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Education Dive
As pandemic continues, colleges help unemployed workers find new jobs
States and individual colleges are using a constellation of strategies
to build a new talent pipeline for companies that are hiring.
Natalie Schwartz
Sept. 1, 2020
This fall, Dixie State University is discounting certain courses to
just $20 a credit for students who've lost their jobs or are
underemployed because of the coronavirus pandemic. The offer is meant
to encourage them to enroll in one of several new certificate programs
the Utah institution designed to help impacted workers quickly enter a
high-demand field.
Although the programs are short-term, officials are hopeful some
students will continue their education even after they find new jobs.
"They're stackable credentials," said Darlene Dilley, the university's
assistant vice president for enrollment management. "It's taking them a
step further toward the completion of, ultimately, a bachelor's degree
— if they so choose."
The certificates are part of a new state program to provide short-term
training opportunities to workers impacted by the pandemic. The Utah
Legislature passed a bill in June creating the initiative and is
supporting the program with $9 million in funds the state received from
the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act.
That's helping officials at Dixie State to turn existing courses into
discounted short-term programs that lead to certificates in several
fields, such as accounting and marketing, information technology and
health communications. Other colleges participating in the initiative
are taking a slightly different approach. Utah Valley University is
offering 21 tuition-free career development courses, which span topics
from business and human resources to construction and IT.
The state initiative is one way colleges are responding to the economic
crisis created by the pandemic. Some 30 million people were collecting
unemployment benefits as of early August, and the unemployment rate was
around 10% in July, the latest available figure.
Colleges usually see enrollment gains during economic downturns because
students seek out additional education to make themselves more
attractive to employers. But the pandemic presents an acute challenge
for schools, which must determine which industries are still hiring in
order to help students land jobs.
"It's important for colleges, whether they be community colleges or
four-year institutions, to be working really closely with their local
business community, with their public workforce system leaders and also
community-based organizations, to really be designing solutions that
are going to work for workers in this moment," said Maria Flynn,
president and CEO of Jobs for the Future, a workforce development
nonprofit.
A constellation of efforts
Several states are using higher education to help rebuild their
workforce during the pandemic. The American Association of Community
Colleges (AACC) and the National Governors Association, for example,
are spearheading a network of governors' offices, community colleges
and workforce development offices that will share strategies for
retraining workers who've lost their jobs because of the coronavirus.
About 20 states have signed onto the effort.
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