View all text of Part P [§ 1161p - § 1161p]
§ 1161p. Grants to create bridges from jobs to careers
(a) Purpose
(b) Authorization of program
From amounts appropriated to carry out this section, the Secretary shall award grants, on a competitive basis, to institutions of higher education, as defined in section 1001(a) of this title, to create workforce bridge programs between developmental courses and for-credit courses in occupational certificate programs that are articulated to degree programs. Such workforce bridge programs shall focus on—
(1) improving developmental education, including English language instruction, by customizing developmental education to student career goals; and
(2) helping students move rapidly from developmental coursework into for-credit occupational courses and through program completion.
(c) Application
(d) Priorities
The Secretary shall give priority to applications that—
(1) are from institutions of higher education in which not less than 50 percent of the institution’s entering first-year students who are subject to mandatory assessment are assessed as needing developmental courses to bring reading, writing, or mathematics skills up to college level; and
(2) propose to replicate practices that have proven effective with adults, or propose to collaborate with adult education providers.
(e) Required activity
(f) Permissible activities
An institution of higher education that receives a grant under this section may use the grant funds to carry out one or more of the following activities:
(1) Designing and implementing innovative ways to improve retention in and completion of developmental education courses, including enrolling students in cohorts, accelerating course span, dually enrolling students in developmental and college-level courses, tutoring, providing counseling and other supportive services, and giving small, material incentives for attendance and performance.
(2) In consultation with faculty in the appropriate departments, reconfiguring courses offered on-site during standard academic terms for modular, compressed, or other alternative schedules, or for distance-learning formats, to meet the needs of working adults.
(3) Developing counseling strategies that address the needs of students in remedial education courses, and including counseling students on career options and the range of programs available, such as certificate programs that are articulated to degree programs and programs designed to facilitate transfer to four-year institutions of higher education.
(4) Improving the quality of teaching in remedial courses through professional development, reclassification of such teaching positions, or other means the institution of higher education determines appropriate.
(5) Any other activities the institution of higher education and the Secretary determine will promote retention of, and completion by, students attending institutions of higher education.
(g) Grant period
(h) Technical assistance
(i) Report and summary
(j) Authorization of appropriations
(Pub. L. 89–329, title VIII, § 851, as added Pub. L. 110–315, title VIII, § 801, Aug. 14, 2008, 122 Stat. 3421; amended Pub. L. 111–39, title VIII, § 801(13), July 1, 2009, 123 Stat. 1956.)