New Initiative Launched to Expand College Access for Hispanic Immigrants

The Lumina Foundation for Education has awarded a grant to Corporation for a Skilled Workforce and its partners to identify what works in expanding college access for Hispanic immigrant employees. Partnerships between colleges and manufacturers that encourage enrollment and completion in certificate or degree programs are the focus of the study. The Corporation for a Skilled Workforce is teaming with The Center for Workforce Success (of the National Association of Manufacturers), Excelencia in Education, and the National Council for Workforce Education. Together, they will investigate best practices and profile leading-edge partnerships that expand opportunities for working Hispanic immigrants to upgrade their skills and earn a college degree or certificate.

Jeannine La Prad, President of Corporation for a Skilled Workforce, announced the initiative. "In 2006, Hispanics comprise the fastest growing segment of the U.S. workforce. In communities across the nation, innovative partnerships between employers and colleges are working to strengthen the educational attainment of this vital portion of our workforce. This investigation brings together a team of leading national organizations to help us learn more about what is working and promote promising models, policies, and practices."

Nominations of outstanding programs are sought directly from manufacturers, colleges, workforce and economic development agencies, community organizations, and interested individuals. Click here to download a nomination form.

About the Partners

Corporation for a Skilled Workforce is a national, non-profit policy organization based in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Founded in 1991, CSW's mission is to reimagine everything about work and learning in the global economy for the prosperity of people, firms and communities. The organization assists educators, business leaders, human services providers, community planners, economic developers and elected officials to increase their ability to support individual and employer success.

The Center for Workforce Success is the Training and Education Affiliate of the NAM's Manufacturing Institute. The mission of the Center for Workforce Success is to find and promote workforce solutions for manufacturers in a global economy, in order to build the workforce skills and creative contributions that American industry needs today to strengthen its competitive advantage tomorrow. Recent projects include publication of the report Closing the Immigrant Skills Gap and the 2005 Skills Gap Report: A Survey of the American Manufacturing Workforce.

Excelencia in Education aims to accelerate higher education success for Latino students. Launched in 2004, Excelencia links research, policy, and practice to serve Latino students and the institutions and programs where they participate. Excelencia provides data-driven analysis of the educational condition of Latino college students. This focus on higher education is designed to intensify attention on the completion of the educational pipeline and increase Latino academic success.

The National Council for Workforce Education is a private, non-profit, professional organization committed to promoting excellence and growth in workforce education at the post secondary level. NCWE, an affiliate council of the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC), provides a national forum for administrators and faculty in occupational, vocational, technical, and career education as well as representatives of business, labor, military, and government, to affect and direct the future role of two-year and other post secondary inistutitions in work-related education.

About Lumina Foundation

Lumina Foundation for Education, an Indianapolis-based, private, independent foundation, strives to help people achieve their potential by expanding access and success in education beyond high school. Through grants for research, innovation, communication, and evaluation, as well as policy education and leadership development, Lumina Foundation addresses issues that affect access and educational attainment among all students, particularly underserved student groups, including adult learners. For more details on the Foundation, visit its Web site at www.luminafoundation.org.

For further information, please contact Mary Gershwin (303-322-8190) of the Corporation for a Skilled Workforce.