Get a Skill, Get a Job or Your Money Back

Community College Program Offers Unique Solution to Job Woes

LANSING Mich., March 25 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Lansing Community College (LCC) in Michigan is launching a unique 6-week training program in four growth occupations with a money-back guarantee if its graduates do not find jobs. The pilot, Get a Skill, Get a Job, is set to launch May 17 and offers training for positions as call center specialists, pharmacy technician associates, quality inspector associates, and CNC (computer numerical control) machinists.  

Participants accepted into Get a Skill, Get a Job will be required to sign a learning contract requiring full attendance and completion of all assigned work, as well as their participation in job readiness training. Those who successfully complete their course will receive a portfolio of competencies and help finding work.  If they show good faith efforts to secure employment but do not find a job within one year of completion, LCC will refund their money.

"We understand the frustrations faced by those unable to find employment in this difficult economy," said Brent Knight, LCC President. "But we also know there are occupations that offer good paying jobs to those with the required skills.  We want to provide training through an intensive program that gets people skilled and ready for the workplace."

Program costs range from $2,370 to $2,500. Participants will be required to pay half of the fee up-front and the remainder in monthly installments upon employment.  Costs include instruction, books, and supplies.

While Michigan has lost nearly 1 million jobs in the last decade, areas of job growth are in industries that require more than a high school diploma but less than a four-year college degree. According to an October 2009 report issued by Skills2Compete – Michigan, in 2007, about 51 percent of all jobs in the state required some higher education, yet only 46 percent of Michigan workers had the education and training to fill those positions. Some 46 percent of all job openings in the state between now and 2016 will be in middle-skill occupations.

Lansing Community College is Michigan's third largest community college with 32,000 + students and more than 240 degree and certificate programs. 

SOURCE Lansing Community College