Colleges

Chart of enrolled students
Colleges Offering Biotech

The California Community Colleges, by State Law, have had a network in place for workforce training and education in biotechnology and biosciences since 1996.  Titled "the Applied Biological Technologies Initiative of the Economic and Workforce Development Program," it consists of six regional centers, one state director and about 50 colleges (listed below). All 109 California Community Colleges (CCCs) have the basic math and science education required for employment in the California Biosciences Industry.  About 30 of the CCCs have current and active hands-on skills courses offered for biotechnology, while another 20 or so plan to offer such courses should resources become available.  Please also see www.cccbiotech.org.   Some of the colleges developed their biotech programs in the 1980s and early 1990s before the Biotechnologies Initiative was in place.  All are included in this network.

Each center supports the advancement of biological technology businesses in California through high-tech workforce training by means of:

Partnerships with regional biotech and bioscience companies, including biotech business incubators on Community College Campuses (San Diego City College and Contra Costa College, to name two)

Support and partnerships with regional colleges for creating and maintaining state-of-the-art training for incumbent workers, potential employees, faculty, and students in regional community colleges with advice, guidance, and curriculum input from our industry partners

Partnerships with relevant governmental entities and the four regional industry organizations (VCBio, SoCal Biomed Council, BIOCOM and BayBio) as well as the BIO, the international Biotechnology Industry Organization and NABC, the National Agricultural Biotechnology Council

Cooperation and partnerships with other economic development agencies such as Workforce Investment Boards and the designated county and city economic development agencies

Partnerships with the regional high schools and state and private universities though sharing of curriculum, workshops, seminars, and laboratory exercises, as well as such grants as the National Institutes of Health Bridges Program, the National Science Foundation grants through Advanced Technology Education grants such as the National Center, Bio-Link, hosted by City College San Francisco, and creating biotech academies or career ladders with regional high schools.

This brief summary barely scratches the surface of the activities each center, and only briefly details the extensive offerings of biotechnology programs/courses/certificates at each college.  Please refer to the White Paper "The History, Current Status, and Future Direction for the California Community Colleges Biotechnology Initiative: Helping Meet the California Biotech Industry Need for an Operational Workforce," available in a PDF file at www.cccbiotech.org.