The U.S. Education Department on Wednesday announced 19 new grant awards totaling $25 million through the first-ever Perkins-funded Career Connected High Schools (CCHS) grant program. Community colleges are the grantees in four of the awards.
ED said in a press release that the investment “builds the capacity of education and workforce systems to partner with business and industry, to develop new high-quality career-connected high school programs for more students.”
The CCHS grant program is the first in the ED’s history intended to build capacity and coordination among secondary and postsecondary education, workforce development systems and other community partners to expand access to career-connected high school programs for more students, with a focus on increasing access to high-quality pathways for underserved students. ED said it received more than 160 applications for the grants.
According to the department, grantees will leverage four evidence-based strategies, or “keys,” to help students in reaching career success:
- Providing postsecondary education and career guidance
- Increasing access to dual or concurrent enrollment programs
- Increasing work-based learning opportunities
- Providing industry-recognized credentials
The two-year colleges receiving the grants are:
- Chemeketa Community College (Oregon), $1.42 million
- Illinois Central College, $1.28 million
- Miami Dade College (Florida), $571,244
- Yuma/La Paz Counties Community College District (Arizona), $1.11 million
