This strategic partnership is designed to enhance educational and credentialing opportunities for practitioners in the community economic development field. NeighborWorks® America’s training division offers the NeighborWorks® Training Institute which provides high quality training to practitioners committed to improving the affordability of neighborhood housing, neighborhood economic vitality, and quality of community life. The training institute is the largest CED trainer in the U.S. Southern New Hampshire University is the first institution in the US to confer graduate degrees in Community Economic Development (CED). The Community Economic Development Program's mission is to train CED practitioners to have the greatest impact in the social and economic fabric of their communities.
NeighborWorks® America and the CED Program have agreed to collaborate on a scholarship program to enhance educational and credentialing opportunities to practitioners in Community Economic Development. Following are the details:
- NeighborWorks® America shall pay $3,276 tuition for each NW America staff that enrolls in a SNHU CED Master's program. CED agrees to match at $1,000 up to two per year.
- NeighborWorks® America will pay $3,000 tuition per year for each of two NeighborWorks Organizations (NWO) or NeighborWorks Training Institute Faculty who enroll in a SNHU-CED Master's Program. CED Program agrees to match at $1,500 per year for each of two such scholarships per year.
- SNHU will award to qualified students who possess a NeighborWorks® America Professional Certificate a $500 tuition scholarship applicable to their 4th semester of study.
SNHU developed the criteria for scholarship selection based principally on its existing criteria, but engages NeighborWorks America management in a review and approval of the final awardees.
Neighborworks® Training Institute has also partnered with Southern New Hampshire University’s Community Economic Development Program to offer Portable and Portfolio credits to Training Institute participants who have completed and received their Professional Certificate!
Master's Degree Portfolio Credit Program
The partnership includes a Portfolio Credit Program open to students enrolled in the Master of Science in Community Economic Development program at CED. In this program, CED will provide six graduate credits to those who have earned a Professional Certificate from NeighborWorks® Training Institute since calendar year 2000. The credits can be applied toward elective requirements in the Masters in Community Economic Development program! There is no partial credit for individual NW America courses. Please note that a maximum of 2 courses will be awarded regardless of the number of NW America Certificates.
CED Program students will receive a special reduced tuition rate for 5 days of training at any NW America Training Institute. The rate will match the NeighborWorks network rate, which is $410 in 2009.
Portable Credit Program
The partnership offers a portable credit program in which CED will provide six graduate credits to those who earn a Professional Certificate from the NeighborWorks® Training Institute and register with the CED during or before completing their Professional Certificate program. The portable credits are transferable to other universities and educational institutions! Please note that the participant is required to pay the "per credit" costs associated with the portable academic credits.