The U.S. Department of Labor’s Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training (TAACCCT) grant program represented a major investment to increase the ability of community colleges to address the challenges of today’s workforce. Grants were designed to help workers eligible for training under the Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) for Workers program, as well as a broad range of other adults.
Every state received funding for each of four years through 256 grants totaling $1.9 billion. TAACCCT grants, which continue through September 2018, are impacting 60% of the nation’s publicly-funded community colleges and building industry-aligned programs in manufacturing, health care, information technology, energy, transportation, and other industries.
Through TAACCCT, community colleges developed or redesigned nearly 2,600 programs of study to help adults learn skills that lead to family-sustaining jobs. Each college or consortium of colleges developed programs of study aligned with local and regional business needs, which were identified through partnerships formed or strengthened with grant funds. To help adult students obtain industry-recognized credentials more quickly, colleges used TAACCCT funding to innovate with strategies such as career pathways, credit for prior learning, competency-based models, online training, and strong student support systems.
The curriculum and other learning materials developed by TAACCCT grantees are being made widely available to all types of training providers on SkillsCommons.org, as described a Training and Employment Notice.
Curricula searches can be conducted using terms such as “information technology,” “STEM” and “broadband.”
