The ACCESS to Careers Act would be a critical first step in developing programs that effectively train a post-pandemic workforce, advocates say.
A bipartisan bill introduced in the Senate last week would pump federal funding into community college work-based learning programs, helping to provide students with more opportunities to further their education and the support they need to be successful.
Senators Tim Kaine, a Democrat from Virginia, and Todd Young, a Republican from Indiana, reintroduced the Assisting Community Colleges in Educating Skilled Students to Careers Act — or ACCESS to Careers Act — which would create a competitive grant program for community colleges and states to focus on boosting work-based learning opportunities.
Individual community colleges could receive grants of up to $1.5 million to carry out career training programs, while community college systems would be eligible for a maximum award of $5 million. States would receive grants of more than $2.5 million, but a maximum of $10 million over four years, to develop statewide policies related to work-based learning and provide subgrants to community colleges for those programs.