Amendment #28 to H4789

Co-operative Education Opportunities

Mrs. Lipper-Garabedian of Melrose moves to amend the bill in section 2, in item 0000-0000, by adding the following:

For a grant program to be administered by the Department of Higher Education in support of designing, implementing and expanding opportunities for co-operative educational experiences for students of the state’s four year public higher education institutions, including campuses of the University of Massachusetts system; provided, that the department shall award up to five one year planning grants for the purposes of assisting institutions in designing a program for co-operative education opportunities to serve an initial or additional group of between one hundred and three hundred students annually and that the product of those planning grants shall serve as the basis for the department to award at least three multi-year implementation grants for the purpose of initiating or expanding co-operative educational opportunities for students attending those institutions; provided further, that the department shall develop a set of guidelines to be used in defining a co-operative educational experience that shall be used by applicant institutions in their program design and that said guidelines shall be based on best practices at existing successful co-op programs at public and private colleges; shall include a student experience that requires at least one six month co-op placement for each participating student that includes salaried employment with a business partner hiring and compensating participating students and shall include at least one credit-bearing course on career preparation, job seeking and essential workforce skills; and provided further, that in awarding grants, the department shall consider, amongst other factors, geographic location and equity, and program alignment with state and regional labor market need, inclusive of the Commonwealth’s stated priority growth industries; and provided further, that the department will require implementation grant recipients to collect and report to the department data on student outcomes including impacts on student achievement and employability rates post-graduation; and provided further, that there shall be no prohibition on the use of other available funding sources to support grant activities; and provided further, that income received by students as part of these co-op experiences shall not be counted as part of any state-funded student financial aid eligibility; and provided further, that the department shall utilize up to but not exceeding ten percent of this appropriation for the purposes of administering the program and offering state support in its implementation; and provided further that department, no later than December 31, 2027, shall issue a report to the legislature’s committees on Economic Development and Emerging Technology and House and Senate Ways and Means on data and outcomes realized as a result said program………………………………………………………………………………………………$4,000,000

Additional co-sponsor(s) added to Amendment #28 to H4789

Co-operative Education Opportunities