Lone Star College to address skilled labor shortage

HOUSTON, TX -- Lone Star College is partnering with New America to help address the serious shortage of skilled workers facing our country. New America is interested in learning about the highly successful LSC workforce programs and the relationships the college has with its business partners.

“The pandemic economy has severely impacted Americans who don’t hold a degree or certification,” said Stephen C. Head, Ph.D., LSC Chancellor. “This grant will be used to learn how higher education institutions can attract students to the classroom and prepare them to enter the workforce.”

New America, a national network focused on advancing a vision of a renewed America, conducted more than a year of research and funded six community colleges with specific high-quality, non-degree programs. The goal was to reverse engineer these models and see what makes them work in terms of financing, design and strategy.

In addition, LSC has created Advisory Councils that regularly meet with industry leaders (CEO and similar levels) to discuss workforce trends and needs in global energy and manufacturing, health care, information technology and construction.

“We will be holding meetings later this year to help New America gain insight on why Lone Star College is effective in training students and the success we have working with employers to ensure that future workforce needs are met,” said Head.

LSC was one of six additional colleges to receive a $50,000 grant to support New America’s workforce training research and help community colleges elevate the visibility and maximize the impact of those workforce programs.

Lone Star College offers high-quality, low-cost academic transfer and career training education to 93,000+ students each semester. LSC is training tomorrow’s workforce today and redefining the community college experience to support student success. Stephen C. Head, Ph.D., serves as chancellor of LSC, the largest institution of higher education in the Houston area and has been named a 2021 Great Colleges to Work For® institution by the Chronicle of Higher Education and ranked 35th in Texas in the Forbes ‘America’s Best Employers By State’ list. LSC consists of eight colleges, seven centers, eight Workforce Centers of Excellence and Lone Star Corporate College. To learn more, visit LoneStar.edu.