Establish a $1 million funding pool to provide seed funding for the purposes of expanding existing programs that are in high demand occupations and have long waiting lists and to develop new programs in high demand areas. This would include programs that address the dire need for nurses, establish a statewide curriculum to train early childhood educators to fulfill the demands made by the new Early Care initiatives, a formal regional approach with funding for Teaching and Recruitment Advancement Centers to attract new teachers from traditional and non-traditional backgrounds, and a pilot
program in a high demand area for Mass Colleges On-Line.

Give voting membership on regional employment boards to university chancellors and state and community college presidents to insure that public higher education will be a partner in workforce development and economic development and encourage collaborations with regional industries to identify curriculum needs and necessary job skills.

Ensure that community and state colleges are eligible for all workforce related funding initiatives.

Rewrite the Community College Workforce Training Incentive to include credit-bearing courses. At present the incentive program applies only to certificate programs.

Financial Aid