Community Colleges Help Meet Demand for ‘Middle-Skill’ Workers

Chicago - Katie Spencer reports that community colleges are working to implement programs to train students for highly skilled jobs where openings persist despite a depressed economy. President Obama recently announced an initiative called Skills for America’s Future, aimed at encouraging public-private partnerships to create more retraining programs at community colleges. “The program looks to increase the number of employers who have partnerships with community colleges so that those partnerships will better align curriculum with skills needed by employers in that community,” said Karen Elzey, who runs the program for the Aspen Institute. “We are going to need people all along the continuum of education, but there is definitely a big role for those jobs that require a two-year or certificate degree,” Elzey said.