TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) _ Two Kansas colleges will receive federal grants to develop programs to help train students in job skills needed for new technology.
Federal officials announced Monday that Washburn University in Topeka will receive $12 million and Johnson County Community College will get nearly $2.5 million as part of a federal program.
The awards were part of $450 million in training grants awarded to nearly 270 colleges for career training programs in skill-specific areas such as health care and advanced manufacturing through the Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training program, which is co-administered by the U.S. Labor and Education departments.
It is the second time in four years that Washburn has received a grant from the program. The last grant of $19.6 million was used mostly for advanced manufacturing training programs, The Topeka Capital-Journal reported.
The latest grant will be used primarily for health care related training through Washburn’s School of Nursing and the School of Applied Studies and at the Washburn Institute of Technology’s certified nursing assistants and licensed professional nursing programs.
The school plans to reach out to more veterans with the second grant, president Jerry Farley said.
“We’ll be working with the state of Kansas and Veterans Affairs to reach veterans who have training, but maybe not in the areas where the jobs are,” Farley said. “We’ll take what they know and teach them what they don’t know.”
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Information from: The Topeka (Kan.) Capital-Journal, http://www.cjonline.com
