A workforce development program in Missouri is set to expire in August, but the state Senate passed a bill to make it permanent, That bill is now in the state House. The Fast Track Workforce Incentive Grant Program provides full-tuition scholarships to adults 25 and older who want to get a short-term credential or a degree in an area designated as high need – such as allied health, computer science, business, accounting, or education. Missouri’s Higher Education Commissioner Zora Mulligan notes the number of applications have almost doubled in the last year.
Recipients of these grants are required to graduate, stay in Missouri and find eligible employment within a year; otherwise the money defaults into a loan. They’re also required to maintain employment in the state for at least three years. Mulligan says employers such as the Missouri Hospital Association, for instance, have been seeking job candidates from the Fast Track program even before COVID-19 because they had such acute workforce needs. She says the program benefits students and employers greatly, with little cost for the state.
Mulligan adds the pandemic has only exacerbated the need for workers in the healthcare industry, and educators and school administrators have also been leaving the workforce. Governor Mike Parson has proposed increasing the minimum teacher salary from 25-thousand a year to 38-thousand. While many school districts pay more than that, he hopes it will encourage potential teachers to join the public school system.
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