“A bill to establish, improve, or expand high-quality workforce development programs at community colleges, and for other purposes.”
No CRS summary available for this bill.
This section establishes the Strengthening Community Colleges Workforce Development Grants program under subtitle D of title I of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA). The program provides competitive grants to eligible institutions (i.e., community colleges) to establish, improve, or expand high-quality workforce development programs that produce nationally or regionally portable, stackable postsecondary credentials aligned with high-skill, high-wage, or in-demand industry sectors or occupations. Grants are awarded for an initial period of up to two years (or a consecutive one-year second grant if the first is one year or less), with subsequent grants of up to two years available only after a two-year gap and upon meeting agreed performance indicators; the Secretary of Labor may reserve up to 2% of appropriated funds for administration, technical assistance to underserved institutions, and program evaluation. Applications must demonstrate employer partnerships, labor market alignment, resource leveraging, program quality, and plans to serve targeted populations.
This section revises the table of contents of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act by updating the title of section 172 to "Strengthening community colleges workforce development grants program" and adding a new item for section 173 titled "Authorization of appropriations."