MARTINSVILLE – For four years, Virginia’s multi-pronged approach for funding short-term career-credit courses has been quietly changing lives.
Across the state, short-term training graduates report that they make 25-50% more money on average after earning a credential and are twice as likely to be hired when applying for jobs.
Over the last two years, Virginia students have earned more than 16,000 short-term training credentials.
This past week, Patrick Henry Community College celebrated more than 165 students’ completion of a short-term program.
Career-credit training enables students to attain the licenses and certifications required for careers like HVAC, pluming, commercial truck driving, and medical assistant.
Recognizing a need for these skills across the state, Virginia has worked to make this training more accessible by providing multiple sources of funding.
Because of the success of these programs over the past years, the state is now increasing its funding for short term training.
For PHCC, this means more students could receive the funding they need to launch a rewarding career.
At PHCC, students can combine various types of aid for short-term training programs, including the Workforce Credential Grant and FANTIC which stands for Financial Aid for Noncredit Training leading to Industry Credentials, as well as scholarship funding from the Tobacco Region Revitalization Commission and the PHCC Foundation.
Based on the success of the program statewide, the General Assembly allocated $13.5 million for Workforce Credential Grants in fiscal year 2020, and assistance will be provided as long as funds remain.
Also, this year, PHCC was awarded $75,000 of FANTIC funds because of the college’s successful use of the funds in serving students.
Additionally, the Virginia Community College System (VCCS) has directed $2.75 million in FastForward Workforce Training Grants to community colleges around the commonwealth to develop new and expand existing high-demand training programs.
Specifically, PHCC has been allotted $62,853 for NCCER Plumbing Level 1 and NCCER HVAC Level 2.
The New Economy Workforce Credential Grant can cover two-thirds of a student’s tuition costs for FastForward training programs.
FANTIC is based on financial need and can cover up to 90% of a student’s remaining tuition cost.
Before these two funding models were implemented, students had very few aid options for short-term training.
A short-term training program typically lasts fewer than 12 weeks and often cost less than $3,000.
With the variety of funding sources that the state provides, PHCC’s students can increase their employability quickly without incurring much financial risk.
In many cases, the combined funding options enable students to pay less than $150 to train for a career that could double their annual salary.
To provide more information about the upcoming training opportunities and the available financial aid, PHCC is holding an open house on Tuesday, August 13 from 5:30 to 7:30 PM in Frith Hall .
Programs that will be discussed at the open house event include:
CDL Tractor Trailer Training
Center for Advanced Film Manufacturing
Certified Billing & Coding Specialist
Certified Nurse Aide (CNA)
Certified Production Technician (CPT)
Clinical Medical Assistant (CMA)
Dental Assisting Program with CDHC Certification
Electrical Groundsman
HOPE Customer Service
HOPE Food Service
HOPE Logistics Technician
Phlebotomy Technician
Registered Medication Aide (RMA)
Veterinary Assistant
Plus many online courses like IT & Software Technologies, Healthcare, and Business Management.
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