FCC Receives Over $1 Million For Workforce Training Initiatives

Frederick Community College’s workforce development programming has received support from three substantial grants— including more than $1 million in State COVID-19 relief funding.

“We know many Frederick County residents are dealing with unemployment and financial challenges during this pandemic,” said FCC President Elizabeth Burmaster. “FCC is committed to providing our community members with workforce training opportunities and tuition assistance to help them secure employment and recover from all we have faced over the last year.”

The funding from the three programs will help reduce costs for students, enhance existing coursework, and develop new workforce/certification programming.

Workforce Development Sequence Scholarship

The Workforce Development Sequence Scholarship is a State initiative designed to provide financial assistance to students enrolling in an approved non-credited certificate program leading to apprenticeships, employment, licensure, or job skill enhancement.

This scholarship is available to prospective FCC students and those already registered in one of the specific course series for the spring semester (January 2021 – June 2021). Course sequences approved for these scholarships can be found here and include courses in automotive technology, child care, electrical, HVAC, welding, medical billing and coding, veterinary assistant, sterile processing, certified nursing assistant, and the Microsoft Foundation series. The maximum amount for the scholarship is $1,000.

To be eligible for this scholarship in spring 2021, students must fill out this online application and submit all required documents. 

For more information, contact Treasure Mathis at tmathis@frederick.edu.


Federal Governor’s Emergency Relief

FCC was awarded nearly $700,000 in funding as part of the Federal Governor’s Emergency Relief (GEER) program. Some of this funding has already been used to cover the cost of tuition and educational materials for 40 students taking workforce training classes this semester. More funding will be available to serve students in the fall 2021 semester.

Additionally, GEER funding allows FCC to develop new workforce/certification programming that is responsive to the needs of employers in the region, hire a part-time instructional designer to support curriculum development, and hire a part-time student success coach to provide direct services for students enrolled in workforce courses, including helping students apply GEER-tuition assistance funds and other tuition support to their courses and identify College and community resources to help meet their needs.

Maryland Higher Education Commission’s Recovery Now program

Frederick Community College also received $400,000 as part of the Maryland Higher Education Commision’s Recovery Now program. The funding will be used to expand existing and develop new in-demand workforce development training and educational programs to support those who are recently unemployed or want to improve their job skills to renter the workplace.

The funding will provide tuition assistance to students enrolling in FCC workforce development or continuing professional education programs. It will also allow FCC to enhance certain program areas through additional training and equipment purchases. Program areas include biotechnology, logistics & production technology, and automotive technology… all sectors that are important to the local economy. 

Students enrolling in workforce development courses or continuing professional education courses leading to government or industry-required certification or licensure will be evaluated for tuition assistance and other student support based on the eligibility requirements. Students can apply by first completing the CEWD Financial Assistance Request Form found here.