in 2004. The local nuclear energy services company introduced a new tech training facility to its center in 2023, in which the company will modernize its programs and advance its future workforce. CVCC works to hire retiring Framatome employees to become adjunct professors, a plus for students gaining knowledgeable skills straight from industry-professionals. In addition, the practice gives students a chance to network and hear directly from those in their career field. A wide array of curriculum available through community colleges such as CVCC, paired with lower tuition costs, allows students to gain an education without fear of racking up personal debt before beginning a career. As innovation becomes more aggressive, companies seek to partner directly with community colleges to train and retain talent to service their local locations. This has gained the attention of students. “Some students think community college means a lesser education, but we know that nothing could be farther from the truth,” says Capps. “Here, you get a much more personalized brand of education.” Nursing has proved to be the most sought out training program for Arapahoe Community College in Colorado. Photo courtesy of Arapahoe Community CollegeUniversities around the nation ramp up workforce development efforts in technology and health care. by ALEXIS ELMORE UNIVERSITIES An Investment in EDUCATION is an Investment in INNOVATION Photo: Getty Images 62 WORKFORCE 2024 WORKFORCE 2024 63 R ight now, our nation’s leading universities are embarking on research that will change the trajectory of our microelectronics capabilities, on this planet and beyond. There’s a good chance this R&D is taking place in your community. And if not now, then soon. At an Electronics Resurgence Initiative Summit held by the Department of Defense’s (DoD) Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency in August 2020, the urgency was palpable. The U.S. needs to get serious about advancing its integrated circuit technologies, strengthen the national STEM workforce, address supply chain threats and rapidly mature, co-develop and transition new and emerging technologies. As a result of these challenges the Scalable Asymmetric Lifecycle Engagement (SCALE) network was born. Out of dozens of applicants, Purdue University was selected to lead the initiative, which is funded by the DoD’s Trusted and Assured Microelectronics program and managed by the Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC) Crane Division. “If you look at what was done historically, there were a lot of workforce development efforts, but there wasn’t a national network that continued over an extended period of time like this one,” says SCALE Director and Purdue Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering Peter Bermel. “But obviously, we think that now is the right time to do this because of the rapid increase in hiring needs.” Today, the program takes place across 22 universities in the nation and 48 industrial and government partners. Undergraduate and graduate students participating in SCALE receive mentorship, internship and research opportunities within the public-private- academic partnership. These opportunities exist within leading U.S. industrial partners including Blue Origin, Boeing, IBM, Intel and Northrup Grumman Corporation, just to name a few. Before SCALE, Purdue averaged about 200 students per year through its semiconductor-related degree programs. Now, that number has essentially doubled as the program aims to draw in 1,000 students across its network over the next five years, in addition to bringing on a total of 100 industrial partners and 25 universities. In August 2023, Purdue announced that the SCALE program would gain $20 million in funding from the DoD to expand key research areas and add new academic partners. Key technology focus areas include radiation-hardening, heterogeneous integration, system-on- chip, embedded systems and artificial intelligence, supply-chain awareness, radio frequency and optical electronics. Current research efforts are diverse across different universities, according to Bermel. To name a few, Vanderbilt University, Ohio State University and Notre Dame University are among the universities exploring cross-connections between artificial intelligence, software and ideas, while others research how this hardware is affected by extreme environments like outer space. “As well as advanced memory architectures, how do these perform in space environments? If you think about what’s being done by mainstream commercial producers, they don’t necessarily focus on issues like that because their costumers are on Earth,” says Bermel. “But they also need to know what happens outside of Earth if you’re going to launch a satellite and so on, because that can affect whether it’s correct to use those electronics or if you need to use something different. Being able to understand the potential performance and predicted accuracy is critical.” Renewed funding opens the door for new institutions to partner with SCALE, and there are “a variety of merit considerations” in selecting the right contender, says Bermel. He states that the first is a university’s ability to contribute 64 WORKFORCE 2024 to the program in terms of faculty experience, for example. The second is their ability to work with defense and security partners, including government agencies and private contractors. Additionally, consideration encompasses a university’s track record in placing students within those sectors, as well as proximity to growth and employers. Morgan State University, the University of Tulsa and the University of Florida’s Microelectronics Security Training Center were selected to join SCALE’s expanding network. For Bermel, these additions are exciting and will bring together more students interested in gaining in-demand skills and experiences. The program gives Purdue the ability