LaGuardia Community College will receive nearly $2 million from the U.S. Education Department’s Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE) to launch the LaGuardia Workforce Success Engine for Pell-Eligible Pathways.
LaGuardia will use the funds to develop a menu of non-degree workforce training programs that it expects will be eligible for new Workforce Pell grants. The New York college is among 18 community colleges or two-year college systems across the country selected for the newly announced FIPSE awards.
LaGuardia President Kenneth Adams said Workforce Pell “will address skills gaps for employers and foster greater economic mobility for students. The requirement that programs must lead to college degrees will encourage people who are ambivalent about college to give it a second look.”
Key partners in the project include the New York Jobs CEO Council and the City University of New York’s Office of Careers and Industry Partnerships, whose employer networks and workforce training expertise will support skills validation, work-based learning and job placement.
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The State University of New York (SUNY) Mental Health First Aid Grant Program has provided grants of up to $8,000 to 27 SUNY campuses – including 11 community colleges.
The funding will help to strengthen approaches on campus to student mental health and well-being, specifically supporting the delivery of mental health first-aid training for almost 3,000 faculty, staff and other non-clinical campus personnel.
Among the grantees is SUNY Westchester Community College. College President Belinda Miles said the grant “builds on the significant advances the college has made over the past several years and strengthens our capacity to provide timely, compassionate support to students in need.”
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SUNY Westchester Community College also has received a $1.1 million grant to create tuition-free pathways for some nursing students at the college.
The Steven & Alexandra Cohen Foundation awarded the grant to the Westchester Community College Foundation to establish the Steven & Alexandra Cohen Foundation Scholarships for Nursing and Certified Nursing Assistants. The scholarships cover tuition and related fees.
“Nurses and healthcare professionals are essential to the well-being of our communities,” said Alex Cohen, president of the foundation. “We are proud to support the students in SUNY WCC’s outstanding nursing programs that will ensure our community has access to quality healthcare services for generations to come.”
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The State University of New York has awarded Dutchess Community College (DCC) a $10,000 grant to improve transportation access and support students who struggle to access a safe, reliable means of getting to class.
Many DCC students live on campus or in rural areas, and many are low-income, meaning they’re more likely to rely on public transit. The college will use the funding to strengthen partnerships with local transit and government agencies, improve route communications and explore other ways of making transportation work better for students.
Corning Community College and SUNY Orange also received funding to increase transportation access to all students.
California
The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation has awarded $1.78 million to support the continued implementation of the Compton Community Health Professions Partnership (CCHPP) – a collaborative that includes Compton College.
Established in 2024, CCHPP is designed to address the shortage of healthcare professionals in Los Angeles County and improve the overall health and well-being of community members through education and increased access to trained healthcare professionals.
The grant will fund staff positions essential to CCHPP’s success, including a research analyst at Compton College and an administrator at Compton Unified School District, as well as positions at CSU Dominguez Hills and Charles Drew University.
The CCHPP will engage more than 1,000 students through outreach, dual enrollment and clinical experiences and establish new apprenticeships and clinical training sites with local hospitals and clinics that provide work-based learning opportunities for students.
Maryland
At Montgomery College, a $125,000 gift from Ken and Julie Cook supports the Macklin Business Institute and the college’s nursing program. The gift honors two individuals who have made lasting impacts on the college and its community.
Ken Cook, who has served on the Montgomery College Foundation board for 29 years, made the gift to the institute in honor of Gordon Macklin, for whom the institute is named. The nursing program gift recognizes the friendship Cook developed with fellow foundation director Bill Hard, whose late wife, Pam, began her career as a nurse.
“Ken and Julie’s gift reflects the relationships and mentors that have shaped our institution,” said Montgomery College President Jermaine F. Williams.
Massachusetts
Greenfield, Bunker Hill and Mount Wachusett community colleges are three of the institutions receiving grant funding to support students with disabilities.
The governor’s office has awarded $3.6 million across state public colleges and universities to develop Massachusetts Inclusive Postsecondary Education (MAIPSE) programs on their campuses. MAIPSE enables certain students with severe disabilities to take part in undergraduate academic courses, extracurricular activities, internships, work experiences and on-campus student life activities.
