Lorain County Community College partners with National Center for Inquiry and Improvement and WestEd’s Center for Economic Mobility

Lorain County Community College has joined the Back on Track initiative through its partnership with the National Center for Inquiry and Improvement and WestEd’s Center for Economic Mobility. The Back on Track initiative seeks to help adult learners find pathways into high demand careers that will help them support their families.

According to an article on Lorain County Community College’s website, college president Marcia J. Ballinger, Ph.D., was quoted as saying of the initiative, “The Back on Track initiative is another way that LCCC can ensure we are meeting our students where they are and strengthening our commitment to adult learners. We know that earning potential and economic mobility are directly tied to educational attainment and when we help students transition from lower-paying entry-level positions into more technical, certification-required roles, they can achieve family-sustaining careers and build a better future for themselves and their families.” 

She added, “As an institution, we’ve always prioritized the ability to scale successful initiatives in order to broaden reach and amplify impact. As a cohort of eight, we’ll have national best practices to learn from as we plan and then transition into scalability. Given this, we anticipate Back on Track being a vital initiative within LCCC’s THRIVE 2035 vision of advancing economic mobility for individuals and families and creating a thriving economy and community.”

Lorain County Community College is one of eight colleges that is partnering with the National Center for Inquiry and Improvement and WestEd’s Center for Economic Mobility for the Back on Track initiative. The initiative will create new pathways specifically designed to help adult learners get into careers that will help them sustain the needs of their families. The college will be taking data from its existing Career by Design initiative, which seeks to assist students with their family needs through employment.

The first pathway of the Back on Track initiative will help students who are working in customer service or frontline jobs translate their skills into information technology roles. The second pathway will help individuals currently working in healthcare roles translate their skills and experience into medical coding, insurance, and healthcare technology careers. The third pathway will help students with entry-level machining experience transfer their skills into advanced manufacturing and automation.

Lorain County Community College plans to further develop each pathway into career advancement opportunities to help individuals reach their career goals.

For more information about Lorain County Community College, visit the school’s website.