Southwestern Illinois College

The U.S. Department of Energy has chosen a consortium of community colleges across Illinois to increase the pathway to green jobs and reduce waste and pollution for manufacturers.

Southwestern Illinois College in Belleville will receive a $595,000 grant to be become a U.S. Department of Energy Industrial Assessment Center.

The Free Application for Federal Student Aid form — often referred to as the FAFSA — will go live by the end of the month, but that’s only because the application is being simplified, according to the U.S. Department of Education.

The longtime program is housed on the western side of Collinsville's high school and provides vocational training in a wide variety of trades to juniors and seniors from nine area high schools.

Construction on the building is expected to be finished in September. After the academy is outfitted with equipment, it will be open for students in August 2024.

“If you want to attract economic development to the area, one of the selling points is that we have talent for you to bring whatever your respective business, industry here,” one expert said.

Southwestern Illinois College and St. Louis Community College will open new facilities to train people in areas such as computer-aided design. Local business leaders expect advanced manufacturing to grow into one of the region’s critical industries.

Southwestern Illinois College is receiving $7.5 million to build the new facility.

Illinois’ new Gov. J.B. Pritzker has promised to improve the state economy. He took an early step towards that goal Wednesday by signing an executive…

Eight full-time and 39 part-time employees of Southwestern Illinois College will lose their jobs in July after its board of trustees approved the cuts…