to expand and strengthen partnerships with new organizations, says Bermel, “particularly working with Morgan State University and the Tougaloo College Research and Development Foundation to reach out to a broader group of students, who are primarily U.S. citizens, and getting them invested in the workforce opportunities going forward.” The Semiconductor Industry Association predicts that the industry’s workforce will add about 115,000 jobs by 2030, estimating that 67,000 of the projected jobs are at risk of being unfilled. With initiatives like SCALE and the CHIPS Act in place, the U.S. is preparing itself to address workforce development unlike ever before. More Life to Science Aside from microelectronics, life sciences is another industry looking to up its ante. In Boston, Massachusetts, the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences (MCPHS) is well underway in addressing workforce development in the rapidly growing industry. September 2023 brought the announcement of $750,000 in grant funding from the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center, a $120,000 jump from the grant received the previous year. MCPHS received the maximum amount of funding offered and will use the grant to bring in new lab equipment, upgrade existing equipment and introduce a digital badge and micro-credentials system that tracks a student’s familiarity or competence with advanced scientific instruments. In receiving the maximum grant, MCPHS will look to train a larger group of students moving forward. “The state-of-the-art pieces of equipment we are purchasing are the tools that leading biotechnology, biopharmaceutical and biomanufacturing companies are using,” said MCPHS Department Chair of Pharmaceutical Business & Administrative Sciences Frederick Frankhauser. “Students will have the opportunity to strengthen their training here and solidify their chances of employment once they leave our doors.” Boston has overtaken California’s lead in biotechnology, becoming the No. 1 biotech hub in the world even as, in terms of employment density, the San Francisco Bay Area still leads over Boston. Over 1,000 biotechnology companies, large and small, are located within the Greater Boston region, providing solid employment opportunities to graduates. MCPHS also will be a key partner in Bioversity, the new workforce training Purdue looks to expand its SCALE program with renewed funding support. Photo courtesy of Purdue University/ Charles Jischke WORKFORCE 2024 65 center being built in Dorchester. By January , construction on the ,-sq.-ft. facility will be completed, bringing in new lab and classroom space for students. e program will begin with to students to start, increasing to the following year. As an educational partner at Bioversity, MCPHS will develop curriculum in areas such as scientifi c operations and biomanufacturing for the program’s fi rst cohort of students and design learning modules in line with industry needs. Students participating in Bioversity will receive a $ stipend every week over the entire eight-week training program and a $, tuition voucher upon graduating. “ is is a remarkable moment in biomedicine, with a wave of innovation poised to forever change the way that healthcare providers prevent and treat disease,” said MCPHS Dean of the School of Professional Studies Carol Stuckey. “And we are standing in the heart of a community that will contribute to and benefi t from the wave.” e state-of-the-art pieces of equipment we are purchasing are the tools that leading biotechnology, biopharmaceutical and biomanufacturing companies are using. Students will have the opportunity to strengthen their training here and solidify their chances of employment once they leave our doors.” — Frederick Frankhauser , MCPHS Department Chair of Pharmaceutical Business & Administrative Sciences e state-of-the-art pieces of y ted, 66 WORKFORCE 2024 Trade Schools Take the Reins A merica needs workers. Anyone with access to the internet knows that. Job boards are full of opportunities, yet we don’t have enough individuals skilled in specifi c sectors to meet demand. Healthcare, education, construction, manufacturing — you name it, every industry is feeling the burn of this crisis. Who better to pick up the slack than America’s network of trade schools? Unlike traditional -year or -year colleges, which typically require general education courses, trade schools, also known as technical colleges, concentrate on hands-on job training in relevant skilled trades. e pathways these institutions off er, such as several programs in mechanical trades, healthcare, information technology and more, are vital to fi lling this gap. Manufacturing is in critical need of workers. It has been hit hard by labor shortages. As of September , nearly , manufacturing positions remained unfi lled nationwide. e Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME), a national nonprofi t, announced in August that it has partnered with community and technical colleges throughout the country on an initiative to address the urgency of revitalizing this industrial base, scaling the industry’s talent pipeline and enhancing the skills and productivity of workers. “Currently, these institutions enroll more than % of all undergraduate students in higher education, as well as engage hundreds of thousands of adult learners in non-traditional programs,” said Dr. Debra Volzer, government and workforce partnerships director for SME, who is leading this initiative. “It is our pleasure to work with educational partners, specifi cally our community and technical colleges, who are the workforce engines of our communities.” Known as the Manufacturing by LINDSAY LOPP TRADE SCHOOLS Since 1985, more than 12,000 students have graduated from Ford’s Automotive Student Service Educational Training (ASSET) program. Photo courtesy of Ford Motor Company On Tackling America’s Labor CrisisNext >