The U.S. Education Department (ED) this week announced the recipients of the latest round of grant awards through its Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE), with selections based on new program categories set by the Trump administration in November. Eighteen of the selected applicants are individual community colleges or two-year college systems, though several of the other selected organizations include community colleges as partners.
In all, ED awarded $169 million for projects that: support using artificial intelligence (AI) in teaching and learning; foster civil discourse on college and university campuses; drive reforms in higher education accreditation; and build capacity for high-quality, short-term programs. For community college applicants receiving funding, the grants range from $662,719 to Central Carolina Community College in North Carolina, to $4 million to the College of DuPage in Illinois.
Focus on short-term programs
The bulk of the FIPSE grants to two-year institutions were in the short-term programs — focused on aligning with the new Workforce Pell program — and AI categories.
California’s West Valley College, for example, will use its $3.85 million grant to develop a new semiconductor certificate program to meet the workforce demands of the growing industry in the college’s service area. That includes a semiconductor fabrication lab to provide hands-on experiences for students aiming for cleanroom and fabrication jobs. The College of DuPage, meanwhile, will address workforce shortages in the aviation management field by creating new certificates and updating current aviation and unmanned aerial systems (UAS) programs, as well as expanding internships and apprenticeships. The short-term programs — which will be for-credit and range from eight to 15 weeks — will prepare students for jobs in aviation operations, dispatch, airport management, flight instruction and UAS technician, according to a summary of the selected projects.
In Kentucky, Bluegrass Community and Technical College will use its $1.14 million award to work with local healthcare providers, local emergency services and the state workforce agency to launch credential pathways in EMT, commercial driver’s licenses (CDL) and allied health fields, aiming to serve at least 150 students annually by its fourth year. Temple College in Texas also will start and expand CDL programs, with training focused on driving and repairing refrigerated trucks. Another grant recipient — South Seattle College — also will focus on automotive repair via a new electric vehicle and hybrid technician certificate program.
In addition, an initiative in Michigan that includes seven community colleges will work with employers and regional agencies to revamp more than 20 workforce development programs and create 14 new short-term programs to address worker shortages in healthcare, advanced manufacturing, mobility, skilled trades and IT.
AI, accreditation projects
One-third of the 18 awards in the AI category went to community college applicants. Central Georgia Community College will use a nearly $4 million grant to strengthen technical education programs through AI. It has a two-pronged approach: expand using AI to improve tutoring, advising and college/career navigation, and integrate machine learning into tech ed pathways to serve traditional college students and dually enrolled high school students.
Southern West Virginia Community and Technical College will apply its $1.84 million grant to boost AI-support instruction and AI-related content into programs such as nursing, allied health, business, IT and general education. Meanwhile, Arizona’s Cochise County Community College District will use its $1.88 million grant to implement four integrated initiatives, focused on faculty development, micro-credentials and developing K-industry pipelines.
Three community colleges also received grants in the accreditation reform category, though two-year colleges are partners in other projects. For example, Tidewater Community College and Paul D. Camp Community College are partners in a Virginia project to develop an AI-native accreditation platform. The project aims to cut accreditation preparation time for short-term programs by at least 40% and reduce review timelines to under nine months, according to a summary.
No community colleges received awards in the civil discourse category.
