Seminole State College of Florida has launched a tuition-free eight-week construction program at its Sanford/Lake Mary campus thanks to a $2 million federal grant. The funds will be used to educate students with classroom and hands-on training and is designed to lead students straight into residential construction jobs as well as pre-fabricated systems and modular construction professions. The funding comes from the Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training program. Funds were also provided to Miami Dade College, Polk State College and Santa Fe College.
The goal of this new program is to help meet the demand for construction workers in the state, which has risen 6.6 percent since last year. According to the Institute for Economic Competitiveness at the University of Central Florida, there are more than 429,000 construction jobs currently in the state, but that number is expected to rise to 505,500 jobs by 2018.
