Technical Education Creates High-Paying Careers Act of 2016 or the TECH Careers Act

This bill amends the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act of 2006 to direct the Department of Education (ED), in coordination with the Department of Labor, to develop and implement an American Technical Training Grant Program awarding competitive three-year grants of up to $5 million per fiscal year to eligible entities for supporting the establishment, redesign, or expansion of job training programs that enable economically disadvantaged students to enter into and advance along career pathways that lead to jobs in high-skill, high-wage, or high-demand occupations.

The entities eligible for such grants must be institutions of higher education offering career and technical education programs that can be completed in two years or less (or a consortium of such institutions), but only if they enter a partnership agreement with:

• a local workforce development board;
• an employer with a workforce need in a high-skill, high-wage, or high-demand industry;
• an industry organization or other intermediary representing the industry sector or occupation for which the job training program provides training; and
• an institution of higher education that offers a baccalaureate degree and also has an articulation agreement with the eligible entity.