August 21, 2012

Mayor Emanuel Announces New Opportunities for City Colleges of Chicago Students to Access Top Nursing Program Through College to Careers Initiative

City Colleges of Chicago Launches Total of 10 New or Enhanced Degree and Certificate Programs in Both the Healthcare and Transportation, Distribution and Logistics Fields

Mayor's Press Office    312.744.3334

CHICAGO — Mayor Emanuel and City Colleges of Chicago (CCC) Chancellor Cheryl Hyman announced today a new partnership that will give CCC students the opportunity to apply for 50 guaranteed, reserved spots per year in the University of Illinois Chicago's (UIC) nationally renowned College of Nursing. This partnership is part of the CCC College to Careers initiative, which fosters innovative approaches to ensure that Chicago’s college students are prepared for jobs in high-growth industries.

The Mayor and the Chancellor also announced the launch of nine additional new or enhanced CCC degree and certificate programs in both the healthcare and the transportation, distribution and logistics (TDL) fields. These programs are the product of months of collaboration between CCC faculty and staff and the College to Careers industry partners.

“Through College to Careers, industry leaders are providing insight into what’s needed for the jobs of tomorrow, so we can prepare our students today,” said Mayor Emanuel. “From pre-k to college, we are preparing Chicago’s students to succeed with a full education.”

In Chicago, 84,000 jobs in the healthcare industry are projected to become available during the next 10 years, 15,000 jobs in nursing alone. There are currently opportunities for nurses holding two-year degrees, which are offered through CCC, but increasingly nurses may be required to hold an RN-BSN bachelor’s degree in order to practice. With this new partnership, 50 CCC students and alumni have spaces reserved in UIC’s College of Nursing Online RN to BSN program every year. This program offers the same high quality education and the same bachelor’s degree as the UIC on-campus program and will provide a clear path for CCC students to pursue the education required to secure jobs in this in-demand field for years to come.

“Through the Mayor’s vision, we are creating real opportunity for Chicagoans and providing the most relevant coursework in fast-growing fields,” said Chancellor Hyman. “The programs we are announcing today will help our students gain the real skills they need to excel in the workforce.”

City Colleges is also launching today four additional new and five enhanced programs for students to enroll in this upcoming fall semester through College to Careers.

The new programs include: a free healthcare bridge program; a free warehousing career bridge program; an advanced certificate in supply chain management; and a basic certificate in sheet metal technology, along with the new partnership with automatic admission to the University of Illinois at Chicago’s online bachelor’s in nursing sciences program.

The programs enhanced through input from industry partners include: basic certificates in medical billing and medical coding; a basic certificate in supply chain management; programs for Commercial Driver’s Licenses (CDL-A for Big Trucks & CDL-B for CTA-Sized Buses); a forklift operator basic certificate; and enhanced nursing foundation courses.

About City Colleges of Chicago

The City Colleges of Chicago (CCC) is the largest community college system in Illinois and one of the largest in the nation, with 5,800 faculty and staff serving 120,000 students annually at seven campuses and six satellite sites city-wide. The City Colleges of Chicago is in the midst of a Reinvention, a collaborative effort to review and revise CCC programs and practices to ensure students leave CCC college-ready, career-ready and prepared to pursue their life's goals.

The City Colleges of Chicago includes seven colleges: Richard J. Daley College, Kennedy-King College, Malcolm X College, Olive-Harvey College, Harry S Truman College, Harold Washington College and Wilbur Wright College. The system also oversees the Washburne Culinary Institute, the French Pastry School, two restaurants, five Child Development Centers, the Center for Distance Learning, the Workforce Institute, the public broadcast station WYCC-TV Channel 20 and radio station WKKC-FM 89.3.  For more information about City Colleges of Chicago, call: (773) COLLEGE or visit www.ccc.edu.

 

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