Essential Questions for Postsecondary Enrollment: Postsecondary Enrollment Progress

The percentage of students who enroll at a postsecondary institution directly after high school (EdStrategy, From Tails to Heads).

Percent of students who enroll within 6 months of high school graduation (NCAN).

The percentage of students who enlist in the military, enter the workforce (in a position with family-sustaining wages) or participate in a registered apprenticeship (EdStrategy, From Tails to Heads).

Postsecondary enrollment rate of high school graduates (Urban Institute, Robust and Equitable Measures to Identify Quality Schools).

Graduates who complete one advanced math course beyond Algebra II or more than one AP/IB course were more likely to enroll in 4-year colleges (Cumpton, G. et al., Factors associated with education and work after high school for the classes of 2008 and 2009). 

Graduates not classified as college-ready based on Texas’ statewide TAKS exit exams were less likely to enroll in 4-year schools in all statistical models (Cumpton, G. et al., Factors associated with education and work after high school for the classes of 2008 and 2009). 

Failure to meet the eighth-grade math standard was consistently linked to lower 4-year enrollment rates (Cumpton, G. et al., Factors associated with education and work after high school for the classes of 2008 and 2009). 

Ever having participated in the free or reduced lunch program was linked to reduced college enrollment of any kind (Cumpton, G. et al., Factors associated with education and work after high school for the classes of 2008 and 2009). . 

Models that incorporated senior survey variables found students who graduated in the top 10% of a high school class, took an SAT/ACT preparation course, visited one or more college campuses or reported submitting a FAFSA were more likely to enroll in a 4-year college, after controlling for all other factors, confirming findings from earlier Student Futures Project reports (Cumpton, G. et al., Factors associated with education and work after high school for the classes of 2008 and 2009).

Percent of students participating in summer bridge programs (NCAN).

Enrollment or continuation of Career and Technical Education programs.

percentage of students earning an industry-based credential, an associates degree and/or earn college credits upon high school graduation.

Number of credits earned each year.

Enrollment: 12-month headcount that includes all undergraduate students who enroll at any point during the calendar year. Measured as the 12-month unduplicated undergraduate headcount by credential level and student enrollment status and attendance intensity. Disaggregated by academic preparation, economic status (at entry), race/ ethnicity, gender, age, first-generation status and program of study (IHEP, Toward Convergence).

Recruitment of underrepresented populations; application start and completion among underrepresented populations  (IHEP, Toward Convergence).

Financial aid application completion by underrepresented populations; financial aid gap for underrepresented populations (IHEP, Toward Convergence).

Acceptance rates for underrepresented populations (IHEP, Toward Convergence).

Yield for underrepresented populations (IHEP, Toward Convergence).

Enrollment in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) fields by underrepresented populations (IHEP, Toward Convergence).

Date of application or enrollment relative to term start date (IHEP, Toward Convergence).

Dual or summer enrollment before first term (IHEP, Toward Convergence).

Co-enrollment in another institution (IHEP, Toward Convergence).

The Institute for Higher Education Policy recommends defining the population for most progression and completion metrics as all students who enter an institution during a 12-month period (12-month cohort, also known as a full-year cohort), instead of only students who enter the institution in the fall (fall cohort). This specification enables the metrics to capture the one in four students who start college outside the fall term, a particular issue in the community college and for-profit sectors, where about 35% and 45% of students begin at times other than the fall, respectively (IHEP, Toward Convergence).

The Institute for Higher Education Policy recommends separating each cohort by enrollment status (first-time or transfer-in) and attendance intensity (full-time or part-time). This approach creates the following four distinctive cohorts: first-time full-time (FTFT), first-time part-time (FTPT), transfer full-time (TFT) and transfer part-time (TPT), as determined by students’ status at entry. All four of these cohorts should be defined in each credential-seeking category (IHEP, Toward Convergence).

The Institute for Higher Education Policy recommends distinguishing cohorts by credential level sought — including non-credential-seeking, certificate-seeking, associates-seeking and bachelors-seeking students — because these degree types differ in expected time to completion (IHEP, Toward Convergence).

Sector, level and degree or program mix are commonly used in research to distinguish institutions at their most basic level: who controls the institution and what degree types are available. The size and resources of the institution establish the fiscal framework of the institution — small, resource-rich schools operate in a very different environment than do larger, under-resourced schools (IHEP, Toward Convergence).

Modality is becoming increasingly important, as institutions expand their online learning capacities (IHEP, Toward Convergence).

Enrollment in programs with industry recognized certifications (adapted from Perkins Collaborative Resource Network).

Text Campaign: After reviewing data that revealed that 64% of high school seniors completed the state’s ApplyTX application, yet only 49% actually enrolled in a Texas institution, Dallas Commit partnered with four school districts and 11 colleges to launch a texting campaign. Students received reminders about college enrollment milestones and could text back to receive support from counselors or college staff. The 1,000+ high school seniors who opted in to participate in the pilot were 13% more likely to enroll in a postsecondary institution compared to their peers, even when controlled for race/ ethnicity, socioeconomic status, GPA and gender. More importantly, the texts created a coordinated handoff between the high school advisor and college staff. Once a student made their college decision, their account was transferred to the higher education partner, allowing the student to text directly with admissions and financial aid representatives (EdStrategy, From Tails to Heads).

Text “nudges” should make it easier for students to follow through on their own intentions. Text campaigns should not just focus on what students need to do – they should also make completing them easier (Ben Castleman, 2021).

Realizing that waiting for students to arrive as freshmen was too late to begin providing the advising support students need to succeed in postsecondary education, Miami Dade College (MDC) partnered with the K-12 school district to develop Shark Path, a three-tier advising program. Shark Path starts with prospective students receiving pre-college advising support in their high school, with more than 90% of Miami Dade high school students receiving support from an MDC advisor. Students complete a noncognitive assessment, a career assessment, assistance with applying for financial aid and scholarships and an online curriculum prior to their participation in first-year orientation. Shark Path has increased the number of students who have registered for courses by 12%, with 78% of students enrolling in a credit-bearing English and mathematics course. Once students transition to college, they continue to receive support from their advisor on course selection and degree planning, which have contributed to the program’s fall-to-fall retention rate of 75% (EdStrategy, From Tails to Heads).

To combat summer melt, Georgia State developed an artificial intelligence-enhanced chatbot, “Pounce,” to answer questions from incoming students in real time through text. During the first summer of implementation, Pounce delivered more than 200,000 texts, and the university saw a 22% increase in their seamless enrollment rate, equating to an additional 324 first-year students enrolled. Georgia State paired this approach with enhancing its online student portal, which guided students through the most common obstacles experienced by students in transitioning to higher education, including submitting financial aid documents and immunization records, taking placement exams and registering for classes (EdStrategy, From Tails to Heads).

School districts adopt momentum metrics as a core measure of success. District leaders need to prioritize postsecondary preparation and successful transitions as the ultimate measure of their systems’ success. This means holding themselves and their administrators accountable for improvement and sharing progress publicly (EdStrategy, From Tails to Heads).

School districts convene cross-sector leaders to review data and plan for improvement. District leaders need to ensure that their district has access to the Momentum Metrics data. Many of the metrics can be calculated using data already collected at the district level; however, understanding where students are enrolling after graduation requires additional effort. Every district should subscribe to the National Student Clearinghouse’s StudentTracker (or the College Scorecard) to gain those valuable data and ensure appropriate training supports exist. District leaders then should convene school teams to analyze all of the Momentum Metrics, reach out to community-based organizations, business leaders and postsecondary representatives to jointly strategize solutions for closing identified postsecondary preparation and transition gaps (EdStrategy, From Tails to Heads).

School districts set goals for improvement. While all of the metrics are important, having too many priority indicators may diminish focus. On an annual basis, each district should select at least one indicator from the Preparing, Applying and Enrolling areas to set a goal for improvement and focus capacity and resources to drive change. Having clearly-defined targets and publicly reporting on progress can bring needed attention to the highest-leverage steps along a student’s journey through high school. This can have an even greater impact if there are specific expectations for improvement on building or district administrators (EdStrategy, From Tails to Heads). 

School districts deploy capacity to offer direct student advising and assistance. Capacity, whether internal to the district or through a partnership, is necessary to target individual student supports. Districts should either employ an individual directly responsible for monitoring student data, working with school educators and administrators and coordinating outside advising support, or work with partners that can bring that capacity. In the latter scenario, the district will need to ensure that their partner organization can appropriately access student data, so that they can provide the necessary individualized support (EdStrategy, From Tails to Heads).

School districts integrate metrics into regional postsecondary attainment strategies. As communities work to meet attainment goals and prepare students for the workforce, it will be critical that students are able to seamlessly transition from high school to postsecondary education and training. The momentum metrics should be used as leading indicators of whether the community is on the path to meet its attainment goal (EdStrategy, From Tails to Heads).

School districts partner with postsecondary institutions to address gaps. The Momentum Metrics data should be used as a flashlight to see what hurdles stand in the way of student success and identify how students of color and low-income students fare compared to their peers. However, it’s not enough to stop at illumination; schools and districts need to partner with their local postsecondary institutions to facilitate seamless transitions. For instance, if too many students that go on to the local community college fail to complete a gateway mathematics or English course in their first year, it may make sense for the district to work with that community college to develop a 12th grade transition course or summer bridge program to improve students’ academic preparation (EdStrategy, From Tails to Heads).

School districts identify policy barriers that impede progress. District leaders should communicate to the state when barriers arise for supporting students’ postsecondary preparation and transitions. For instance, unnecessary prerequisites may hinder the ability of students to enroll in advanced coursework, even if they have previously been identified as having potential. States can issue waivers around these requirements, as Ohio has, or institute regulations, similar to those in Washington, that automatically enroll students in advanced courses if they have shown potential (EdStrategy, From Tails to Heads).

Affordable and No-Cost Tuition Options: In 2024, legislative actions in Colorado have made it possible for middle- and lower-income households to have access to affordable/no-cost burden options for learners. Under Colorado legislation HB24-1340, eligible students working towards their first 65 credits in certificate, associate, and bachelor’s degree programs at Colorado’s public institutions will benefit from a refundable state income tax credit (starting in the academic year 2024-25 and tax year 2025) that covers tuition and fees for those with annual family incomes of $90,000 or less. This legislation, called Colorado Promise: Two Free Years of College Expanded, reimburses the cost of tuition and fees for the first two years of a postsecondary degree for Colorado students who fall within this income bracket (Colorado Workforce Development Council, 2024 Talent Pipeline Report).

Colorado is a national leader in connecting education and workforce systems. In recent years, the State has worked with educational and industry partners to diversify pathways between high school graduation and postsecondary enrollment . Starting with the students whose anticipated year of high school graduation is 2029, 100% of graduating students will have achieved at least one of the following: Earned a quality, in-demand non-degree certification; Earned 12 college credits that count toward a postsecondary credential; Participated in one high-quality work-based learning (WBL) opportunity (from the Learning Through Work and Learning at Work sections of the Work-based Learning Continuum) (Colorado Workforce Development Council, 2024 Talent Pipeline Report).

