Introduction
Through the Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training (TAACCCT) grant program, the federal government charged community colleges with two things: retraining displaced workers so they can regain employment and providing education to help employed workers advance their careers. Now, as health and economic concerns rise in this time of COVID—especially among people of color, low-income groups, and women, we need to understand how the TAACCCT investment worked and how it could inform future policy and practice.
Overview
TAACCCT’s effect on building the capacity of community colleges cannot be overstated. More than any other federal grant program in history, TAACCCT targeted community colleges as the primary provider of education and training for unemployed and underemployed adults.
Research shows that TAACCCT, which ended in fall 2018, increased access to workforce-oriented education and training that provides entry to the labor force. These on-ramps are an important step along career pathways that lead to college-level instruction and credentials. For many adults in the U.S., these pathways are essential to finding employment that provides a sustaining wage. However, career pathways are incomplete if they fail to offer options for students to pursue additional credentials beyond high school. Such options include work experience that is recognized for college credit that counts toward an associate or bachelor’s degree.
The deep-seated inequities revealed by COVID-19 are troubling for the nation. The detrimental impact of the pandemic is skewed toward less-educated, lower-income people of color, and females who work in service-sector jobs. Much remains uncertain, but what is increasingly clear is that workers with college credentials, especially bachelor’s degrees, are more likely to retain jobs and be called back to work. Career pathways that provide progression to college credit, credential attainment, and stable employment are more important than ever.