CPCS is proud to announce its 2025 grant portfolio totaling approximately $4.35 million, supporting four innovative initiatives designed to enhance learning, workforce readiness, and academic success. These awards fund programs that create meaningful, real-world learning experiences and strengthen pathways from education to employment across Mississippi.
Skilled Trades Empowerment Program (STEP)
The STEP program expands access to leadership and project management training for skilled trades workers through a competency-based, stackable credential that integrates industry-recognized certifications, academic credit pathways, employer-designed capstone projects, and wraparound student supports. Developed in close collaboration with industry partners, STEP is designed to strengthen supervisory readiness, improve employee retention and advancement, and create scalable workforce education models that can be replicated across industries.
FIPSE funding information: www.ed.gov/FIPSE/
"The contents of this publication were developed under a grant from the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE), U.S. Department of Education. However, those contents do not necessarily represent the policy of the Department of Education, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government."
The PILLAR Institute
The PILLAR Institute is a year-long, cohort-based leadership development initiative designed to cultivate emerging leaders across Mississippi, with emphasis on the Mississippi Delta and other rural communities. Through a hybrid format that includes online courses, interactive workshops, in-person retreats, mentorship, and community service opportunities, participants develop critical leadership and advocacy skills while expanding professional networks. The program features learning modules on emotional intelligence, strategic planning, financial literacy, and workplace dynamics, culminating in a capstone project that addresses a community-identified challenge. Funding is provided by the Women's Foundation of Mississippi, the state's only grantmaking organization exclusively dedicated to advancing economic security for women and girls through strategic investments, advocacy, and community engagement.
Industry-Embedded Cohort Labs
Industry-Embedded Cohort Labs builds formal partnerships with Mississippi employers to embed employer-defined challenge projects directly into students' capstone coursework. The project serves adult learners enrolled in the Applied Leadership Certificate and the Bachelor of Science in Organizational Leadership (BASOL), two of the College's fastest-growing degree pathways, strengthening the connection between academic learning and workforce expectations.
MSU Teacher Residency for STEM Critical Shortage Areas (MTR-STEM)
Mississippi State University has been awarded a $1.75 million National Science Foundation Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship (Track Two) grant to launch the MSU Teacher Residency for STEM Critical Shortage Areas (MTR-STEM). Building on MSU's established teacher residency model, the project expands partnerships with seven Mississippi school districts serving high-need, low-income communities facing critical STEM teacher shortages. CPCS partners with the College of Education to support MTR-STEM as it recruits STEM majors and STEM professionals, prioritizing individuals underrepresented in the teaching profession, and prepares them through a year-long residency combining graduate-level coursework with a supervised apprenticeship under trained mentor teachers. The program is designed to strengthen STEM instruction, improve student outcomes, and support long-term workforce stability in high-need districts.
2025 Grant Portfolio Summary
For more information about CPCS grant-funded initiatives, visit cpcs.msstate.edu or contact the College of Professional and Continuing Studies at Memorial Hall, Mississippi State, MS 39762.