Colorado high school students are provided with opportunities to receive postsecondary education and industry-recognized quality credentials. Career and technical education (CTE), Colorado’s Concurrent Enrollment Programs, the Career Development Incentive Program, and other programs support Colorado K-12 learners with options to receive college credit, industry certifications, and work-based learning experiences while in high school (Colorado Workforce Development Council, 2024 Talent Pipeline Report).

As of August 2024, Colorado’s Reskilling, Upskilling, and Next-skilling (RUN) programs have enrolled 5,710 individuals in vocational training, resulting in 4,629 Coloradans completing training programs, and several hundred still working towards completion. RUN programs have an 81.1% completion rate and have grown enrollment by nearly 4% between June 2024 and August 2024. The majority of enrollments are associated with Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers, RNs, and Nursing Assistants – three occupations that are high-need, high-demand in Colorado. RUN funding has also enabled many Coloradans to access digital literacy training, workforce readiness classes, and even programs to earn a high school equivalency diploma. While a large portion of RUN enrollees are based in metropolitan areas, the program has seen several hundred trainees in rural Colorado (Colorado Workforce Development Council, 2024 Talent Pipeline Report).

The Office of New Americans (ONA) at the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment serves as the point of contact for state agencies, the business community, and the public to advance the seamless integration and inclusion of New Americans in Colorado. It is estimated that just over 1% of individuals receiving WIOA services in Colorado are New Americans. With New Americans representing nearly 10% of Colorado’s total population and nearly 83% of those are working age, ONA is dedicated to and actively engaged in implementing strategies across the state’s workforce ecosystem to address this inequity (Colorado Workforce Development Council, 2024 Talent Pipeline Report).

Strengthening support for employers’ talent development: Colorado’s Regional Talent Summits Act, established by House Bill 24-1365, aims to address workforce shortages by convening state and regional stakeholders to discuss the economic and workforce needs of Colorado’s diverse communities. This program will bring together regional industry, business associations, community-based organizations, talent development practitioners, local workforce centers, local education providers, institutions of higher education, and state agencies to identify and prioritize the skills needed in a particular community. These convenings will build important local relationships to ensure that skill development is aligned to economic development goals and real business needs. One objective of these convenings is to produce two and five year tactical plans that develop career pathways in specified fields facing regional workforce challenges (Colorado Workforce Development Council, 2024 Talent Pipeline Report).

Colorado’s House Bill 22-1215 established the Secondary, Postsecondary and Work-based Learning Integration Task Force charged with developing and recommending policies, laws and rules to support the equitable and sustainable expansion and alignment of programs that integrate secondary, postsecondary and work-based learning opportunities in every region of the state (Secondary, Postsecondary and Work-based Learning Integration Task Force Report).

The partnering organizations of Colorado’s Homegrown Talent Initiative share a vision that by the time a Coloradoan turns 21, they should have no-cost access to opportunities that ensure they leave high school having attained at least one of, “the Big Three”: in-demand industry credentials; twelve college credits as part of a defined postsecondary workforce readiness pathway; or high-quality work-based learning opportunities. They plan to bring about this vision by: (a) Supporting the development of a statewide longitudinal data system that measures and makes available the data that school districts will be held accountable to, streamlines school district data processes and begins to address data integrity challenges; (b) Strengthening program structures to create more equitable and sustainable access to the Big Three; and (c) Ensuring policy conditions for aligned accountability systems and sustained and streamlined postsecondary workforce readiness pathways and funding that enables school district access (Colorado Education Initiative and Colorado Succeeds, Homegrown Talent Initiative).

Utah’s House Bill 260 (2025) created a First Credentialing Program that establishes a master credential list of approved industry-recognized credentials; ensures credits are transferable to higher education institutions and technical colleges; provides a scholarship for students who complete the first credential program; requires annual review and updates based on labor market needs; provides a grant for implementation and incentives for outcomes; mandates partnerships between schools, employers, and apprenticeship programs; and promotes stackable credentials that lead to career advancement (Utah State Legislature).

Guaranteed college admission policies, like Admit Utah (Admit Utah).

Incorporate the metrics in the state longitudinal data system. Perhaps the most important role that the state can play in facilitating data-driven conversations about students’ postsecondary preparation and success is to ensure that policymakers and practitioners have access to the highest-leverage data on student progress (EdStrategy, From Tails to Heads).

Use the measures to track progress toward meeting the state’s postsecondary attainment goal. State leaders could create a dashboard to monitor progress across all of the measures and visualize the trajectory of students on their path to postsecondary matriculation (EdStrategy, From Tails to Heads).

Create incentives for districts to set and meet metric goals. In a time of significant competing priorities and budget reductions, communities will need incentives to prioritize the identified metrics. This is especially true if the metrics are not a component of the state’s accountability system. States should consider grant competitions, using federal stimulus dollars, or other award approaches to encourage districts to set and meet annual improvement targets. States could look to the model used by Texas in its HB 3 legislation, which awards districts additional dollars based on student postsecondary preparation outcomes, with greater awards for helping students further behind achieve those outcomes (EdStrategy, From Tails to Heads).

Analyze statewide data to identify and promote bright spots. The state education agency — potentially in partnership with the state’s higher education agency — should produce an annual report that highlights the state’s progress in moving each of the metrics and points to specific schools, districts or communities that have demonstrated significant year-over-year improvement. These “bright spots” should be showcased both in terms of state-level communications and through the execution of peer learning networks. The agency should also use the data analysis to identify gaps in the metrics, in terms of race/ ethnicity, income status and geography (EdStrategy, From Tails to Heads).

Target supports using research-backed interventions. As outlined in the descriptions above, there are research-backed strategies that practitioners and policymakers can implement to improve student outcomes for each of the metrics. States should use their programmatic funds and bully pulpit to promote strategies that have proven to be effective in improving students’ postsecondary preparation and success. For instance, the University of Chicago has produced a series of tools and trainings on how to improve students’ grade point average. This information could be collected into a toolkit for communities on how to best use the available data to target supports (EdStrategy, From Tails to Heads).

Facilitate peer learning networks. To actually facilitate the use of the identified research-backed interventions, as well as to learn from the bright spot districts, states should consider developing peer learning networks around specific metrics. This will give educators and administrators a way to learn not only about what they should do, but also importantly, how they can implement the strategies. The California CORE districts represent a good model for this collaboration. They are currently working as a collective to identify and implement the best approaches for increasing the number of students that are “on-track” to postsecondary exiting the 9th grade and completion of advanced coursework, among other key measures (EdStrategy, From Tails to Heads).

Create supportive policies. The state’s role in setting the appropriate enabling conditions for success is paramount. State leaders must identify policy approaches that inspire action and remove barriers to improve students’ postsecondary preparation and transitions. This includes both broad strategies for increasing data transparency and use and specific policies, such as the implementation of co-requisite remediation, that research has shown will lead to student success, especially for students of color and those from low-income families (EdStrategy, From Tails to Heads).

Communicate about the most predictive indicators of student progress and success. State leaders should organize appropriate communications targeted both at the public and school and district officials to make them aware of the critical leverage points in a student’s path to and through postsecondary education and training. The more attention the state can bring to things like FAFSA completion, the greater the likelihood that students and families will prioritize some of the most predictive indicators of future success (EdStrategy, From Tails to Heads).

Researchers have consistently found that policies and programs that reduce the cost of college increase college enrollments (Do high school Peers Have Persistent Effects on College Attainment and Other Life Outcomes?).

Percentage of undergraduates who received any aid and any federal, nonfederal, state, institutional and employer aid, by control and level of institution (NCES, Trends in Undergraduate Non Federal Grant and Scholarship Aid).

Average amount received by undergraduates who received any aid and any federal, nonfederal, state, institutional, and employer aid, by control and level of institution (NCES, Trends in Undergraduate Non Federal Grant and Scholarship Aid).

Percentage of undergraduates receiving any state grant aid and average amount received, by selected institutional and student characteristics (NCES, Trends in Undergraduate Non Federal Grant and Scholarship Aid).

Percentage of undergraduates receiving need-based state aid and average amount received, by selected institutional and student characteristics (NCES, Trends in Undergraduate Non Federal Grant and Scholarship Aid).

Percentage of undergraduates receiving merit-based state aid and average amount received, by selected institutional and student characteristics (NCES, Trends in Undergraduate Non Federal Grant and Scholarship Aid).

Percentage of undergraduates receiving any institutional grant aid and average amount received, by selected institutional and student characteristics (NCES, Trends in Undergraduate Non Federal Grant and Scholarship Aid).

Percentage of undergraduates receiving need-based institutional aid and average amount received, by selected institutional and student characteristics (NCES, Trends in Undergraduate Non Federal Grant and Scholarship Aid).

Percentage of undergraduates receiving merit-based institutional aid and average amount received, by selected institutional and student characteristics (NCES, Trends in Undergraduate Non Federal Grant and Scholarship Aid).

Percentage of undergraduates receiving private employer aid and average amount received, by selected institutional and student characteristics (NCES, Trends in Undergraduate Non Federal Grant and Scholarship Aid).

Student confidence in their ability to pay back student loans. A study by Jobs for the Future found that while Black students and female students of all backgrounds were more likely than other students to rely on loans to pay tuition, they also felt less confident in their ability to pay back those loans after graduation. While Latine students were not more likely than other students to rely on loans, they too were more likely than white students to not feel confident in their ability to pay back those loans. This research showed that Black students were 45% less likely than white students to feel confident they could pay back their loans, while Latine students were 16% less confident than white students. (Jobs for the Future, Unveiling Disparities).

Net Price: The average cost of attendance (COA) for an institution less all grant aid in a given year. Net Price = COA – All Grant Aid. The Cost of Attendance follows federal definitions for costs associated with a year of college, including tuition and fees; room and board (determined by living arrangements); books and supplies; and other expenses, like travel and personal items Grant aid includes grants from all sources (federal, state or local, institutional, and other). Measured population includes all first-time, full-time students and all full-time undergraduates by credential level; includes all students, not just aid recipients; excludes out-of-state students. Population is disaggregated by credential level, economic status (at that time), academic preparation, race/ethnicity, gender, age, first-generation status, program of study (at that time) (IHEP, Toward Convergence).

Additional metrics related to net price include: Percentage of students applying for aid; Percentage of students receiving grant aid (by type or source); Net price for students receiving grant aid; Net price by dependency status; Net price divided by average income within quintiles; Net price for part-time, transfer, out-of-state students; Net price by year in college; Number of hours worked; Number of dependents (IHEP, Toward Convergence).

Unmet need: The average net price for an institution less the average expected family contribution (EFC) in a given year. Unmet Need = COA – All Grant Aid – EFC = Net Price – EFC. Measured population includes all first-time, full-time students, and all full-time undergraduates by credential level; includes all students, not just aid recipients; excludes out-of-state students. Population is disaggregated by credential level, economic status (at that time), academic preparation, race/ethnicity, gender, age, first-generation status, program of study (at that time) (IHEP, Toward Convergence).

