IT Workforce Accelerator Surpasses Goals, Helping Over 800 Residents Gain Skills for New Careers

March 27, 2024

The IT Workforce Accelerator program is funded by a $14.6 million U.S. Economic Development Administration grant received by Bradley University, Eureka College, and Illinois Central College in 2022.

The program allows the three schools to provide no-cost IT training to help Central Illinois residents and employees upgrade their skills and get jobs in IT. The certificates and microcredentials available were created in response to the IT training needs of over 200 local businesses, and most can be earned in less than six months.

It’s a collaborative effort. What’s been great is the collaboration between three higher education institutions. And we have some great stories of individuals that weren’t in IT before and now they’ve been hired for jobs they never would have applied for had they not had this training.

Don Shafer, Executive Director of the IT Workforce Accelerator

As of the end of 2023, the program had over 800 participants and exceeded the goal for credential completion by 20%. To date, over 1,300 individuals have registered for classes. The goal is to help 1,000 people get hired for IT jobs or retrained.