The Trade Associated Assistance Community College and Career Training (TAACCCT) grant program, originally created in 2010, was at the time the largest-ever federal investment in community colleges. TAACCCT awarded grants for community college programs that enhance job-driven skills through innovative workforce development programs, with a focus on creating or updating programs of study to improve the ability of community colleges to provide workers with the education and skills to succeed in high-wage, high-skill occupations.
Between 2011 and 2018, The U.S. Department of Labor made 256 awards through four rounds of competitive grants. Of the 729 postsecondary institutions funded, 630 (85 percent) were community colleges. Of all community colleges in the U.S., approximately two-thirds secured TAACCCT funding to engage in reforms to build capacity to deliver integrated education and workforce training.
Although the grants have run their course, the legacy remains. The programmatic infrastructure created through the TAACCCT program continues today in addressing the education and workforce needs of these local programs. Additionally, new legislation introduced builds on the success of this program for future economic recovery. The Relaunching America’s Workforce Act was introduced in the House of Representatives last Friday and includes proposing $2 billion to restart the TAACCCT grant program.
As communities nationwide are responding to COVID-19 (Coronavirus), the need for training a robust health care workforce has become even more urgent, and healthcare industry programs created as part of TAACCCT can help to offer guidance for future programs.
On April 16, New America hosted a webinar that explored the role and legacy of TAACCCT created programs and the impact these programs have in continuing to innovate and support building a strong healthcare workforce.
One of the highlighted TAACCCT grantees includes a consortium program in Missouri called MoHealthWINs. MoHealthWINs created programs that included creating scalable, online and virtual learning platforms to expand access to learners that weren’t previously available. Additionally, enhanced advising helped to ensure learners remained on-track along their career pathway to achieve their goals. One of the most successful components of MoHealthWINs focused on the creation and maintenance of strong relationships with local employers, which helped learners to be prepared with the skills needed in their local community. The success of the program included over 88 percent of attempted credit hours completed, and 75 percent of completers who started as unemployed were able to find employment upon completion.
As the national focus shifts from immediate pandemic response to economic recovery, our nation needs a program like TAACCCT to help to ensure that postsecondary institutions have the resources to create nimble programs that can respond to changing labor needs and equip learners with the skills they need to succeed.
Advance CTE promotes including a TAACCCT-like program as a priority in any next round of stimulus legislation and in our recommendations for the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act.
Samuel Dunietz, Senior Associate for Federal Policy