Additional metrics related to unmet need include: Percentage of students applying for aid; Percentage of students receiving aid; Percentage of students with unmet need and their average unmet need; Unmet need for aid recipients by type or source; Unmet need by year in college; Part-time, transfer, and out-of-state unmet need; Student payment methods for meeting unmet need; Completion rates by level of unmet need; Number of hours worked; Number of dependents (IHEP, Toward Convergence).

Student Share of Cost: The percentage of Education and Related (E&R) Expenditures covered by net student tuition revenue versus institutional subsidies in a fiscal year. Additional metrics include: Sticker price and net price; Net tuition revenue per 12-month FTE enrollment; E&R per 12-month FTE enrollment; Subsidy per 12-month FTE enrollment. This metric is drawn directly from the Delta Cost Project, which refers to it as the net tuition share of E&R. The metric quantifies the proportion of education-related expenditures paid for by net tuition revenue relative to other institutional resources, such as state and local appropriations, investment or endowment incomes or other revenues generated by the institution — or what Delta Cost calls the “subsidy share.” (IHEP, Toward Convergence).

Students can use unmet need to evaluate whether that particular institution is affordable for them and how it financially serves students in similar financial situations. 

Students can appeal financial aid decisions in order to close the gap between costs and need.

FAFSA completion rate

Applying for state-based financial aid and/or scholarships

Double Pell: The Pell Grant has served as the cornerstone of financial aid for students from low-income backgrounds pursuing higher education since its creation in 1972. This need-based grant provides crucial support for around 7 million students each year, or about one-third of undergraduates. At its peak, the maximum Pell Grant was worth more than 75% of the average cost of attendance at a four-year public university. Today, it covers less than 30%. Congress should restore the maximum Pell Grant to 50% of this cost, or roughly double the current amount. Congress should then tie the Pell Grant to inflation to sustain its purchasing power (NCAN, DoublePell for College Affordability).

A CSA, or Child Savings Account, is a savings account whose proceeds are designated to pay for a student’s higher education after age 18. These accounts are often created by a state or local government or nonprofit organization and intended to encourage more students to pursue postsecondary education. Many CSA programs offer savings incentives for families from low-income backgrounds who make their own deposits or engage in activities related to college preparation or financial literacy. Investment growth in the accounts can be tax-free at the federal or state level (NCAN, College Access and College Savings).

College Savings Accounts: The Minnesota Kids Investment and Development Savings (MinneKIDS) Act is a bill that would allow the state of Minnesota to create a 529 college savings program to help children build savings for their future, such as college, technical school, apprenticeships and more. Accounts would be opened by the state for every baby born after June 2026, with small deposits made to seed the account. Accounts grow through family contributions and incentives, such as savings matches. Savings help pay for postsecondary education. Research shows that kids with college savings accounts are 3x more likely to attend college and 4x more likely to graduate (Minnesota Kids Investment and Development Savings).

Policymakers should use net price results to evaluate how institutions and states spend their aid dollars and determine whether their practices align with the priorities of the federal government in lowering the net price for low-income students.

Policymakers could use the metric of unmet need in tandem with net price to assess the full scope of financial burden that is placed on students and families and adjust financial aid policies accordingly — or encourage institutions to do so.

The Student Share of Cost metric is highly relevant to policymakers because it quantifies the impact of decreased state support for higher education — and its direct impact on students. As per-student state investment has declined, students and families have had to pick up an increasing share of college costs, affecting their ability to access and succeed in college, especially for low-income students with fewer resources to draw on. A report using Delta Cost Project data noted that decreased state funding is responsible for almost 80% of the rise in public education tuition between 2001 and 2011. While more recent analysis shows a slight increase in per-student state and local funding for public colleges and universities (5.4% between 2013 and 2014), longer-term trends in state disinvestment in higher education have had a major impact on college affordability. State policymakers should work to restore appropriations to at least pre-recessions levels, and institutions should realign institutional aid practices to address the financial hardships of low-income students and families, who were unduly burdened by cuts (IHEP, Toward Convergence).

Need-Based Student Aid: The price of higher education is ever rising, and students are bearing a greater proportion of this burden. Meanwhile, attainment is more important now than ever before. Unfortunately, students with limited resources have far worse outcomes than those from higher-income families. States can support students who may not have the financial means by investing in need-based aid (National College Attainment Network, Need-Based Student Aid).

Equitable Free College: “Free college” has become a major policy discussion at the state and federal levels. Generally, states have implemented “free college” programs that cover the full cost of tuition and fees at a public, in-state, two-year (and, in some cases, a four-year) institution. An example of a more equitable approach would be for states to implement a “first-dollar” program (National College Attainment Network, Need-Based Student Aid).

In-State Tuition for Undocumented Students: Students brought to the US as children deserve the chance to complete their education, but they face unique barriers to college access and affordability. To best support these students, for example, states should allow undocumented students to pay in-state tuition and provide need-based aid for those who are income-eligible (National College Attainment Network, Access and Affordability for Undocumented Students).

Support All Our Students: All students regardless of their race, ethnicity, or immigration status deserve the opportunity for affordable higher education. To support this goal, Congress should allow students from low-income backgrounds who are DACA/TPS recipients or those meeting similar requirements to be eligible for federal financial aid (NCAN, Support All Our Students).

Need-Based Aid: Of the National College Attainment Network’s (NCAN’s) state policy priorities, need-based student aid was the issue with the greatest number of NCAN members identifying it as a higher priority for their state. Members often discussed need-based aid as an essential component of support for achieving better postsecondary access and attainment outcomes. While many states that identified this issue area as a higher priority currently offer some level of need-based student aid, many expressed that support levels are too low (e.g., Ohio). Most states (e.g., California, New York, Ohio, Tennessee) mentioned the importance of including support for students’ basic needs and the true cost of attendance (housing, food, broadband, transportation, etc.) within aid programs (NCAN, Building Momentum at the State Level).

Access and Affordability for Undocumented Students: Another NCAN state policy issue is access and affordability for undocumented students. Interviewees in multiple states identified supports for undocumented students as a high priority but expressed concerns regarding the political viability of such policies (NCAN, Building Momentum at the State Level).

Equitable Free College: Members in California discussed the California College Promise program, which provides support for a variety of costs for students at community colleges. In Ohio and Texas, interviewees highlighted free-college programs that exist at the local level. Members in these states suggested that regional partnerships with community colleges may continue to be the source of free college for the time being. In other states (Florida, New York, Tennessee), members expressed concerns that free-college efforts may be susceptible to political challenges and would be unlikely to move forward. In those states, it was suggested that the label of “free” may be a hang-up. Some interviewees mentioned that policymakers may believe that free- or affordable-college opportunities are already being provided in their state, limiting the political will to expand such programs beyond community college or consider expanding aid available through current programs. (NCAN, Building Momentum at the State Level).

Standardize Financial Aid Award Letters: Financial aid award letters can be difficult to decipher, and their formatting can vary from institution to institution. They can characterize PLUS loans as “awards,” fail to explain what “work-study” requires, and obscure the bottom line. Students need and deserve clarity – about how much they will receive in grant funding, how much they will need to take out in loans and how much they will pay out of pocket. Congress should require standardized terms and formatting for award letters to help students make informed postsecondary decisions. (NCAN, Standardize Financial Aid Award Letters).

Improve Loan Counseling: Student loans play a considerable role in how college students finance their education today. As student loan borrowing grows in prevalence, policymakers are increasingly aware of the need to improve its system of lending to students. An area of policy reform that would improve borrower experience and has bipartisan consensus is that borrowers should have more effective loan counseling. The U.S. Department of Education should ensure student loan counseling is consumer-tested with students and balances an informative process with one that does not create barriers to aid. Counseling provided to borrowers should include the cumulative student loan debt accrued and should advise borrowers to not to take on more debt than their expected starting salary (NCAN, Student Loan Counseling).

Reform Work-Study: The Federal Work-Study program allows institutions to provide funding for students to work, either on or off campus (with limitations), to earn money that can be used to defray the cost of a higher education. Institutions of higher education receive a lump sum of dollars from the federal government, and then determine which students are eligible for work-study awards based on their enrollment. Currently, the total lump sum for each college is determined in part by the length of time an institution has participated in the Federal Work-Study program. This formula gives an advantage to older institutions, including elite ones enrolling fewer low-income students, over younger colleges. Congress should rework this outdated formula to target funds to schools with the largest portions of students from low-income backgrounds. Lawmakers should also increase investment in FWS, which at current funding levels can only support 10% of Pell Grant recipients (NCAN, Improve Federal Work-Study).

Strengthen AmeriCorps: National and community service programs play an important role in the college access and success movement. Support for service programs, such as AmeriCorps, will help more underrepresented students engage with advisers and others who can help them navigate the path to (and through) postsecondary education. AmeriCorps participants may be eligible to receive an Education Award, which provides as much as the maximum Pell Grant in scholarship aide or to pay off student loans, in return for their service (NCAN, Support AmeriCorps for College Success).

Per pupil expenditures: For elementary and secondary schools, data are reported annually at the state, district, and school levels through the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Elementary and Secondary Education (OESE) Per Pupil Expenditure Transparency website. Disparities in funding can be assessed vertically at the federal, state, and local levels, as well as horizontally between schools within the same district or postsecondary institutions within the same state (Education-to-Workforce Framework).

Equity Factor, a measure that indicates variance in per-pupil funding within a state (see this brief by New America for more information) (Education-to-Workforce Framework).

Expenditures per student: Education and related (E&R) expenditures per full-time equivalent (FTE) student based on 12-month enrollment. Measured population is twelve-month FTE enrollment calculated using 12-month instructional activity credit hours in IPEDS (IHEP, Toward Convergence).

Additional metrics related to expenditures per student include: Distribution of students by credential level or program of study; Instructional expenditures per FTE student and as a percentage of E&R expenditures; Salaries as a percentage of instructional expenditures; Student support expenditures per FTE student and as a percentage of E&R expenditures; Administration expenditures per FTE and as a percentage of E&R expenditures; E&R expenditures as a percentage of total education and general expenditures; FTE faculty/staff per FTE student (IHEP, Toward Convergence).

Colleges can use data on per-student expenditure to track trends in their spending per student over time and in relation to peer institutions. Expenditure measures can help colleges determine how changes in spending over time impact resource allocation to core educational functions, such as instruction and student services, which can help contextualize changes in student completion rates. When interpreting trends in expenditures per student, institutions should evaluate whether changes in the metric resulted from changes in enrollment, changes in expenditures (or available revenues), or both, for better interpretation and use (IHEP, Toward Convergence).

For students, the per-student expenditure metric is not usually a concern or consideration in the decision-making process, but may be indicative of how much an institution makes available to spend on students relative to other institutions. 

The per-student expenditure metric can be useful for policymakers in clarifying the causes of price increases. It is a widely held belief that increases in student tuition and fees are the result of surges in college spending, but analysis from the Delta Cost Project shows that institutional spending has not risen as fast as prices. Rather, they find that a decrease in public subsidies is a primary contributor to price increases. (IHEP, Toward Convergence).

