Back to School

The biggest casualty in the decline in America's auto industry has been the massive layoffs and decreased job security for thousands of workers. But now for those looking to leave the industry that abandoned them, there is help.

NPR reports that in Kokomo, Ind., community colleges have seen sharp increases in enrollment as laid-off auto manufacturing workers take advantage of Trade Adjustment Assistance, a government program that pays to retrain displaced or hurt workers due to foreign trade or competition. The competition in this case would be automakers like Toyota and Honda who had the foresight to build smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicles. Vehicles that people dealing with increasing gas prices and a down economy began gravitating towards. The program pays for everything from tuition to books, and is aimed not only at the unemployed, but also those who are simply tired of the ups and downs of work in the auto industry.

At Iowa's Ashford University, tuition for both laid off and employed workers at General Motors, Chrysler and Ford can get their tuition cut by 30 percent as part of the school's Auto Industry Grant Program.

After everything that the workers invested in building these companies, it only makes sense that it's time for them to start investing in themselves.

Photo courtesy of SteelCityHobbies, via Flickr.