Ivy Tech Community College recently was awarded more than $1.5 million in federal grants to support education programs for veterans.
The grant was awarded through the Department of Labor to support the Veterans Accelerated Learning for Licensed Occupations project. Ivy Tech was one of two grant recipients nationally, and it was the only private non-profit awarded under the VALLO program, Ivy Tech said in a statement.
“The funding provided by DOL will allow Ivy Tech and our partners to continue to address the workforce needs in our state,” said Sue Smith, vice president for advanced manufacturing, engineering and applied science at Ivy Tech. “Ivy Tech is committed to providing education and training opportunities to veterans and transitioning service members to not only aid their efforts in joining the civilian workforce, but also to meet the employer demand for a skilled workforce.”
The grant award was part of nearly $2.6 million in grants awarded by the DOL as part of its ongoing efforts to encourage occupational licensing opportunities for veterans. The Ivy Tech project is 100% funded by DOL.
Ivy Tech will partner with the Indiana Professional Licensing Agency, Kentucky Science and Technology Corporation, The Council of State Governments, Indiana Department of Veterans Affairs, Indiana Department of Workforce Development, Conexus Indiana, TechPoint, and others to accelerate the pathways for veterans and transitioning service members into licensed occupations.
Ivy Tech will oversee the process of collaborating with each partner to identify gaps between military education and training and civilian occupations, develop streamlined education pathways, create accelerated training programs, expand their military crosswalk, and develop a multi-state system to ensure credentials are transferable.