State Higher Education Funding: Tuition at public colleges depends on what states allocate for higher education, with students paying more when state investment falls or fails to keep pace with inflation. The unpredictability of state budget processes can also make it difficult for students to budget for the cost of college and risks negatively impacting college persistence (National College Attainment Network, State Higher Education Funding).

Create a Federal-State Partnership: Less than 23% of public bachelor’s degree institutions are affordable for a student receiving the average Pell Grant and community college students don’t fare much better – with just 41% of institutions affordable. Congress should create a federal-state partnership that incentivizes states to invest in need-based aid and in stabilizing or reducing the cost of college. Doing so would provide additional support to students from low-income backgrounds.(National College Attainment Network, A Federal-State Partnership).

State Higher Education Funding: Participating members of the National College Attainment Network (NCAN) identified state funding for higher education as a high priority. A Florida-based organization mentioned that a state-held council, which meets annually to discuss policy, regularly identifies state higher education funding as a top priority. Members in Ohio noted that higher education institutions typically receive little funding from the state and pointed to increased federal and state funding allocated in light of the pandemic as extremely beneficial. Some interviewees suggested that increased federal and state funding for postsecondary education, as appropriated in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, would be helpful for the state to continue long term. Interviewees also mentioned that the funding flexibilities extended during the pandemic should continue as well. In other interviews, some NCAN members expressed a lack of confidence in understanding the landscape of higher education funding and how it differed from policy priorities around financial aid (NCAN, Building Momentum at the State Level).

Spending per student enrolled in certification/training program/apprenticeship

CTE Access: Number of CTE participants as calculated for the Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act (Perkins V). State-specific calculations for a Perkins V CTE participant is defined in the law as an individual who completes not less than one course in a CTE program or program of study of an eligible recipient (Achieving Inclusive CTE).

CTE Access: Number of CTE participants as calculated for Perkins V enrolled in high-wage, in demand career pathways (Achieving Inclusive CTE).

Success within CTE Programs: Number of CTE concentrators as calculated for Perkins V. State-specific calculations for a Perkins V CTE concentrator is defined in the law as: (a) At the secondary school level, a student who is served by an eligible recipient and has completed at least two courses in a single CTE program or program of study; (b) At the postsecondary level, a student who is enrolled in an eligible recipient and has (i) earned at least 12 credits within a CTE program or program of study or (ii) completed such a program if the program encompasses fewer than 12 credits or the equivalent in total (Achieving Inclusive CTE).

Success within CTE Programs: Number of CTE concentrators as calculated for Perkins V enrolled in high-wage, in-demand career pathways (Achieving Inclusive CTE).

Success within CTE Programs: Number of CTE concentrators who have completed sustained work-based learning experiences such as internships, apprenticeships and/or clinicals (Achieving Inclusive CTE).

Success within CTE Programs: Number of CTE concentrators who have completed advanced coursework such as Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate, and/or dual or concurrent enrollment courses (secondary). State-specific calculations for the Perkins V postsecondary credit attainment indicator, which is defined in the law as the percentage of CTE concentrators graduating from high school having attained postsecondary credits in their CTE program or program of study through a dual or concurrent enrollment program or another credit transfer agreement (Achieving Inclusive CTE).

Success within CTE Programs: Number of CTE concentrators that have completed higher-level coursework (postsecondary) (Achieving Inclusive CTE).

Success within CTE Programs: Number of CTE concentrators who have earned recognized postsecondary credentials such as industry certifications, postsecondary certificates and/or degrees. State-specific calculations for Perkins V credential attainment indicators are defined in the law as: (a) The percentage of CTE concentrators graduating from high school having attained a recognized postsecondary credential; and (b) The percentage of [postsecondary] CTE concentrators who receive a recognized postsecondary credential during participation in or within one year of program completion. State-specific calculations for the WIOA credential attainment indicator (D), which is defined as the percentage of those participants enrolled in an education or training program (excluding those in on-the-job training and customized training) who attain a recognized postsecondary credential or a secondary school diploma, or its recognized equivalent, during participation in or within one year after exit from the program. A participant who has attained a secondary school diploma or its recognized equivalent is included in the percentage of participants who have attained a secondary school diploma or its recognized equivalent only if the participant also is employed or is enrolled in an education or training program leading to a recognized postsecondary credential within one year after exit from the program (Achieving Inclusive CTE). 

Student Participation in CTE: Average number of Carnegie credits and percentage distribution of total credits earned by public high school graduates, by course type and subject area (NCES, Career and Technical Education Statistics).

Student Participation in CTE: percentage of public high school graduates who concentrated in a career and technical education (CTE) subject area, by CTE coursetaking pattern and CTE subject area (NCES, Career and Technical Education Statistics).

Student Participation in CTE: percentage of public high school graduates who earned Carnegie credits in each career and technical education (CTE) subject area and, among those graduates, average number of credits earned and percentage who concentrated in each CTE subject area (NCES, Career and Technical Education Statistics).

Student Participation in CTE: Average number of career and technical education (CTE) Carnegie credits and percentage distribution of total CTE credits public high school graduates earned, by grade level (NCES, Career and Technical Education Statistics).

Student Participation in CTE: percentage distribution of public high school graduates with each career and technical education (CTE) coursetaking pattern, by selected student race/ethnicity categories and gender (NCES, Career and Technical Education Statistics).

Public School Teachers of CTE: percentage of public school teachers of grades 9 through 12, by field of main teaching assignment and selected demographic and educational characteristics (NCES, Career and Technical Education Statistics).

Public School Teachers of CTE: percentage of public and private elementary and secondary schools hiring for at least one open teaching position, and among schools with at least one opening schoolwide, percentage hiring in various subject-matter fields, by selected school characteristics (NCES, Career and Technical Education Statistics).

Public School Teachers of CTE: Among public and private elementary and secondary schools that were hiring for at least one open teaching position in a specific field, percentage that found it very difficult or were not able to fill the opening, by subject-matter field of opening and selected school characteristics (NCES, Career and Technical Education Statistics).

CTE Coursetaking: percentage of public and private high school graduates who earned at least one Carnegie credit in selected career/technical education courses in high school, by selected student and school characteristics (NCES, Career and Technical Education Statistics).

CTE Coursetaking: Number of 2013 public high school graduates and percentage ever enrolled in postsecondary education by June 2016 or June 2021, and selected postsecondary outcomes among 2013 public high school graduates ever enrolled in postsecondary education by June 2021, by high school career and technical education (CTE) concentrator status (NCES, Career and Technical Education Statistics).

CTE Coursetaking: Among 2013 public high school graduates ever enrolled in postsecondary education by June 2021, percentage of high school career and technical education (CTE) concentrators who earned postsecondary degrees/certificates and whose highest postsecondary degree/certificate was in the same field or a different field as their high school CTE concentration, by field of CTE concentration during high school and highest postsecondary degree/certificate earned (NCES, Career and Technical Education Statistics).

Number and percentage of CTE program offerings considered “in demand.” Recent studies of CTE offerings indicate that CTE programs are frequently misaligned with projected job openings in local regions. (Education-to-Workforce Framework).

CTE Alignment with the Labor Market: One study of CTE programs in high schools in West Virginia found that only about half of the state’s CTE programs were aligned to at least one occupation in high demand among employers in the region (Assessing the Alignment between West Virginia’s high school Career and Technical Education Programs and the Labor Market).

CTE Post-Program Outcomes – Placement: Number of CTE concentrators placed in postsecondary education, advanced training or the workforce after completing a CTE program as calculated for Perkins V. State-specific calculations for Perkins V placement indicators are defined in the law as: (a) The percentage of CTE concentrators who, in the second quarter after exiting from secondary education, are in postsecondary education or advanced training, military service, or a service program under the National and Community Service Act; are volunteers in the Peace Corps; or are employed; (b) The percentage of [postsecondary] CTE concentrators who, during the second quarter after program completion, remain enrolled in postsecondary education; are in advanced training, military service, or a service program under the National and Community Service Act; are volunteers in the Peace Corps; or are placed or retained in employment (Achieving Inclusive CTE). 

CTE Post-Program Outcomes – High-Wage, High-Demand (HWHD) Placement: Number of CTE concentrators who were enrolled in high-wage, in-demand career pathways and were placed in postsecondary education, advanced training or the workforce after completing a CTE program as calculated for Perkins V. State-specific calculations for WIOA employment rate and education and employment rate indicators (Achieving Inclusive CTE). 

CTE Post-Program Outcomes – Wages: Number of CTE concentrators who, after completing a CTE program, earned at or above the state’s definition of “high wage”  (Achieving Inclusive CTE). 

CTE Post-Program Outcomes – HWHD Wages: Number of CTE concentrators who, after completing a CTE program, earned at or above the state’s definition of “high wage” and were enrolled in high-wage, in-demand career pathways (Achieving Inclusive CTE). 

Opportunity gaps: When analyzing opportunity gaps, state or local leaders look at the gap between the percentage of career pathways enrollees, CTE participants or CTE concentrators who are members of a particular learner group and the percentage of learners in the community who are members of that learner group (Achieving Inclusive CTE).

Performance gaps: When considering performance gaps, state or local leaders analyze the gap between the percentage of learners in a particular learner group who meet a performance target and the percentage of all learners who meet that performance target (Achieving Inclusive CTE). 

Number of CTE program areas available in high schools, and which program areas are most and least common statewide and by region (a cluster of neighboring counties with similar labor market characteristics) (Aligning career and technical education with high-wage and high-demand occupations in Tennessee).

percentage of high school graduates who graduated from schools with at least one available CTE program area, and how this varies by region (Aligning career and technical education with high-wage and high-demand occupations in Tennessee).

percentage of high school graduates who complete at least one CTE concentration (Aligning career and technical education with high-wage and high-demand occupations in Tennessee).

Statewide and for each region, how many CTE concentrators would need to change program areas to match the distribution of workers in the labor market? For each program area, how does the percentage of high school graduates who completed a concentration compare with the percentage of workers employed in corresponding occupations? (Aligning career and technical education with high-wage and high-demand occupations in Tennessee).

For each region, which CTE program areas correspond to projected low-, moderate-, and high-wage occupations? What percentage of projected jobs are in program areas that correspond to high- wage occupations? What is the percentage of CTE concentrators in these program areas? How do the median annual wages in occupations that correspond to each program area vary by education level? (Aligning career and technical education with high-wage and high-demand occupations in Tennessee).

For each region, which CTE program areas correspond to projected low-, moderate-, and high-demand occupations? What percentage of projected jobs are in CTE program areas that correspond to high- demand occupations? What is the percentage of concentrators in these program areas? (Aligning career and technical education with high-wage and high-demand occupations in Tennessee).

Career pathway system characteristics and design features, including these basic characteristics: (a) Primary target population (e.g., low-income adults, participants with limited English-language proficiency, disadvantaged youth); (b) Length of the pathway (e.g., less than one year, one to two years, or over two years in duration); (c) Industry focus (e.g., health care, manufacturing, construction); (d) Academic goals, the credential to which the career pathway program leads (e.g., certificate, Associate’s degree, Bachelor’s degree); (e) Sources of funding (e.g., federal, state, or foundation funding) (A Framework for Measuring Career Pathways Innovation).

