BHEF Announces Tech Talent Accelerator AI Workforce Innovation Grant Awards to Fourteen Connecticut Institutions

The Business-Higher Education Forum (BHEF) today announced the selection of sixteen projects at fourteen Connecticut colleges and universities to participate in the Innovation Grant phase of the Connecticut Tech Talent Accelerator 3.0 (TTA 3.0). TTA 3.0 is a statewide initiative bringing together industry and education to expand artificial intelligence (AI) education and workforce readiness across high-impact sectors. 

TTA 3.0, championed by the Connecticut Office of Workforce Strategy (OWS) in collaboration with BHEF and the New England Board of Higher Education (NEBHE), accelerates equipping people with the skills needed to thrive in a labor market being reshaped by AI by helping higher education institutions expand applied AI programs in partnership with businesses, ensuring alignment with employer needs. It builds on the successes of earlier TTA rounds by deepening the focus on AI and pairing institutional innovation with structured support and cross-cohort learning.  

The Innovation Grant cohort will serve learners and workers through a mix of credit-bearing courses, non-credit microcredentials, and work-integrated learning experiences across a variety of careers including: 

• healthcare; 

• advanced manufacturing and engineering; 

• cybersecurity; 

• business and financial services; 

• media and communications; and  

• nonprofit and public sector leadership.  

BHEF helps institutions partner with employers to ensure programs are business-informed, outcome-driven, and scalable. This is done through a competitive grant process, communities of practice, and ongoing technical assistance throughout the grant period. Through these supports, BHEF works with institutions and employers to align curriculum, credentials, and work-integrated learning experiences to the competencies learners and workers need to develop to succeed in an AI-enabled workforce. This hands-on approach is intended to help institutions move rapidly from pilot concepts to sustainable models that can be integrated into degree pathways and workforce systems statewide to produce greater scale and resilience. 

The fourteen Innovation Grant institutions and focus areas include: 

• Central Connecticut State University will launch the SCALE (Scientific Communication + AI Literacy Experience) Pilot, a for-credit, cross-disciplinary program serving up to 40 students in scientific communication and AI literacy. 

• Charter Oak State College will launch Durable Skills in the Age of AI, a noncredit, self-paced course serving 25 incumbent healthcare workers. 

• Eastern Connecticut State University will embed AI competencies into ten existing for-credit courses across industries including health science and nursing, computer and data sciences, biology, and biochemistry, reaching 80–100 students initially and scaling to more than 200 annually. 

• Fairfield University will embed AI and digital manufacturing skills into for-credit engineering coursework for 200–250 students, complemented by a summer Manufacturing AI Bootcamp. 

• Mitchell College will launch a blended 8-week noncredit Workplace AI Readiness Accelerator certificate for early-career employees, serving 40 learners and scaling to 80. 

• Quinnipiac University will offer a noncredit, simulation-based micro-credential in AI-augmented clinical communication and coaching, and will separately launch a credit-bearing, stackable AI credential pathway of nine 1-credit companion courses within its School of Communications. 

• Sacred Heart University will launch the for-credit AI Leadership and Organizational Transformation (LOT) Lab, and will separately launch AI TalentBridge, a noncredit microcredential and virtual pre-apprenticeship model. 

• Southern Connecticut State University will deliver a noncredit, stackable AI and quantum microcredential program for high school students and opportunity youth. 

• University of Connecticut will launch a new 12-credit, credit-bearing graduate certificate in AI for Systems Engineering. 

• University of Hartford will launch a two-pillar AI in Business Learning Pathway combining undergraduate modules and a credit-bearing graduate certificate. 

• University of New Haven will implement a for-credit AI for Cybersecurity concentration within its BS in Cybersecurity program. 

• University of Saint Joseph will launch a credit-bearing, employer-aligned Applied AI Pathway that includes a year-long capstone and paid summer internships. 

• Western Connecticut State University will launch the AI-Ready Nursing Simulation Pathway, combining for-credit courses and a noncredit AI certificate. 

• University of Bridgeport will offer a credit-bearing Graduate Certificate in AI Leadership, Governance & Management through 21 modules offered between three courses to employer partner employees. 

Together, these innovation grants will enable institutions to serve more than 1,100 students and working professionals, ensure that Connecticut’s education sector is responsive to industry needs, and test new approaches to AI education that respond to rapidly shifting workforce demand.  

"The Business-Higher Education Forum has long championed the power of partnerships between business and higher education to build the workforce of the future, and this Innovation Grant cohort puts that belief into practice at scale," said Kristen D. Fox, CEO of the Business-Higher Education Forum. "Congratulations to the recipients and a growing roster of employer partners that are working side by side, pairing higher education's expertise with employer insight to prepare people to succeed in an AI-driven economy. By embedding employer voice, from curriculum design to work-integrated learning, this kind of close collaboration helps ideas move faster and reach further — giving these programs the durability to take root and serve as a model other partnerships can build on." 

Through TTA 3.0, BHEF is honored to continue to advance critical work to align education and workforce systems, helping states, institutions, and employers work together to prepare learners for the jobs of the future. 

For more information about the Connecticut Tech Talent Accelerator, visit www.bhef.com/techtalentaccelerator.