§ 2371 — Community College And Career Training Grant Program

(1) Beginning August 1, 2009, the Secretary may award Community College and Career Training Grants to eligible institutions for the purpose of developing, offering, or improving educational or career training programs for workers eligible for training under section 2296 of this title. (2) An eligible institution may not be awarded— (A) more than one grant under this section; or (B) a grant under this section in excess of $1,000,000. (b) In this section: (1) The term “eligible institution” means an institution of higher education (as defined in section 1002 of title 20), but only with respect to a program offered by the institution that can be completed in not more than 2 years. (2) The term “Secretary” means the Secretary of Labor. (1) An eligible institution seeking to receive a grant under this section shall submit a grant proposal to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and containing such information as the Secretary may require. (2) Not later than June 1, 2009, the Secretary shall— (A) promulgate guidelines for the submission of grant proposals under this section; and (B) publish and maintain such guidelines on the website of the Department of Labor. (3) The Secretary shall offer assistance in preparing a grant proposal to any eligible institution that requests such assistance. (A) A grant proposal submitted to the Secretary under this section shall include a detailed description of— (i) the specific project for which the grant proposal is submitted, including the manner in which the grant will be used to develop, offer, or improve an educational or career training program that is suited to workers eligible for training under section 2296 of this title; (ii) the extent to which the project for which the grant proposal is submitted will meet the educational or career training needs of workers in the community served by the eligible institution who are eligible for training under section 2296 of this title; and (iii) any previous experience of the eligible institution in providing educational or career training programs to workers eligible for training under section 2296 of this title. (B) The absence of any previous experience in providing educational or career training programs described in subparagraph (A)(iii) shall not automatically disqualify an eligible institution from receiving a grant under this section. (5) In order to be considered by the Secretary, a grant proposal submitted by an eligible institution under this section shall— (A) demonstrate that the eligible institution— (i) reached out to employers to identify— (I) any shortcomings in existing educational and career training opportunities available to workers in the community; and (II) any future employment opportunities within the community and the educational and career training skills required for workers to meet the future employment demand; and (ii) reached out to other similarly situated institutions in an effort to benefit from any best practices that may be shared with respect to providing educational or career training programs to workers eligible for training under section 2296 of this title; and (B) include a detailed description of— (i) the extent and outcome of the outreach conducted under subparagraph (A); (ii) the extent to which the project for which the grant proposal is submitted will contribute to meeting any shortcomings identified under subparagraph (A)(i)(I) or any educational or career training needs identified under subparagraph (A)(i)(II); and (iii) the extent to which employers, including small- and medium-sized firms within the community, have demonstrated a commitment to employing workers who would benefit from the project for which the grant proposal is submitted. (1) Subject to the appropriation of funds, the Secretary shall award a grant under this section based on— (A) a determination of the merits of the grant proposal submitted by the eligible institution to develop, offer, or improve educational or career training programs to be made available to workers eligible for training under section 2296 of this title; (B) an evaluation of the likely employment opportunities available to workers who complete an educational or career training program that the eligible institution proposes to develop, offer, or improve; and (C) an evaluation of prior demand for training programs by workers eligible for training under section 2296 of this title in the community served by the eligible institution, as well as the availability and capacity of existing training programs to meet future demand for training programs. (2) A grant awarded under this section may not be used to satisfy any private matching requirement under any other provision of law. (e) Not later than December 15, 2009, and annually thereafter, the Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Finance of the Senate and the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of Representatives a report— (1) describing each grant awarded under this section during the preceding fiscal year; (2) assessing the impact of each award of a grant under this section in a fiscal year preceding the fiscal year referred to in paragraph (1) on workers receiving training under section 2296 of this title; and (3) providing the following data relating to program performance and outcomes: (A) Of the grants awarded under this section, the amount of funds spent by grantees. (B) The average dollar amount of grants awarded under this section. (C) The average duration of grants awarded under this section. (D) The percentage of workers receiving benefits under part 2 that are served by programs developed, offered, or improved using grants awarded under this section. (E) The percentage and number of workers receiving benefits under part 2 who obtained a degree through such programs and the average duration of the participation of such workers in training under section 2296 of this title. (F) The number of workers receiving benefits under part 2 served by such programs who did not complete a degree and the average duration of the participation of such workers in training under section 2296 of this title.