LaGuardia Community College Ready to Help New Yorkers Upskill
& Recover Financially from the Pandemic
With support from U.S. Department of Labor’s Strengthening Community College Training Grants program,
the College will expand capacity to offer employer-informed, accelerated pathways in healthcare & technology
March 23, 2021
LaGuardia Community College (“LaGuardia”) will increase capacity to help dislocated and unemployed workers—as well as new entrants to the workforce—develop the skills they need to secure the jobs they want. The College will do this by strengthening relationships with New York City employers, developing new courses and opportunities for work-based learning, accelerating educational pathways in healthcare and technology, and improving technology-enabled learning.
Support from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Strengthening Community College Training Grants program is making this capacity expansion possible. LaGuardia will receive approx. $700,000 from a nearly $5 million four-year grant awarded to a consortium of CUNY community colleges led by Queensborough Community College.
“Given the financial crisis and record unemployment caused by Covid-19 within Queens and beyond, this work is vital to support our community’s recovery from the pandemic,” said LaGuardia Community College President Kenneth Adams. “We are grateful to the U.S. Department of Labor for this funding.”
“The initiatives funded by this grant will help improve and accelerate our pathways in the in-demand fields of healthcare, data analytics, and cybersecurity. We will do this by simplifying the transition between non-credit and our college degree programs, creating new courses and internships, and working more closely with employers in developing programs,” said Sunil B. Gupta, Vice President of Continuing Education at LaGuardia. “We’re ready to get to work.”
Continuing Education at LaGuardia serves thousands of individuals annually in a broad array of programs focused on adult education and career advancement, including small business support initiatives, occupational training in sectors ranging from advanced industrial manufacturing to building management and sustainability, and more.
Read more about the recent U.S. Department of Labor grant to the CUNY Consortium.
To apply or learn more about accelerated training programs offered at LaGuardia Community College, visit https://www.laguardia.edu/careers or email ACEreg@lagcc.cuny.edu.
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LaGuardia Community College (LAGCC), located in Long Island City, Queens, educates thousands of New Yorkers annually through degree, certificate, and continuing education programs . LaGuardia is a national voice on behalf of community colleges, where half of all U.S. college students study. Part of the City University of New York (CUNY), the College reflects the legacy of our namesake, Fiorello H. LaGuardia, the former NYC mayor beloved for his championing the underserved. Since our doors opened in 1971, our programs regularly become national models for pushing boundaries to give people of all backgrounds access to a high quality, affordable college education.
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News coverage about this grant includes:
GOVERNMENT TECHNOLOGY
NYC Colleges Receive Federal Funding for Career and Tech Ed
NYC colleges want to bolster technical education and job training through the help of a $5 million federal grant. The initiative is focused on workforce development amid the economic fallout of the pandemic.
With flexibility in mind, LaGuardia Community College announced the future development of “accelerated education” courses to quickly prepare students for careers in health care, cybersecurity and data science.
“Given the financial crisis and record unemployment caused by COVID-19 within Queens and beyond, this work is vital to support our community’s recovery from the pandemic,” LaGuardia President Kenneth Adams said in a news release.
Though the grant program is largely in its infancy, LaGuardia Vice President of Continuing Education Sunil Gupta said the aim will be to put more students on the path to an associate degree and job training.
“The recovery is by no means determined — which form or shape it’s going to take,” he also noted.
… Gupta believes using “ed tech for tech ed” could help expand access to the training required in a digitized job market. This could serve to help revitalize Queens’ economy — among the most affected during the pandemic.
“The ability to successfully deliver hybrid training programs using technology is going to be the key to the future. There’s no putting this back in the bottle,” he said. “I think this [need for flexibility] has been a key issue for many students who are managing families, multiple jobs, family commitments, child care. This will provide that level of flexibility that didn’t exist before.”
CAMPUS NEWS
CUNY community college consortium forms to help the unemployed and underemployed
LaGuardia Community College (LaGuardia), in Long Island City, Queens, will provide accelerated education in areas including healthcare, cybersecurity, data analytics and data science.
“This funding from the U.S. Department of Labor will increase capacity to help dislocated and unemployed workers—as well as new entrants to the workforce—develop the skills they need to secure the jobs they want, through custom-designed pathways and technology-enabled learning,” added [LaGuardia Community College] President [Kenneth] Adams.
“This program builds on our successful track record of providing employer-informed, industry-relevant training programs that result in graduates securing new jobs or advancing their careers, and employers filling hiring gaps,” said LaGuardia Vice President of Adult and Continuing Education Sunil B. Gupta.
… CUNY’s community colleges provide high-quality associate degree programs that prepare students for senior colleges or entry into professional careers. Each college reduces economic inequality by serving all students, especially the most disadvantaged students, driving economic and social advancement.