Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb said he wants to re-enroll 25,000 college dropouts in school, double the number of state apprenticeships and help 30,000 Hoosiers obtain a high school diploma and a better job — all this year.
This story by Hayleigh Colombo originally appeared in the Indianapolis Business Journal.
Those were among five benchmarks the Republican governor outlined in his second State of the State address, which he delivered Tuesday night to a joint session of the Indiana House and Senate.
The goal is to address a worker shortage, of 85,000 unfilled jobs in Indiana.
Holcomb’s goals are:
- Enrolling 25,000 of the more than 700,000 people who have started college but quit at some point in a college program this year.
- Help 30,000 of the 475,000 adults who don’t have a high school diploma obtain one and get a better job this year.
- Increase the number of state work-based learning and apprenticeships from 12,500 to 25,000 by the end of 2019.
- Engage 250 companies this year to train and hire employees through a previously announced employer training grant program
- Help at least 1,000 of the 25,000 inmates in Indiana prisons graduate annually by 2020 in certificate programs that will lead to jobs.
Since the “You Can. Go Back.” initiative launched in 2016, more than 13,000 people contacted by the state have re-enrolled in college, state officials said Tuesday. That’s about 6.5 percent of the larger goal.