Ozarks Tech awarded $5.7M federal grant

Ozarks Technical Community College is among 18 community colleges in 14 states set to receive a combined $65 million in grants, the U.S. Department of Labor announced this morning.

The portion for Ozarks Tech is listed in a news release at $5.7 million. Ozarks Tech is the only Missouri higher education institution on the list of grant recipients through the Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration's Strengthening Community Colleges Training Grants Program.

“The Biden-Harris administration is investing in training programs that end in a job, rather than a job search,” said Julie Su, acting U.S. secretary of labor, in the release. “Our Strengthening Community Colleges grantees run programs that help lift whole communities, like by helping community colleges equip workers with the skills they need right now, while strengthening workforce infrastructure. This is how we fundamentally shift workforce training programs to better invest in improving the lives of America’s workers."

The release states that grant recipients will use the funds "to support programs that help community colleges scale affordable, high-quality workforce training to meet employers’ and workers’ skill development needs in critical industry sectors, such as advanced manufacturing, clean energy, semiconductors and biotechnology."