By Jakub Blum / KVSC reporter

The Minnesota State I.T. Center of Excellence recently received a $50,000 grant from Google to provide project funding to the Minnesota State System, including St. Cloud State University.

The grant funds will be used to help train students for future jobs through a variety of tech training programs. SCSU will receive $10,000 of the overall grant.

Some of the initiatives the funds support include to train faculty on course content, develop a program for college students to learn how to create digital portfolios, create a workforce training program to expand the success of underserved and underpaid minorities and develop a program that helps students visualize the academic and non-academic path to various jobs.

Lastly, Google is also working with the Minnesota State IT Center of Excellence to offer 500 Google Career Certificate scholarships to students across the state. The certificates help job seekers with skills for in-demand jobs in data analytics, digital marketing and e-commerce, IT support, user experience design and project management.