Information on career pathway system design, including: (a) Sequence of education and training offerings: This includes the specific elements of the pathway instruction for a particular occupation or industry sector; (b) Skill assessments: This includes industry-approved technical skill assessments, based on industry standards, and state-developed or state-approved assessments, particularly where industry-approved standards do not exist; (c) Supportive services: This includes child care, transportation assistance, and tutoring; (d) Case management: Sometimes also referred to as proactive advising, this can assist participants in identifying their needs for supportive services, and it can help participants arrange for access to those services; (e) Employer involvement: This included efforts to encourage an active role for employers in pathway design and support and in the assessment of participant competencies (A Framework for Measuring Career Pathways Innovation).

Career pathway participant characteristics, including: (a) percentage of low-income: Most of the pathway systems reviewed target lower-income adults and collect data on this characteristic; (b) Other characteristics: other participant characteristics that are relevant to targeting and assessing results (e.g., the percentage of participants requiring remediation, percentage with English language deficiency) (A Framework for Measuring Career Pathways Innovation).

Career pathway implementation metrics, including: (a) Enrollment: the change in the number of participants enrolled in career pathway or bridge programs from one year to the next; (b) Pathway programs in use: Most include a measure of the change in the number of career pathway programs or bridge programs from year to year; (c) Funding level: the change in the amount or percentage of funding devoted to career pathways or bridge programs from year to year; (d) Number of participants who use various support services and other program features (e.g., case management, mentoring); (e) Number of employers engaged in pathway design and delivery; (f) Adherence to program design standards set by the state; (g) Market penetration (e.g., percentage of developmental education courses incorporated into a career pathway) (A Framework for Measuring Career Pathways Innovation).

Transition metrics (following participants across education and training funding sources or settings). For example, career pathway initiatives in Minnesota, Washington, and Wisconsin have undertaken “pipeline” studies that examine the transitions of adult education, ESL, and developmental education participants from these settings into and through postsecondary programs (A Framework for Measuring Career Pathways Innovation).

Interim education and training outcomes for participants, including: (a) Passing grades: The number and percentage of participants who obtain a passing grade in a bridge course or developmental education course in the pathway; (b) Skill gains: The number and percentage of participants who attain the intended reading, writing, or mathematics levels (or gains targets) based on comparison of pre and post-program assessment results. Metrics of this type are required for Adult Education and for WIA youth programs; (c) Postsecondary enrollment: The number and percentage of participants enrolling in one or more credit bearing postsecondary courses. This metric is similar to the skill-gains requirement for Adult Education and WIA youth programs, but those do not require entry into credit-bearing courses; (d) Academic course completion: The number and percentage of participants obtaining a passing grade in one or more college-level academic courses within a postsecondary program of study; (e) Postsecondary program retention: The number and percentage of participants returning for the second semester of a postsecondary program (A Framework for Measuring Career Pathways Innovation).

Pathway education and training outcomes. Technical skill attainment is a required measure under Perkins postsecondary programs, as is receipt of an industry-recognized credential, certificate or diploma. Attainment of a degree or certificate is a required measure for WIA youth programs, as well as for WIA adult programs in states where the common measures have not been adopted. Outcomes measures can include: (a) Program completion: the number and percentage of participants completing a career pathway program; (b) Postsecondary program completion: the number and percentage of participants completing a postsecondary program and obtaining a credential; (c) Grade Point Average: the cumulative GPA of participants; (d) Apprenticeships: the number of participants completing a registered apprenticeship program. (Under WIA and Adult Education, entering an apprenticeship program also counts as entering employment.); (e) Short-term programs: the number of participants who complete a short-term vocational program; (f) Technical diploma: the number of participants who obtain a one-year or two-year technical diploma; (g) Associate’s degree: the number of participants who obtain an Associate’s degree in a vocational or academic transfer program; (h) Postsecondary program completion: the number of participants who complete at least one postsecondary program of any type (A Framework for Measuring Career Pathways Innovation).

Labor market outcomes, including: (a) Employment: the number and percentage of postsecondary completers who obtain employment. This is a required measure for Adult Education, Perkins postsecondary programs, and WIA youth, adult, and dislocated worker programs; (b) Program-related employment: the number and percentage of postsecondary program completers who obtain employment in an industry or occupation related to the postsecondary program; (c) Employment retention: the number and percentage of postsecondary program completers who retain employment. This is a required measure for Adult Education, Perkins postsecondary programs, and WIA adult and dislocated worker programs; (d) Earnings gains: the average earnings gain for postsecondary program completers who obtain employment. Longer-term earnings gains at 18, 24 or 36 months. WIA adult and dislocated worker programs must report on average earnings for the second and third quarters following exit but not on earnings gains; (e) Full or part-time employment of graduates (A Framework for Measuring Career Pathways Innovation).

A career pathway as a well-articulated sequence of quality education and training offerings and supportive services that enable educationally underprepared youth and adults to advance over time to successively higher levels of education and employment in a given industry sector or occupation. The career pathway approach reorients existing education and workforce services from a myriad of disconnected programs to a structure that focuses on the individuals in need of education and training and their career paths, and it provides clear transitions, strong supports and other elements critical to the success of participants (The Alliance for Quality Career Pathways Approach).

Adopting the career pathway approach means redesigning the delivery of education, training, and employment services to be much more integrated, aligned and participant-centered. In tight fiscal environments, it can be financially prudent for partners at the state and local levels to commit to supporting a shared strategy, rather than for them to implement separate — or even competing — approaches (The Alliance for Quality Career Pathways Approach).

A state career pathway system is a partnership of state-level agencies, organizations, and employers or an industry that provides a supportive policy environment for local/regional career pathway systems and programs and promotes the quality, scale, and sustainability of career pathways (A Framework for Measuring Career Pathways Innovation).

A local/regional career pathway system is a partnership among local and/or regional agencies, organizations, institutions, and employers or an industry. It includes specific structural elements such as multiple entry and exit points and supportive services and navigation assistance. The system generally consists of linked and aligned career pathway programs. The partnership follows six key guiding principles: (1) Adopt and articulate a shared vision; (2) Demonstrate leadership and commitment to institutionalizing career pathways; (3) Ensure that career pathways are demand-driven, focus on sectors/occupations, and deeply engage employers; (4) Align policies, measures, and funding; (5) Use and promote data and continuous improvement strategies; (6) Support professional development (A Framework for Measuring Career Pathways Innovation).

A local/regional career pathway system is comprised of the following structural elements that make up the career pathway: (a) A well-articulated sequence of education and training offerings; (b) Multiple entry points that accommodate participants entering at differing skill levels (including adults and out-of-school youth with very low basic skills); (c) Multiple exit points at successively higher levels of education and employment that are aligned with marketable, stackable, “creditable” credentials; and (d) Supportive services and navigation assistance for participants in the pathways (A Framework for Measuring Career Pathways Innovation).

Ideally, a career pathway that focuses on educationally underprepared adults and youth starts with basic skill “bridge” programs. They provide seamless transitions for participants to earn marketable credentials in demand-driven fields that bear or articulate to postsecondary credit (i.e., are “creditable”) and accumulate to higher credentials (i.e., are “stackable”). The pathway should lead to employment paying self-sufficient or family-supporting earnings and offering opportunities for advancement. (More robust career pathway systems may include stackable credentials that provide wages well beyond self-sufficiency.) The specific credentials included and the length of the career pathway will vary based on the industry or occupation (A Framework for Measuring Career Pathways Innovation).

A local/regional career pathway system is managed by a partnership that adopts and articulates a shared vision. Partners adopt a shared vision of the career pathway system and a governance structure (formal or informal) that clearly delineates each partner’s roles and responsibilities (e.g., through a memorandum of understanding) (A Framework for Measuring Career Pathways Innovation).

A local/regional career pathway system is managed by a partnership that demonstrates leadership and commitment to institutionalizing career pathways. Partners demonstrate collaborative leadership and a commitment to building, sustaining and scaling up career pathways. This approach becomes the way they do business on a regular basis (A Framework for Measuring Career Pathways Innovation).

A local/regional career pathway system is managed by a partnership that ensures that career pathways are demand-driven, focuses on sectors/occupations, and deeply engages employers. The career pathway system is responsive to the specific, dynamic contexts of the regional labor market and significantly engages multiple employers within a sector or occupational area in an interactive, ongoing working relationship (through sector strategies where applicable) (A Framework for Measuring Career Pathways Innovation).

A local/regional career pathway system is managed by a partnership that aligns policies, measures, and funding. Partners align related policies, performance and accountability measures, and funding for career pathways, including through the use of aligned and braided funding across funding streams (A Framework for Measuring Career Pathways Innovation).

A local/regional career pathway system is managed by a partnership that uses and promotes data and continuous improvement strategies. Partners are data-driven and focus on continuously improving efforts by measuring participants’ interim and ultimate outcomes as well as process indicators (A Framework for Measuring Career Pathways Innovation).

A local/regional career pathway system is managed by a partnership that supports professional development. Partners support robust and ongoing professional development for career pathways practitioners and administrators (A Framework for Measuring Career Pathways Innovation).

A local/regional career pathway system is an extensive undertaking that almost always encompasses more than a single partnership or program. Usually, a series of career pathway programs are linked together to form a local/ regional system (A Framework for Measuring Career Pathways Innovation).

Career pathway programs are the building blocks of career pathways. They blend a set of interventions in a specific industry or occupation and are aligned in a longer-term career pathway leading to marketable, stackable, “creditable” credentials. Career pathway programs are comprised of the following interventions: (a) Learner-centered approaches to instruction and occupational training, including contextualization, dual enrollment, acceleration, and prior learning assessment; (b) Appropriate and meaningful assessment of participants’ skills and needs (including accessibility needs for participants with disabilities); (c) Supportive services, including academic supports (e.g., tutoring and advising); non academic supports (e.g., child care, transportation, and financial assistance); career exploration; and, navigation assistance through the career pathway program and, ideally, into retained employment; and (d) Quality work experiences, including job placement assistance and, ideally, quality sector/occupation-specific pre-employment work experiences (e.g., internships, apprenticeships) (A Framework for Measuring Career Pathways Innovation).

A state career pathway system is a partnership of state-level agencies, organizations, and employers/industry that provides leadership and a supportive policy environment for local/regional career pathway systems and programs and that promotes the quality, scale, and sustainability of career pathways. Partners at the state level may include the state workforce agency, adult basic education, postsecondary education, economic development, and human services. (For more information, see the Six Key Elements of Career Pathways developed by the U.S. Departments of Education, Health and Human Services, and Labor.) Partnerships also should include agencies focusing on youth, people with disabilities, and those in the corrections system (A Framework for Measuring Career Pathways Innovation).

