The National Association for Community College Entrepreneurship (NACCE) is partnering with 14 of its member community colleges to launch a new pilot program in collaboration with SkillPointe, a specialized technology platform designed to help students identify training opportunities in skilled trades. The program, titled “The Pitch Winners Pilot,” is aimed at increasing SkillPointe subscribers by 40 percent and is being sponsored by NACCE and the Ratcliffe Foundation.
Through the SkillPointe platform, potential students can easily access information about training programs, costs, income potential, and nearby training opportunities for specific occupations. Currently, 34 NACCE members are already using SkillPointe to boost their enrollment. The annual subscription cost for the pilot colleges is covered by NACCE and the Ratcliffe Foundation, making it free for students to use the platform.
The participating colleges in the pilot program are previous winners of the NACCE-Ratcliffe Foundation “Pitch for the Skilled Trades” competition, where cash prizes are awarded to winning community college pitch teams to support their entrepreneurial endeavors. These colleges will work with project leaders to contribute and track data, with the aim of quantifying student acquisition costs compared to traditional marketing methods like Google ads, direct mail, and billboards.
The pilot program is co-chaired by NACCE Fellow Kevin Logan and NACCE Director of Events and Programs Darcie Tumey. The goal of the program is to help community colleges expand their impact, increase completion rates, and attract a broader student base while meeting the needs of local employers.
Colleges participating in the pilot program include Carroll Community College, Houston Community College, Ivy Tech Community College, Kauai Community College, Laramie County Community College, Northwestern Michigan College, Pellissippi State Community College, Pima Community College, Rio Salado College, Santa Fe College, Tallahassee State College, Tennessee College of Applied Technology, Vance-Granville Community College, and Wake Technical Community College.
NACCE is a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting entrepreneurship in classrooms, campuses, and communities, with nearly 400 member colleges and approximately 3.3 million students. SkillPointe, on the other hand, is a platform that focuses on skills-based careers, offering career exploration, access to training programs, scholarships, and listings for well-paying, in-demand jobs in various industries.
For more information about NACCE and SkillPointe, visit their respective websites at http://www.nacce.com and http://www.skillpointe.com.
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