In a special session last November, the Legislature approved $8 million to create room for more than 1,000 new students in aerospace training programs such as machining and composite materials manufacturing. This investment makes a lot of sense in a state with more than 1,350 aerospace businesses, and in which the tech industry supports 42 percent of our workforce.
The Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges recently announced the 21 colleges that will be awarded funding to increase their student capacity in high-demand aerospace programs this fall:
The aerospace training programs will begin in the 2014-2015 school year and future funding will depend on whether or not the colleges meet their stated program capacity.