The Great Cities Universities (GCU) is a coalition of 19 urban research public universities located in major urban centers around the country. The GCU was created to help its member universities, which are all land-grant tradition, to more effectively fulfill their mission to deliver broad access to affordable education and provide an effective outlet for the advancement of research, scholarship, and development and other critical issues facing American cities.

The Great Cities Universities Skills Enhancement Partnership Initiative (SEPI) will create a road map of educational and training programs targeted at closing the gap of employees in the technology sector. The crux of SEPI is based on partnerships between business, business associations; universities and workforce development boards to assess local skill needs, design and implement training programs, and conduct research and evaluation of local workforce needs. The primary emphasis of SEPI, however, is on the evolving training needs of small and medium business as they face the greatest challenge in establishing strong and meaningful training programs for their employees. The secondary emphasis of SEPI is on building a diverse and well-trained workforce.