More than $1.8 million in grants awarded recently to the Peralta Community College District will pay for programs and courses to improve online career and technical education programs, district officials said.
Berkeley City College, College of Alameda, and Laney and Merritt colleges in Oakland, as well as the Peralta District Administrative Center, received the grants from the California Virtual Campus-Online Education Initiative.
The largest grant in the Peralta district went to College of Alameda, which received $450,880 to develop online career education opportunities, including 17 new online career and technical education courses, district officials said.
The California Legislature and governor provided funding to support existing California community colleges in accelerating innovative online learning opportunities leading to increased employability and upward mobility for working Californians.
The Budget Act of 2018 and trailer bill appropriated one-time funds of $35 million and provided competitive grants to community college districts to develop online programs and courses through the Online Education Initiative, the California Virtual Campus-Online Education Initiative, and the Improving Online CTE Pathways Grant Program. No matching funds were required.
More information on the grants is available on the Peralta Community College District’s website.