At the state level, governors, legislators, and state agency heads can be important stakeholders who can demonstrate leadership and commitment to institutionalizing career pathways. Under the guiding principle of “demand-driven, sector/occupational based, and employer engagement,” the roles of the state partnership are to ensure that local/regional career pathways are responsive to specific and dynamic regional labor market contexts, and to significantly engage multiple employers in an interactive, ongoing relationship, ideally through a connection to any state sector strategy (A Framework for Measuring Career Pathways Innovation).

The state system partnership should align related policies and performance measures and braid funding at the state level. In addition, it should develop statewide policies that specifically support career pathways. Policies and measures should be aligned both horizontally across agencies and vertically within each agency among state, regional and local levels of government. Finally, the state system should include professional development opportunities for local/ regional staff and state-level staff involved in career pathways (A Framework for Measuring Career Pathways Innovation).

States may be at different stages of system development. For example, in some states, a local area or region may have developed a robust career pathway system with multiple career pathways in the absence of a state system. In other states, highly visionary and committed state leaders may be leading the way and helping local areas and regions develop career pathway systems. In still other states, the two levels may be emerging together, albeit at different paces given funding opportunities and leadership (A Framework for Measuring Career Pathways Innovation).

The U.S. Department of Labor developed six key elements of Career Pathways. These are: (1) Career Pathways build cross-agency partnerships and clarify roles. Key cross-agency partners at the local and state levels are engaged to participate in the initiative. Roles and responsibilities are clearly defined and formalized; (2) Career Pathways identify sector or industry and engage employers. Sectors and industries are selected, gap analysis is conducted, and employers are engaged in the development of career pathways; (3) Career Pathways design programs and provide a clear sequence of education courses and credentials that meet the skill needs of high-demand industries; (4) Career Pathways identify funding needs and sources. Necessary resources are raised and/or leveraged to develop and implement career pathway programs; (5) Career Pathways help align federal, state, and local legislation or administrative policies to promote career pathway development and implementation; (6) Career Pathways measure system change and performance. Measures are used to assess and determine system change and performance including policy changes for system-wide change (Six Key Elements of Career Pathways).

Career pathways (i.e., a clear sequence of education coursework and/or training credentials) are aligned with the skill needs of industries important to the regional or state economies in which they are located, and reflect the active engagement of employers in targeted industry sectors regarding the skill requirements for employment or career progression in high demand occupations (Six Key Elements of Career Pathways).

Career pathways include the full range of secondary, adult education, and postsecondary education options, including registered apprenticeship, with a non-duplicative progression of courses clearly articulated from one level of instruction to the next, with opportunities to earn postsecondary credits and lead to industry-recognized [and/or] postsecondary credentials (Six Key Elements of Career Pathways).

Career pathways include curriculum and instructional strategies that make work a central context for learning (contextual learning) and help students attain work readiness skills (Six Key Elements of Career Pathways).

Career pathways include, as appropriate for the individual, integrated education and training that combine occupational skills training with adult education services, give credit for prior learning and adopt other strategies that accelerate the educational and career advancement of the participant (Six Key Elements of Career Pathways).

Career pathways lead to the attainment of an industry-recognized degree or credential, which may include stackable credentials of value in the labor market and that articulate progressively to higher-level credentials or degrees (Six Key Elements of Career Pathways).

Career pathways help a worker enter or advance within a specific sector or occupational field, regardless of their skills at the point of entry (Six Key Elements of Career Pathways).

Career pathways include academic and career counseling, wrap-around support services particularly at points of transition, and support the development of an individual career plan (Six Key Elements of Career Pathways).

Career pathways are organized to meet the particular needs of adults, including childcare, accommodating work schedules with flexible and non-semester-based scheduling, alternative class times and locations and the innovative use of technology (Six Key Elements of Career Pathways).

Career pathways have the goal of increasing an individual’s educational and skills attainment and employment outcomes (Six Key Elements of Career Pathways).

Adapt pathway programs of study to prioritize door-opener dual enrollment courses to provide foundational industry exposure and ensure students have many options as they transition to postsecondary. When appropriate, incorporate strategic dual enrollment courses, which increase students’ opportunity to earn credentials or degrees that launch high-wage, high-growth careers (JFF, Promising Credentials).

Identify and adapt postsecondary health science programs of study (for example) to increase the credential applicability of recommended foundational door-opener dual enrollment courses such as Medical Terminology or Anatomy and Physiology (JFF, Promising Credentials).

To support students through multiple stages of academic and career development, identify and pursue strategic opportunities to align and streamline industry-recognized credentials to stackable associate’s degree-level credentials. Every step must align with promising careers in the region (JFF, Promising Credentials).

Provide training for guidance counselors and advisors to review degree opportunities, dual enrollment and labor market information with students. Ensure that support staff have the resources to communicate career growth, wage data and course outcomes directly to students. Embed labor market discussions into sustained career advising (JFF, Promising Credentials).

Vet data and program outcomes with regional industry leaders to determine labor market needs that cannot be identified by external evaluations. Work with industry leaders to identify in-demand employability and technical competencies (JFF, Promising Credentials).

Develop systems for career exploration that incorporate student interest, passion, and career exposure to help youth make informed choices about their futures (JFF, Promising Credentials).

Conduct further analysis to account for students who relocate, including job opportunities in neighboring labor markets (JFF, Promising Credentials).

Identify barriers, particularly those faced by historically marginalized populations, to enrollment in dual credit courses. The goal is to increase the number of students who can access dual credit coursework. This includes providing early supports for academic readiness in English and math (JFF, Promising Credentials).

State departments of education could evaluate the alignment of CTE programs with workforce demands to help school districts address unserved, high-demand occupations. They could help develop new high school CTE programs aligned to high-demand occupations in each region (Assessing the Alignment between West Virginia’s high school Career and Technical Education Programs and the Labor Market).

State departments of education could restructure programs that do not align to high-demand occupations or conduct additional analyses on whether programs align to other occupations in the region or around the state. If a region is preparing students for occupations that are not available in the region, these leaders might want to consider whether there is an opportunity to attract new industries to the region that would align to these CTE programs and thus would have a well-prepared potential workforce (Assessing the Alignment between West Virginia’s high school Career and Technical Education Programs and the Labor Market). 

Expanded income support during training Unemployment Insurance in the United States is typically offered for a maximum of 26 weeks, although this may be expanded during national or local recessions. Other safety net programs for prime-age workers are limited and, increasingly, may prioritize work over training to maintain eligibility. Strittmatter (2016) noted that, in Germany, most workers engaged in training have some form of income support; in the United States, only one-in-five training participants receive income support. Workers who must choose between training and a return to employment are likely to face strong financial incentives to return to work, even if it means accepting low-wage work or returning to an industry clearly in decline. Recent proposals for wage insurance or reemployment insurance over the short- to medium-term could make engagement in, and completion of, training more feasible for a significant segment of the workforce (What works in Career and Technical Education).

Support for capacity building among public sector training providers, especially community colleges. Given the greater fiscal variability at the state level, a federal role in supporting CTE provision, especially during economic downturns, is likely to be essential to avoid capacity constraints that limit effective training. Federal funding for programs aimed at individual workers should be accompanied by funding for CTE programs (What works in Career and Technical Education).

Improved student access to information about program quality and expected outcomes. Additional investments in training opportunities for individual workers need to be accompanied by well-designed access to information. As noted throughout, training often raises earnings and employment, but results vary dramatically by the training provider, field of study and across individuals with different work and career histories. At a minimum, workers in need of training support should have answers to the following questions: (a) How often do individuals with similar education, work experience, and prior earnings complete a particular CTE program? (b) What are the earnings and employment outcomes of individuals who complete this CTE program? Prior to completing the program, were the education, employment, and earnings of those completing the program similar to mine? (c) What are the employment and earnings of workers who have been dislocated from jobs in my industry but do not engage in some form of training? (What works in Career and Technical Education).

Example of Emerging State Career Pathway System – Virginia’s Career Pathways: This interagency effort developed out of a Governor’s Task Force in 2008 that brought together leaders from the Office of the Governor, the Department of Labor and Industry, the State Council of Higher Education, the Virginia Community College System, the Virginia Department of Education, the Virginia Economic Development Partnership and other state agencies. This task force created a set of coordinated strategies for building a statewide workforce development and education pathway. The principal purpose was to develop a workforce customized to the needs of industry and responsive to regional labor market demand. Through a combination of state, federal and private investments, Virginia is expanding upon this work to create industry-specific career pathways that extend from middle school through retirement age in each region of the state. These activities include scaling up the promising PluggedInVA model, which combines basic skills instruction and GED preparation with industry certifications and for-credit college coursework. Participants graduate with a GED, an industry certification, a Career Readiness Certificate, a digital literacy certificate, at least 12 community college credits and experiences with local employers. Virginia’s progress in career pathways is suggested by the Governor’s inclusion of both proposed legislation and budget amendment in his workforce package presented for consideration in Virginia’s 2013 General Assembly and by the creation of a new Director of Education and Workforce Development who acts as a liaison between the Secretariats of Education and Commerce and Trade (A Framework for Measuring Career Pathways Innovation).

Of students who participate in career and technical education (CTE) coursework, the percentage that concentrate in an in-demand pathway, as defined by regional labor market data (EdStrategy, From Tails to Heads).

Rate of completion of a career pathway program while in high school (Urban Institute, Robust and Equitable Measures to Identify Quality Schools).

Share of high school graduates earning a career readiness certificate by high school completion (Urban Institute, Robust and Equitable Measures to Identify Quality Schools).

Share of high school graduates earning a military or workforce certification by high school completion (Urban Institute, Robust and Equitable Measures to Identify Quality Schools).

Share of high school graduates possessing marketable trade skills by high school completion (Urban Institute, Robust and Equitable Measures to Identify Quality Schools).

The High-Quality CTE Pathway Participation measure presents a particular challenge to define. Definitions of quality may take into account one or more of the following: (a) High-Skill: The pathway presents the opportunity for students to move beyond the high school program into an aligned postsecondary program in that field of study; (b) High-Wage: The median wages for the occupations that the pathway is preparing students for are at or exceed a living wage in the state; (c)  In-Demand: The pathway leads to significant job openings now and into the future. A region or state can determine that through a combination of looking at volume of jobs regionally or statewide, annual openings, and growth projections. At the state level, this information should be considered relative to the state’s size and economy (EdStrategy, From Tails to Heads).

“High quality” goes beyond labor market alignment. Pathways should include access to early postsecondary credit in the field of study, work-based learning opportunities, industry credential opportunities where appropriate and clear and direct links between academic and technical coursework. This combination of quality elements is arguably just as important as alignment to the labor market. Whether a particular community considers these elements at the regional or state level should be guided by the mobility of their students. In places where students are highly mobile and likely to move, understanding migration patterns for students could help communities look beyond their own boundaries to identify what pathways best serve students as well as those that serve the local economy. In places where very few people leave the community/region, a much more localized look at the data makes sense (EdStrategy, From Tails to Heads).

