The Obama administration on Monday outlined a new federal education budget with an increase in the maximum Pell Grant and a major new $8 billion initiative to promote community college/business partnerships ading to high-paying jobs.

The president’s fiscal year 2013 plan would create a Community College to Career Fund designed to help 2 million Americans gain skills for quality jobs. Community colleges would work with businesses to design effective programs in health care, transportation, advanced manufacturing and other high-growth employment areas.

Among other projects, students could participate in registered apprenticeship programs or receive certified training that leads to job-ready skills. Low-income community college students also could obtain paid internships to gain solid job experience, said Hilda Solis, U.S. labor secretary.

The plan represents “an essential component of our long-term economic recovery,” Solis said. The program is designed to bring employers and two-year colleges together to help solve local or regional labor shortages. “It is unacceptable that so many companies have vacancies with an 8.4 percent unemployment rate,” Solis said.

The Labor Department and U.S. Department of Education would co-manage the initiative, which is winning praise from the community college sector.

“It’s a far-reaching proposal,” said David Baime, senior vice president of the American Association of Community Colleges. “It is an enhancement of what our colleges are already doing,” he told Diverse.

Baime also said paid internships are a “great idea” to help low-income community college students increase earnings and gain practical job experience.

For Pell Grants, the budget plan would increase the maximum grant by $85, to $5,635 next year. It also would contain guarantees to keep the grant at least at that level through the 2014-2015 school year, said Rich Williams, higher education advocate for US PIRG.