Correction appended: An earlier version of this article failed to clearly express that the Foundations of Public Health certificate program existed before it gained approval become a part of the No Worker Left Behind program. It has now been clarified.

The Michigan Department of Energy, Labor & Economic Growth approved funding last month to aid a University online certificate program called Foundations of Public Health.

This certificate program, now aided in part by the No Worker Left Behind Act, allows recently displaced workers and students who recently graduated to start their career in public health through online training.

The funding will allow participants to receive the certificate at the University’s School of Public Health and provide them with up to $10,000 for two years of tuition, books and fees.

No Worker Left Behind is an initiative within the Michigan Workforce Agency that helps dislocated workers sign up for unemployment, send résumés out to employers and market specific qualities. It also helps workers establish connections to training organizations and assists with job placements.

According to The Associated Press, 12.6 percent of the state was unemployed in March, which is the highest it has been in decades and the worse unemployment rate in the country.

Diane Carpenter, the No Worker Left Behind coordinator, said having No Worker Left Behind fund the certificate is “great” as an additional avenue for dislocated workers.

“I think it certainly provides folks with another program to earn a certificate in,” she said.

Carpenter said though she can’t speak on behalf of this specific certificate program, No Worker Left Behind’s goal is to supply training programs for jobs with high employment rates.

“Our whole intent is to provide training to folks in high demand occupations,” she said. “Those high demand occupations vary across the state in various areas.”

In a recent University press release, officials wrote that the depleted health care worker industry provides displaced workers with a chance to start a new career.

Dina Kurz, managing director at the University’s School of Public Health, said she has been contacted about the certificate program by a number of people who are in manufacturing — particularly in the automotive and pharmaceutical industries who have been working with marketing and business skills — and want change careers.

“They want to reinvent their careers,” Kurz said. “The No Worker Left Behind Act gives displaced workers the funding to retrain in a different area such as public health which is a growing field.”

Kurz added that the health care field in general is also growing, and School of Public Health graduates have many opportunities to find jobs in the field.

Kurz said the program provides students with a foundation of the five major disciplines in public health.

“A large percentage of the public health workforce does not have formal training in public health,” she said. “This program provides each individual with foundational knowledge and provides them graduate academic credit as a gateway to a master’s (degree) if the individual desires further training.”

All the coursework is taught online. Students take five courses to receive the certificate as well as an additional 16 graduate credits that they can apply to a master’s degree either at the University or another school.

Kurz said online instruction makes it easy for students to participate in the program.

“It gives people the flexibility to study without leaving home,” Kurz said. “They don’t have to come to campus to have the benefit of the high-quality education the School of Public Health offers.”

The program has been in place since this past fall, and Kurz said it has a variety of students.

“We have a wide spectrum of individuals,” she said.