As he unveils his 2013 budget request Monday, President Obama will highlight a proposal to invest $8 billion in community colleges to help them train workers in high-growth industries, the White House said.
The plan would support Obama’s State of the Union goal of training 2 million unemployed Americans with new skills that would help them find a job.
Under his proposal, Obama hopes to create a new Community College to Career Fund that provides grants to schools to partner with businesses and deliver training in fields such as health care, advanced manufacturing, clean energy and information technology.
The fund, administered jointly by the Labor and Education departments, would also support paid internships for low-income students and financial assistance to small business entrepreneurs. The president is set to announce the package at Northern Virginia Community College in Annandale, where he will make remarks about his 2013 spending plan.
During his State of the Union address before Congress last month, Obama related the story of a North Carolina woman who had attended a community college after she was laid off as a mechanic. A company that operated a gas turbine factory, which had a partnership with the school, paid the woman’s tuition and hired her at the factory upon graduation, the president stated.
“I want every American looking for work to have the same opportunity,” Obama said.
The community college fund would require congressional approval as part of the president’s overall budget request.
