FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 8, 2011

HACU Media Contact: Norma Jean Revilla-Garcia, (210) 576-3206

NAFEO Media Contact: Christopher Lee, (202) 552-3359

Obama urged to include Minority-Serving Institutions in Jobs Training Program

The Alliance for Equity in Higher Education (The Alliance) is urging President Obama to give Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs) a central role in the jobs creation plan he will unveil during an address to a joint session of Congress on September 8, 2011.

The American Indian Higher Education Coalition (AIHEC), Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU) and National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education (NAFEO) recently sent a letter to President Obama to ensure that MSIs continue to play a key role to prepare individuals in technical and professional levels.

“Our diverse institutions are preparing disproportionate numbers of African American, Hispanic, and American Indian workers with cutting edge expertise that is critical to retooling and revitalizing the nation’s infrastructure,” said the Alliance. MSIs have since their founding served as training grounds for persons traditionally underrepresented in the American labor force.

While the overall U.S. unemployment rate is 9.2 percent, the rates from the collective constituent bases of MSIs are even higher. Black unemployment rate is double the national rate at 18 percent; the American Indian rate is at 15.2 percent, and Hispanic unemployment rate is at 12 percent.

According to the Alliance, Congressman Raul Grijalva’s Promoting Partnerships to Transform Opportunities Act of 2011 (HR 2611) has tremendous promise for achieving the President’s goal of training hard-to-employ workers.  The bill could serve as the vehicle for Congress to recognize the critical role of MSIs in workforce development.

The bill would create a competitive grant program to support the development of job training programs through MSIs and community-based organizations (CBOs).  The integration of this initiative in the overall plan can help accelerate the Presidents goal of putting more Americans to work.

The Alliance believes that the inclusion of MSIs in the Obama jobs plan is crucial to the future workforce of the nation. “MSIs have a long history and successful track record of partnering with community-based organizations to provide employment training opportunities for hard-to-employ individuals in new and emerging employment fields.”

About the Alliance for Equity in Higher Education
The Alliance for Equity in Higher Education is a collaborative of AIHEC, HACU, and NAFEO.  Launched in 1999, The Alliance represents the shared interests of Tribal Colleges and Universities, Hispanic-Serving Institutions, and Historically Black Colleges and Universities. Combined, these MSIs educate more than one-third of all students of color in the United States. MSIs disproportionately address the needs of low-income, minority students while contributing significantly to generating a highly skilled workforce, developing civic and community responsibility, and producing citizens who are exceptionally attuned to the increasingly diverse country in which we live.