Employable Work Skills
Expanding job-specific training at community colleges
Virginians have great confidence in the community college system, which reaches to every part of the Commonwealth and serves a wide range of students. For many students—young people and adults—community colleges provide the opportunity to gain employable work skills that are required in today’s high-tech economy for everything from healthcare and construction to auto repair and manufacturing.
Virginia’s community college system is a uniquely valuable resource that can help many more Virginians gain the education and skills needed to succeed in life. The Commonwealth should expand the system’s capacity and focus on creating more job-skill retraining and industry-specific courses for workers of all ages throughout their lifetimes. Collaborations between job-creating businesses and community colleges produce exceptional value for students, employers, and the Commonwealth, and should be pursued on the broadest possible basis statewide.