ST. LOUIS — A former employee of St. Louis Community College admitted on Wednesday that he’d siphoned off $7.5 million in job-training funds over 20 years and made millions more investing the money.

Donald L. Robison, 57, agreed as part of a plea deal in federal court in St. Louis to forfeit $11 million, including the profits of his scheme. The money will go to the state of Missouri and the college.

It is an unusual situation for a federal fraud case, lawyers said. In many cases, defendants have spent much of the money before being caught. But Jeff Pittman, chancellor of St. Louis Community College, said it would be difficult to estimate the value of what the job-training program lost.

“It’s hard to say just how many people this money could have been used to train, to advance them in their careers, to improve their household income, to help employers be more competitive,” Pittman said.

“He damaged a lot of parties,” Pittman said, also listing the college, the state and taxpayers.