The planning grants awarded to Greenfield ($148,860), Bunker Hill ($160,000) and Mount Wachusett ($132,335) will fund the development and implementation of the programs.
In addition, seven community colleges are receiving continuation grants to support their current MAIPSE programs.
Missouri
State Fair Community College (SFCC) can expand access to its Commercial Driving Academy thanks to a $75,270 Commercial Motor Vehicle Operator Safety Training grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA).
This funding will offset the cost of tuition for veterans and their family members in SFCC’s Commercial Driving Academy, helping expand the number of commercial driver’s license holders receiving advanced safety training.
“This grant allows us to remove financial barriers for veterans and their families while maintaining the highest standards of safety training,” said Amy Jackson, executive director of SFCC’s The LearningForce. “We are proud to prepare skilled, safety-focused drivers who are ready to meet the needs of the trucking industry and keep our roadways safe.”
Pennsylvania
Delaware County Community College (DCCC) will use an $8 million grant to advance the next generation of American shipbuilders. The funding comes from the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Bureau of International Labor Affairs.
DCCC and shipbuilder Hanwha Philly Shipyard, Inc. (HPSI) are leading the charge to create a new model of education and training for U.S. shipbuilding that will include sending U.S. instructors and workers overseas to learn advanced shipbuilding techniques to be used in America by U.S.-based shipbuilders.
HPSI, in conjunction with the region’s community colleges and Drexel University – a partnership known as the Collegiate Consortium for Workforce & Economic Development – to establish an international shipbuilding fellowship program. The partners also will create an internationally recognized curriculum for shipbuilding skilled trades.
“This is a wonderful opportunity for DCCC, HPSI and the consortium to capitalize on the Greater Philadelphia region’s strengths, in collaboration with our many partners in government, higher education, the skilled trades and business and industry, to significantly increase the education and training the consortium has successfully delivered for decades to business and industry,” said DCCC President Marta Yera Cronin, chair of the consortium.
The work is also expected to advance DOL’s goal of reaching 1 million registered apprenticeships nationwide. The partners hope to expand annual apprenticeship capacity from 120 to up to 500 by 2027.
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HACC, Central Pennsylvania’s Community College, will use a $15,000 grant from the Josiah W. and Bessie H. Kline Foundation to purchase advanced life support surgical airway equipment for the emergency medical services (EMS) unit, as well as updated equipment for high-angle rescue training for the fire services training unit.
The enhancements will strengthen the instructional resources available to approximately 5,000 EMS and fire service students who will participate in HACC programs and courses annually using this specialized equipment.
Washington
Spokane Colleges has received a $10,000 grant from the Avista Foundation to develop Indigenous Healing Environments Across Lifeways (IHEAL) Centers at Spokane Falls Community College and the Inchelium campus of Spokane Community College.
The centers will help connect learners with the Indigenous-centered knowledge and stewardship practices of the region’s tribes, specifically educating people on how to develop, cultivate and care for plants, herbs and foods from an environmentally safe and sustaining perspective, according to a release.
The grant will fund the development of dried plant and herbal storage cupboard spaces, raised cedar garden beds and materials. It also provides for Indigenous knowledge educators to teach, among other things, the value of and methods for integrating traditional stewardship practices within academic disciplines such as natural resource management, food, nutrition, allied health sciences and environmental sciences.
Wisconsin
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northwestern Wisconsin is launching a new partnership with Chippewa Valley Technical College (CVTC), supported by a $239,000 grant, to enhance youth mental health while introducing young people to postsecondary education opportunities.
Funding was awarded through the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health’s Wisconsin Partnership Program and will support a three-year initiative called Learning and Inspiring Futures Together. The program will bring Big Brothers Big Sisters adult mentors and youth to CVTC for hands-on, educational experiences.
Activities will primarily take place at CVTC and are expected to begin mid-year or during the fall semester. CVTC’s early childhood education program and the foundations of teacher education program will help design activities for participating youth. Additionally, the college’s Educators United student club will help facilitate lessons focused on social-emotional learning and mental health.
There are plans to expand into additional counties served by Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northwestern Wisconsin.
