Broward College keeps going up and up.

The college recently announced that it was the only Florida educational institution to receive funding from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Strengthening Community College Training Grants program.

In keeping with the grant program’s focus on creating a skilled workforce, BC said in a press release that the $1.7 million grant “will support the Broward College Micro-credentialing in Higher Education (MicroHE) Project over four years through support for students, employees, including faculty, equipment, tuition, and fees.”

“The Strengthening Community College Training grant allows us to bridge the gap between real-world skills, relevant education, and local demand for skilled workers,” said Dr. Mildred Coyne, senior vice president of Workforce Education and Innovation at Broward College. “This grant provides us with the funding so we can work toward bringing the necessary workforce education to help change the lives of individuals in our community.”

Through its micro-credentialing, short-term training courses, BC’s goal is to attract more than 1,200 students and nine employer partners. BC is especially paying attention to local industries that demand skilled workers such as IT, healthcare and supply chain.

MicroHE is already underway through funding from the Florida Department of Education’s Governor’s Emergency Education Relief (GEER) through the CARES Act.

BC has several focuses for the MicroHE program, including the following:

• “Creating a framework with employers for awarding micro-credentialing/badging using industry certifications and prior learning assessments in the Information Technology, supply chain management, and healthcare industries
• “Procuring an online platform for developing and awarding digital badges that can connect to other platforms such as LinkedIn and Indeed for job searches
• “Enhancing the process for awarding college credit for these micro-credentials that will accelerate participants completion of a Technical Certificate or degree
• “Providing distance learning infrastructure in the Broward UP/Opportunity Zone communities for access to workforce education and training, leading to these micro-credentials and giving them access to courses taught on the college’s campuses.”

BC’s grant was one of 11 community colleges around the country that received parts of the $40 million grant.

Pictured: Broward College president Gregory Haile