Federal money cleared for ND Career & Technical Education Centers

Thirteen planned Career and Technical Education centers in North Dakota – including one in Grand Forks – will not have to access a line of credit through the Bank of North Dakota, because millions of dollars in federal COVID relief money will make the projects happen.

U-S Sen. John Hoeven says he has secured approval of North Dakota’s application for more than $68 million in funding from the U-S Treasury Department.

“Securing this award for North Dakota’s CTE Centers is an important win for the state. Today’s announcement means the short-term loan from the state can be promptly repaid and will enable construction to move forward,” said Hoeven.

“We’ve been working with Treasury to advance this process and provide much-needed certainty for the development of these CTE Centers, which will help our state better meet its workforce needs while giving students’ more options to pursue cost-effective education and build a successful career.”

The 2021 Special Legislative Session had approved $68 million for those academies from the relief funds, but federal approval did not come until today (Fri). The Legislature had approved the line of credit through the bank of North Dakota as a contingency.

The Grand Forks Career Impact Academy project will be located near Gateway and I-29.

Other academies are planned in Grafton and Devils Lake.

(Photo: City of GF / CIA rendering)

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Statement from Gov. Burgum:

Gov. Doug Burgum today welcomed news from U.S. Sen. John Hoeven that the U.S. Department of the Treasury has approved North Dakota’s application for $68 million in federal funding to help finance the construction of 13 career academies across the state where students can pursue high-demand careers in the trades, health care, technology and other sectors to help meet workforce needs.

The federal funding approval means the projects can move forward without needing to utilize the full $68 million line of credit from the state-owned Bank of North Dakota that was approved by the state Legislature in February when the federal funding was still uncertain.

“These career academies are a key component of our comprehensive efforts to address North Dakota’s workforce shortage, and we’re grateful for the tireless efforts by our congressional delegation, North Dakota Career and Technical Education and our own state Office of Management and Budget team to work with Treasury to secure this federal funding,” Burgum said. “We also thank the Legislature for providing a backstop from the Bank of North Dakota to establish these career academies that will create new opportunities for our high school and college students and support economic growth.”

During a special session of the Legislature in November 2021, lawmakers approved $88 million for career academies, including $20 million in state funds that have already been distributed and $68 million from Treasury’s Coronavirus Capital Projects Fund. Career academy funding was proposed in Burgum’s “Accelerate ND” plan presented before the special session. In February 2022, the State Board for Career and Technical Education (CTE) awarded the $68 million to 13 career academy projects, which require a local dollar-for-dollar match.

However, Treasury still had yet to release the federal funds when the Legislature convened in January 2023. In February, Burgum signed the first bill of the session, providing a $68 million line of credit from Bank of North Dakota to fulfill the state’s funding obligation and avoid delaying construction of career academies.

The 13 projects awarded funds by the State CTE Board are: