Statewide Workforce Development Scholarship Initiative Announced

A new higher education scholarship initiative across the state of Minnesota was announced this week.

Devinder Malhotra, the chancellor of Minnesota State (formerly Minnesota State Colleges and Universities) stopped by Central Lakes College this week to explain the new workforce development scholarship. The purpose of the scholarship, which will be funded by the Legislature, is to provide hundreds of students pursuing high-demand trades at the 30 Minnesota State colleges with financial assistance.

“The state Legislature was nice enough to grant Minnesota State with a number of these scholarships and we have scholarships at Central Lakes College that we’re awarding to students too in about six or seven different programs,” said Paul Preimesberger, CLC Dean of Enrollment and Student Success.

“There are so many good job opportunities and careers in the trade areas and it’s always if you have a skill and you like hands-on education, you will always have a job if you go in to a technical field,” added Joy Bodin, CLC Vice President of Academic and Student Affairs.

Malhotra has visited 20 different communities in the past four days, including Northwest Technical College in Bemidji Tuesday, to raise awareness of Minnesota State’s involvement in meeting the workforce shortage. The scholarship covers four different areas: agriculture, manufacturing, healthcare, and information technology.

“[It’s] going to any student, whether they were coming straight from high school, or whether they were coming from – returning students, who haven’t come back to college for some time, or career changes, or displaced workers who needed training or [to] enhance their skills to be more effective in the workplace,” said Malhotra.

The scholarship initiative was approved by Gov. Time Walz and the 2019 Legislature and will allocate $2 million for the scholarships in the 2019-2020 school year.