Kentucky has systematically analyzed labor market information to identify the top five priority industry sectors and specific fields within them that meet rigorous skill, demand and wage thresholds. The state has brought together K-12 districts, postsecondary institutions and employers to design career pathways that meet the needs of the identified industries. The Department of Education tracks district-by-district pathway offerings to examine alignment to the high-demand industry sectors. It also reviews the number of juniors and seniors concentrating in pathways leading to the top occupations in those high-demand pathways. Both measures are captured on a “heat map” and used to target assistance and bring transparency to the state’s work. At the same time, as part of the program approval process, the Department of Education disallows local districts from using state or federal funds to support pathways that are not aligned with these priority industries and occupations. That policy has been key to phasing out pathways that lack labor market relevance (EdStrategy, From Tails to Heads).

Tennessee has a statewide initiative to create alignment between K-12, postsecondary institutions and employers for students to have clear and guided pathways to move seamlessly into the workforce. Alongside Tennessee Promise and Tennessee Reconnect, the Tennessee Pathways program directly supports the statewide attainment goal, Drive to 55. The program is structured around three key elements to support student success: high quality college and career advising, early postsecondary and work based learning opportunities in high school, and seamless vertical alignment as a result of effective partnerships. Regional coordinators are housed at institutions across the state to foster partnerships between high schools and local colleges and employers. Grounded in regional labor market information, 122 pathways at 74 high schools across the state have been certified. The state has begun to track enrollment in these pathways to examine how students fare beyond high school, as compared to students enrolled in career technical education pathways without the certification (EdStrategy, From Tails to Heads).

South Carolina has incorporated pathway participation metrics into their state accountability system. Their school and district report cards capture data on pathway participation, course completion, credential attainment, the types of industry credentials earned by career cluster, and participation in dual enrollment as part of students’ pathway coursework. By transparently reporting on pathway metrics, South Carolina has signaled the value of career readiness programs with students and families — and empowered them with information to guide their decision to enroll (EdStrategy, From Tails to Heads).

Percentage of students enrolled in a credit or non-credit CTE program who earn at least one industry-recognized credential (Education to Workforce).

Percentage of program participants who have completed at least one industry-recognized credential (Education to Workforce).

To identify high-value credentials, states should build stronger employer signaling analyses to identify the industry-recognized credentials that are valued by industry by using specific criteria, including the extent to which employers: (a) state in their job postings and advertisements which credentials are required or preferred for hiring; (b) use the credential as a factor in selecting candidates for interviews and/or in determining which candidates are chosen for a job; (c) offer higher wages for those who have earned the credential; and/or (d) use a common credential within the same industry, providing portability across employers (Education Strategy Group, Credential Currency).

To identify high-value credentials, states should identify which industry-recognized credentials count for credit toward postsecondary education and training, noting that credentials with the greatest postsecondary currency: (a) are transferrable for postsecondary course credit or credit hours in core program courses; (b) count toward hours in an aligned apprenticeship program at the postsecondary level; and/or (c) “stack” to allow students to progress to a more advanced industry credential within a specific field (e.g., machining levels 1, 2 and 3) or to a postsecondary certification, an associate degree, a bachelor’s degree or beyond within a given field (Education Strategy Group, Credential Currency).

To identify high-value credentials, states should build a cross-sector priority industry-recognized credential list spanning the education and workforce systems that is backed by labor market data and has demonstrated postsecondary value, which includes: (a) designing and executing a systematic, evidence-based process across K-12, higher education, and workforce development that utilizes a balanced collection of primary and secondary sources, including both real-time and lagging labor market data, to decide which credentials fall above and below the line; (b) maintaining the identification process through annual or biennial reviews to update and validate the list over time to ensure it reflects changing workforce needs; and (c)  undertaking longitudinal analyses that track credential holders into the marketplace to be certain that credentials identified as high value do in fact lead to greater employment outcomes for learners over time (Education Strategy Group, Credential Currency).

To identify high-value credentials, states can take their high-value credential identification work a step further by developing new technology-based approaches to streamline employer signaling, establishing industry-recognized credentials that are the industry-accepted standard and building cross-state agreements to award postsecondary credit for both youth and adults seeking to upskill (Education Strategy Group, Credential Currency).

Providing an Incentive to establish industry-recognized credential programs: Successful states encourage school districts to offer industry certification courses to students by creating a financial incentive tied to performance and/or by adopting these industry-recognized credentials into the school accountability rating system (Massachusetts Business Alliance for Education).

Labor Market Alignment: States use labor market data from their workforce agencies and workforce development boards to identify the credentials most in-demand and focus their programs to meet those needs (Massachusetts Business Alliance for Education).

Data Collection and Reporting: Data collection and reporting allows states to identify progress in certain credentialing areas, monitor and assess student interest and program quality and analyze the demographics of credential earners to ensure equal access (Massachusetts Business Alliance for Education).

Employer Engagement: Employer engagement and communication helps inform which pathways and occupations are in demand, and the education and training students need, leading schools and districts to better align offerings with labor market needs (Massachusetts Business Alliance for Education).

Interagency Collaboration and State Policy: Collaboration between state agencies and coordination of various state policies ensures these programs serve students and business well. Each stakeholder undertakes distinct aspects of the work in close collaboration with public and private sector partners (Massachusetts Business Alliance for Education).

Statewide Communication: States must promote credential programs to schools, districts, and the students to be served, as well as to their families. Every stakeholder must be a part of the communication strategy to inform students and parents of the opportunity to earn industry-recognized credentials and the benefits of doing so (Massachusetts Business Alliance for Education).

Build stronger employer signaling analyses to identify the industry-recognized credentials that are valued by industry by using specific criteria, including the extent to which employers: (a) state in their job postings and advertisements which credentials are required or preferred for hiring; (b) use the credential as a factor in selecting candidates for interviews and/or in determining which candidates are chosen for a job; (c) offer higher wages for those who have earned the credential; and/or (d) use a common credential within the same industry, providing portability across employers (Education Strategy Group, Credential Currency).

Identify which industry-recognized credentials count for credit toward postsecondary education and training, noting that credentials with the greatest postsecondary currency:  (a) are transferrable for postsecondary course credit or credit hours in core program courses; (b) count toward hours in an aligned apprenticeship program at the postsecondary level; and/or (c) “stack” to allow students to progress to a more advanced industry credential within a specific field (e.g., machining levels 1, 2 and 3) or to a postsecondary certification, an associate degree, a bachelor’s degree or beyond within a given field (Education Strategy Group, Credential Currency).

Build a cross-sector priority industry-recognized credential list spanning the education and workforce systems that is backed by labor market data and has demonstrated postsecondary value, which includes: (a) designing and executing a systematic, evidence-based process across K-12, higher education, and workforce development that utilizes a balanced collection of primary and secondary sources, including both real-time and lagging labor market data, to decide which credentials fall above and below the line;  (b) maintaining the identification process through annual or biennial reviews to update and validate the list over time to ensure it reflects changing workforce needs; and (c) undertaking longitudinal analyses that track credential holders into the marketplace to be certain that credentials identified as high value do in fact lead to greater employment outcomes for learners over time (Education Strategy Group, Credential Currency).

States can take their high-value credential identification work a step further by developing new technology-based approaches to streamline employer signaling, establishing industry-recognized credentials that are the industry-accepted standard, and building cross-state agreements to award postsecondary credit for both youth and adults seeking to upskill (Education Strategy Group, Credential Currency).

Inspire and support students’ high-value credential attainment to show the clear value proposition such credentials offer by: (a) communicating the workforce and higher education benefits of credentials of value; (b) removing financial and access barriers to earning high-value industry credentials; (c) enabling priority industry credentials to count for postsecondary credit or hours; and (d) making attainment of high-value industry credentials a graduation expectation (Education Strategy Group, Credential Currency).

Spark school and district prioritization of high-value credential attainment, encouraging and rewarding them for offering more pathways that lead to credentials and increasing the number of students who earn them by: (a) providing funding for high-value industry credential attainment; (b) recognizing schools and districts for success and improvement; and (c) making high-value credential attainment count in accountability systems (Education Strategy Group, Credential Currency).

Recognize and emphasize the importance of high-value credentials statewide to communicate to the public that attainment of high-value industry-recognized credentials matters by: (a) leveraging the program of study approval process to ensure that career pathways are anchored in high-value credentials; and (b) publicly reporting high-value credential attainment for all students and schools (Education Strategy Group, Credential Currency).

States can leverage additional opportunities to advance their work by counting high-value industry-recognized credentials in postsecondary attainment goals, leveraging online credential databases to capture and promote priority credentials and harnessing collective buying power by partnering with other states to lower credential price points (Education Strategy Group, Credential Currency).

Set a new minimum data threshold for collection through one of two different approaches:  (a) execute data-sharing agreements with each vendor offering a credential from the state’s high-value list to receive student-level data on exam taking and passage rates by credential type; or (b) initiate secure data transfers of individual student credential certificates from schools and districts (Education Strategy Group, Credential Currency).

Create a standardized reporting framework that allows for tracking high-value credentials tied to specific pathways and courses (Education Strategy Group, Credential Currency).

Industry-based credential programs across the country: Delaware and Ohio integrate credentials into the school curriculum and career preparation activities like work-based learning opportunities and internships (Massachusetts Business Alliance for Education).

Industry-based credential programs across the country: Delaware established its Delaware Pathways program in 2014 with 27 students in an advanced manufacturing pathway. The state saw a growing gap between the needs of employers and the skills students possessed as well as a gap in the number of black, Latine and low-income students who left high school with the skills to pursue higher education or a middle skill job. Today, there are 14 pathways serving over 9,000 students in fields such as finance, healthcare and information technology. In collaboration with business, secondary and postsecondary institutions and families, Delaware aims to enroll 20,000 students in pathways by 2020 (Massachusetts Business Alliance for Education).

Industry-based credential programs across the country: In Ohio, students can earn industry-recognized credentials as one of 13 career fields with a choice of over 250 in-demand credentials. The program is included in one of three pathway options for high school graduation supported by the Ohio Department of Education. The program was developed in 2014 by a coalition of 15 school districts, Columbus State Community College, and various community and business partners in four industries – Information Technology, Logistics, Healthcare and Advanced Manufacturing. Students in any district can sign up for an industry-recognized credential course. Ohio includes the awarding of industry-recognized credentials as a measure of how well schools prepare students for life after high school on school report cards (Massachusetts Business Alliance for Education).

Industry-based credential programs across the country: Florida, Wisconsin and Louisiana have implemented similar models, but have adopted incentives – bonus funding for schools and districts for each student who earns an industry certification – to dramatically increase the number of students earning high-value industry recognized credentials in high-wage, in-demand fields. As a result, these states see student demand and enrollment in the program increase year over year. Each state’s incentive program was created by an act of the legislature and receives its funding through legislative appropriation (Massachusetts Business Alliance for Education).

Industry-based credential programs across the country: Wisconsin’s program was enacted by the state legislature in 2013 and capped funding at $3 million with incentives set at $1,000 per student. Funding is limited to $1,000 per pupil regardless of the number of approved credentials students earn. The program was oversubscribed in its first year and incentives were prorated at $882 per student. In 2018, the program budget increased to $3.5 million. Student demand for this program continues to grow. The incentive program is managed by the Department of Workforce Development (Massachusetts Business Alliance for Education).

