Northern Virginia Community College (NOVA) has announced it is committing up to $1 million in scholarships to a new program that will help recently unemployed federal workers and federal contractors transition to their next job.
NOVA New Employment, Exploration and Transition (NOVAnext) is free to approved participants who can enroll in one of 14 courses that include industry-recognized certifications in IT specialties, program management and human resources. Participants also can tap virtual NOVA-sponsored workshops to learn about interview techniques, resume-writing and using AI in the workplace.
“Many talented Northern Virginians are facing sudden, unexpected changes in their professional lives. As the community’s college, NOVA is focused on advancing opportunity, and the current moment has made our mission ever more important,” said NOVA President Anne M. Kress.
NOVA President Anne Kress outlines the new NOVAnext program.
The college hopes to serve about 1,000 people through the program. To fund it, NOVA will tap into some unrestricted dollars that it will use to leverage Virginia’s FastForward program, a short-term training program delivered by the commonwealth’s community colleges for high-demand industries.
To be eligible, federal workers and federal contract workers must have been laid off on or after February 1, reside within the NOVA service area, meet a residency requirement and complete an online application, which will be reviewed by partner Virginia Career Works. NOVA is also seeking local business leaders who want to join the effort to help dislocated workers connect to new employment.
Since the Trump administration began laying off federal workers en masse in February, local governments and others have been trying to open jobs to former federal employees. Leaders in the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia have asked dislocated workers to consider available state jobs and have highlighted employment sites and job fairs. Other states are also trying to recruit the former feds.
