Recovery Act/Stimulus

College Cohorts

A cohort is a series of courses for one group of students. Thanks to Recovery Act and state matching funds, the WDC is directly purchasing cohorts at local community and technical colleges.

The result: Cohorts have been opened for more than 200 students in high-demand programs that train them for good jobs that employers need to fill.

The WDC is spending $1.6 million for 14 cohort classes at seven local colleges. Of this, $568,420 is matching state funds provided by House Bill 5809. This legislation leverages Recovery Act funds to offer more training.

Occupations include:

Nursing
Accounting
Computer engineering
Project management

How does the WDC add value?

The WDC requests proposals from colleges for cohorts that are needed to fill a gap for students and for the economy—in other words, training for occupations that are in demand, for which there are eager students and not enough classes already.

The WDC then works with the college to customize the courses to ensure student success. This may include bundling prerequisites into the coursework to save students time, and ensuring that courses lead directly to certificates so they can gain employment sooner.

The WDC and WorkSource work closely with the colleges to recruit students from among jobseekers and those already on class waiting lists. The WDC and WorkSource also provide tutoring, career counseling and support services such as transportation that are not available to other college students.