Pursuit's Take
The Department of Labor (DOL) audited the Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training (TAACCCT) Grants Program. The program has awarded 256 grants to community colleges and other institutions of higher learning, totaling almost $2 billion. According to the DOL, these grants “build capacity for participants to attain the skills, degrees, and credentials necessary for employment in high-wage, high-skill occupations.”
“Grantees were to use funds for developing new education and training programs, or for replicating existing programs that could be completed in two years or less and were suitable for workers who had lost their jobs or were threatened with job loss because of foreign trade,” says the report.
Auditors evaluated 185 of the grants, and while grantees achieved their goals in expanding and developing their programs, “less than half of the students that were unemployed when they entered training found a job.” In addition, for those who found jobs, the program could not determine if they were employed in high-wage, high-skill occupations.
Read the full report