With an ongoing focus on workforce training and development, community colleges also have a growing demand for simulation and video capture technology because they support skill-based learning initiatives. Unfortunately, community colleges rarely have the operating budget to fund this technology outright.
Simulation and video technology projects are often funded through a mix of Perkins V, workforce development grants, healthcare funding, capital budgets, donor support, and state formula grants.
In this post, we’ll walk through what each funding source covers and how to make a strong internal return on investment (ROI) projection.
At the end of the post, we’ll also share the link to our new IVS Funding Resource page to help you get started.
The demand for nursing, allied health, counseling, and CTE programs is rising faster than annual operating budgets can support programming.
While community college program leaders recognize that technology can bridge training gaps and increase program enrollment capacity, matching that need with available funding can be difficult.
Some common funding blocking scenarios include:
Fortunately, these roadblocks can be reduced with more knowledge about funding and the funding process itself. Let’s start with what types of funding resources that might be available for your simulation and video technology project.
One of the most significant funding sources for community colleges is the federal grant money available through Perkins V, also known by its more formal name, Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act.
Perkins V is the largest federal investment for Career and Technical Education (CTE) and one of the most significant funding sources available to community colleges and technical colleges.
Perkins V distributes CTE funding through state formula grants. States retain 15 percent of the funding to support statewide leadership and administration, while the remaining 85 percent flows to local recipients, including postsecondary institutions like community colleges.
The program's primary purpose is to improve CTE program quality, equity, and student outcomes, making it a strong fit for technology investments aimed at modernizing workforce-aligned programs.
Educational A/V program equipment, including simulation and training technology that incorporates VALT, qualifies under several allowable uses of Perkins V funding.
Eligible investments typically include equipment that supports:
To access Perkins V funding, community colleges submit a local application that aligns with their school’s comprehensive local needs assessment (CLNA). Funded activities must address Perkins V's six required uses of funds:
Though Perkins V funding often provides a foundation for a community college’s CTE funding strategy, other grant funds often play a role. Most colleges stack Perkins V with workforce grants, healthcare-focused funding, and local partnerships to fully fund their investments in simulation and video technology.
Beyond Perkins V, community colleges have access to a broad range of federal, state, and regional workforce funding. Much of this funding is targeted at the same nursing, allied health, EMS, and CTE programs that benefit most from simulation and video capture technology.
Departments focused on healthcare and skilled labor training should also search for industry-specific funding sources that target labor shortages or workforce development priorities.
Federal workforce programs offer some of the largest resources for community colleges interested in funding simulation and training technology.
Here are the details about three of the most relevant sources of federal workplace funding:
In addition to large-scale federal funding pools, many community and technical colleges seek out state and regional funding. Localized workforce development funding is often more readily available with faster funding cycles than the federal government. This level of funding opportunities can also be a strong fit for community colleges that have established workforce partnerships.
Common sources include:
For community colleges with strong relationships in their local healthcare ecosystem, partnerships and industry funding can supplement public funding — or, in some cases, provide full simulation lab funding and buildout.
Common partnership models include:
Workforce and healthcare funding can dramatically extend the reach of a Perkins V investment, but they're still only part of the picture. Community colleges also have several institutional and community-based funding paths that can anchor or supplement a simulation and video technology project.
Finally, departments should never overlook the institutional funding paths that are likely available to them for simulation lab funding and A/V training technologies. Institutional funding paths can anchor A/V-based projects by being the most flexible.
Simulation and video technology projects can be integrated into larger, multi-program rollouts, which are rarely funded by a single grant. These initiatives include:
Finding funding opportunities is the first part of the grant application process. The next part is creating a narrative for your grant application that will successfully secure necessary funding.
All funding sources ultimately focus on one concern: return on investment. AnROI focus is especially strict when applying for internal funding, where budgets are tight, and requests routinely outnumber available resources.
To build a strong ROI case for a simulation and video technology investment, identify every area where A/V technology meaningfully changes how your department or college operates.
Five categories tend to carry the most weight with funders and internal budget owners. Including supporting information about these categories will create a robust application. Try to quantify:
Regardless of the application format, these five categories provide the building blocks to complete most applications. The strongest ROI cases combine quantitative measures across multiple categories.
South Texas College
South Texas College (STC) has launched a major upgrade to its Nursing Simulation Center with the installation of Intelligent Video Solutions’ (IVS) Video Audio Learning Tool (VALT), a video simulation technology investment funded through a $3 million Department of Labor Health Care Professional Expansion Initiative Grant with support from the Valley Initiative for Development and Advancement (VIDA).
The new technology will expand virtual training opportunities for nursing students across STC’s campuses, allowing learners to participate in more realistic simulation experiences, improve clinical preparation, and enhance research and evaluation through video-based learning. STC leaders emphasized that VALT will help prepare more nurses, increase clinical training capacity, and provide greater access to education, including for students in underserved areas.
Check out the full article here.
Southeast Community College
Join our webinar with Jill Sand, Dean of Health Sciences at Southeast Community College, will share her success story in securing funding for the college's state-of-the-art health sciences building. She will offer tips, tricks, and best practices, along with examples from successful grant applications.
Watch how VALT provided Southeast Community College's entire Health Science building with the resources to address the need for healthcare professionals in the local rural area. The video technology, along with other technologies needed to fit into the grant budget, yet easy to use across the department, giving them a great return on their investment.
We’ve built the dedicated Grant & Funding Resource for community colleges navigating this exact question. Our guide walks you through eligible funding sources, application considerations, and how simulation, training, and observation technology fit within each.
Talk to an IVS specialist to walk through your program priorities, funding cycle, and rollout timeline. We work alongside community colleges every day to align funding strategy with technology planning, from a single nursing simulation lab to a full multi-building rollout.