Four community colleges and six businesses will begin working later this month on course material to help alleviate the skills gap in high-demand industries.
The College Employer Collaborative, announced Thursday by nonprofit group Jobs for the Future and digital learning company CorpU, will enable employers to develop new content utilizing CorpU's social learning platform.
Once completed, the material will be blended into classroom and online learning at Alamo Colleges in Texas, Everett Community College in Washington State, LaGuardia Community College in New York and Neosho County Community College in Kansas.
The initiative targets the advanced manufacturing and financial services sectors; participating companies include Boeing, AGCO, MetLife, Guardian, Waddell & Reed and Securian Financial Group.
Read more on growth and workforce change in the industrial sector.
According to the National Association of Manufacturers said 80 percent of manufacturers reported difficulty in finding skilled workers, a problem that will likely worsen as the U.S. workforce ages.
Students that complete the courses will receive a credential recognized by those employers.
“We hope this collaborative inspires more employers and colleges to invest in similar proactive efforts across the U.S.,” said Jobs for the Future CEO Gina Burkhardt.
The groups anticipate that the effort's courses will be available starting this fall.