Industry-based credential programs across the country: Louisiana’s program began in 2014 with 14,473 students who earned national or state industry based credentials. In 2017, over 41,000 high school students attained a credential. Louisiana distributes incentives through its Career Development Fund which is uncapped and currently stands at $12 million. The incentive rate is $241 per student, per credit for each student who enrolls in an industry-recognized credential course in a high demand pathway through the JumpStart career diploma pathway. For example, if students participate in a two-credit course and a two-credit internship, the school would receive $952 as an incentive. After four years of implementation and increasing student demand, 2018 was the first year in which industry recognized credential courses were a requirement for high school graduation. The program is run through the Louisiana Department of Education (Massachusetts Business Alliance for Education).

Industry-based credential programs across the country: Florida’s program is the oldest. It was enacted by the legislature in 2007 and is funded through the Florida Education Finance Program which funds the operation of schools. The program began with 803 students earning industry certifications. The initial cost of the incentive program was $550,000 for the 2007-2008 academic year. By 2015-2016, the state investment was $50 million as a result of rising student demand. Incentives ranged from $416-$832 per student in 2016-2017. During the 2017-2018 school year, 105,131 students earned over 120,000 industry-recognized credentials. Student enrollment in the program continues to rise each year. Florida has included industry certifications in high school grading formulas since 2010 (Massachusetts Business Alliance for Education).

Percentage of students who participate in a work-based learning opportunity before graduation (Education to Workforce).

Percentage of workforce training program participants who participate in a work based learning opportunity before program completion (Education to Workforce).

Number of new apprenticeships over time (Mathematica, An Effectiveness Assessment and Cost-Benefit Analysis of Registered Apprenticeship in 10 States).

Demographic characteristics of apprenticeship cohorts (e.g., age range, gender, race/ethnicity, educational attainment, veteran status, justice system involvement) (Mathematica, An Effectiveness Assessment and Cost-Benefit Analysis of Registered Apprenticeship in 10 States).

Change in demographic characteristics over time per enrollment cohort (Mathematica, An Effectiveness Assessment and Cost-Benefit Analysis of Registered Apprenticeship in 10 States).

Representation of women in apprenticeship programs. Analysis by the Center for American Progress found that women are much less likely to participate in apprenticeship programs than men. In 2017, 92.7% of those completing Registered Apprenticeships were men and 7.3% were women (CAP, The Apprenticeship Wage and Participation Gap).

Earnings of women who complete apprenticeship programs. Analysis by the Center for American Progress found that women who participate in apprenticeship programs make far less than men. In 2017, among people who completed a Registered Apprenticeship, a woman made only 42 cents to a man’s dollar. Surprisingly this trend has worsened since 2008, when women made 53 cents to a man’s dollar (CAP, The Apprenticeship Wage and Participation Gap).

Black and Hispanic participation in apprenticeships. Analysis by the Center for American Progress found that Black and Hispanic participation in apprenticeships roughly mirrors these groups’ participation in the labor force (CAP, The Apprenticeship Wage and Participation Gap).

Earnings by race/ethnicity of those who complete apprenticeship programs. Analysis by the Center for American Progress found that Black or African American apprentices had the lowest exit wages of all racial and ethnic groups examined, at $14.35 per hour in fiscal 2017. White apprentices had the second-lowest earnings at $26.14 — still more than 50% greater than black or African American apprentices’ wages. Median exit wages for completing apprentices were highest for AIAN, Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islanders, Hispanic/Latino, and Asian apprentices — all of whom earned around $30 per hour (CAP, The Apprenticeship Wage and Participation Gap).

Occupations of enrollment cohort (e.g., electricians, child care workers, plumbers, nursing aides, orderlies and attendants, carpenters, home appliance repairers, heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers, sheet metal workers, electrical power-line installers and repairers, correctional officers) (Mathematica, An Effectiveness Assessment and Cost-Benefit Analysis of Registered Apprenticeship in 10 States).

Changes in apprenticeship occupations over time (Mathematica, An Effectiveness Assessment and Cost-Benefit Analysis of Registered Apprenticeship in 10 States).

Amount of on-the-job training (OJT) and related technical instruction (RTI) required per apprenticeship program and changes in program requirements over time (Mathematica, An Effectiveness Assessment and Cost-Benefit Analysis of Registered Apprenticeship in 10 States).

Program outcomes for Registered Apprenticeship participants (i.e., completed, cancelled, active) and average time spent in program (Mathematica, An Effectiveness Assessment and Cost-Benefit Analysis of Registered Apprenticeship in 10 States). 

Average Annual Earnings Differences for Apprenticeship Participants Versus Nonparticipants, both short term (i.e., sixth year after enrollment) and medium term (i.e., ninth year after enrollment). Data source: RAPIDS and state UI wage records  (Mathematica, An Effectiveness Assessment and Cost-Benefit Analysis of Registered Apprenticeship in 10 States).

Estimated Expenditures per Apprentice (Mathematica, An Effectiveness Assessment and Cost-Benefit Analysis of Registered Apprenticeship in 10 States).

Social Costs and Benefits: Medium-Term (i.e., for 9 years after enrollment) and Career (i.e., for 36 years after enrollment) Under Baseline Assumptions. Data source: RAPIDS, state UI wage records, and OA and SAA annual budget estimates. Mathematica calculated social benefits as the sum of productivity benefits and reduced administrative costs of unemployment insurance, welfare, and food stamps (Mathematica, An Effectiveness Assessment and Cost-Benefit Analysis of Registered Apprenticeship in 10 States).

Female apprentices views of Registered Apprenticeship (RA). Mathematica explored these issues through discussions with women who have participated in the program, executive directors of community-based organizations that received DOL grants from the Women in Apprenticeship and Nontraditional Occupations (WANTO) program, and state apprenticeship directors (Mathematica, An Effectiveness Assessment and Cost-Benefit Analysis of Registered Apprenticeship in 10 States).

Recommendations for increasing women’s success in Registered Apprenticeship (RA) programs – Undertake Targeted Outreach: Grantees from Women in Apprenticeship and Nontraditional Occupations (WANTO) and four of the state RA directors agreed that school-age girls should be a target audience for advertisements about RA in the skilled trades. They explained that teaching girls and young women about the trades through career fairs, summer camps, subsidized summer employment programs and visits to schools may help break down stereotypes that women should not or cannot work in industries such as construction (Mathematica, An Effectiveness Assessment and Cost-Benefit Analysis of Registered Apprenticeship in 10 States).

Recommendations for increasing women’s success in Registered Apprenticeship (RA) programs – Develop skills and manage expectations through pre-apprenticeship training. According to the Women in Apprenticeship and Nontraditional Occupations (WANTO) grantees, many women they work with lack the basic occupational skills required to have a successful RA experience in the skilled trades, such as trade-related math skills, Occupational Safety and Health Administration training, and the appropriate level of physical fitness. To address this and prepare women for the rigors of construction apprenticeships, four of the WANTO grantees operate pre-apprenticeship training programs (when they have adequate funding). Through these programs, women acquire the basic required skills before entering an apprenticeship. They also meet tradeswomen (and tradesmen) and learn about the sometimes complicated RA application process. Armed with this knowledge, a woman is better equipped to decide if the trades are truly the best career path for her and select the occupation that best matches her skills, interests, and life circumstances (Mathematica, An Effectiveness Assessment and Cost-Benefit Analysis of Registered Apprenticeship in 10 States).

Recommendations for increasing women’s success in Registered Apprenticeship (RA) programs – Provide child care support or classes that better accommodate the schedules of single mothers. Finding adequate child care that accommodates rigorous apprenticeship schedules is challenging, as is finding the money to cover these extensive child care needs. RA could consider providing child care subsidies, as suggested by directors in two states and by women respondents. Alternative, more convenient, class schedules or online learning (when possible) could be arranged. A focus on setting up detailed child care plans before the apprenticeship begins, perhaps as a step in the application process, could also be helpful. For example, one Women in Apprenticeship and Nontraditional Occupations (WANTO) grantee requires women to have a child care plan, a backup child care plan and a backup to their backup plan before helping them get into an RA program. According to the grantee, this has been a successful strategy (Mathematica, An Effectiveness Assessment and Cost-Benefit Analysis of Registered Apprenticeship in 10 States). 

Recommendations for increasing women’s success in Registered Apprenticeship (RA) programs – Address the Culture of Male-Dominated Construction Worksites. Help employers create and enforce policies to prevent harassment and discrimination at worksites. The WANTO grantees provide technical assistance to employers to develop methods to recruit women and to develop and implement effective sexual harassment policies. However, because of limited funds, it is not possible to provide these services to all employers that could benefit from them. WANTO grantees suggested that employers use existing resources like Hard Hatted Women’s TOOLKIT to develop procedures and train male employees to follow them. This manual reviews effective methods for developing, revising, implementing and monitoring sexual harassment policies on job sites (Mathematica, An Effectiveness Assessment and Cost-Benefit Analysis of Registered Apprenticeship in 10 States).

Recommendations for increasing women’s success in Registered Apprenticeship (RA) programs – Set goals for enrolling women in RA. State RA offices recommend targets for the percentage of women apprentices in a program based on calculations of the percentage of women in the local area, but these are not quotas. An administrator in one state noted that his state used to have targets for women in construction trades (2 to 6%, for example), but they have not been able to meet those goals for the past 20 years (Mathematica, An Effectiveness Assessment and Cost-Benefit Analysis of Registered Apprenticeship in 10 States).

Recommendations for increasing women’s success in Registered Apprenticeship (RA) programs – Increase monitoring of sponsors and employers. Monitoring RA programs for compliance with equal employment opportunity (EEO) laws focuses on ensuring that program sponsors are making “a good-faith effort” to recruit women, but it is perhaps less successful in ensuring that women are treated well in the workplace. Although EEO laws offer continual protection to workers from harassment or discrimination, and women can make a complaint at any time, women and the WANTO grantee directors stated that harassment and discrimination are prevalent across construction industry worksites. Moreover, some women we spoke to had hesitated to file complaints for fear of being labeled troublemakers or inviting further harassment (Mathematica, An Effectiveness Assessment and Cost-Benefit Analysis of Registered Apprenticeship in 10 States).

Recommendations for increasing women’s success in Registered Apprenticeship (RA) programs – Connect women with effective mentors and peer support. The learn-while-working model of apprenticeships means that new apprentices rely on peers at the worksite to teach them vital occupational skills and help them acclimate to workplace cultures and norms. The WANTO grantees emphatically suggested that apprenticeship programs should teach effective mentorship techniques to all workers. State RA directors from two states concurred that connecting women to a mentor is the single most important form of support for women in the program (Mathematica, An Effectiveness Assessment and Cost-Benefit Analysis of Registered Apprenticeship in 10 States).

Intentionally design and structure career pathways to enable students to further their education, secure a job and advance in employment. A basic career pathway model includes multiple entry points to facilitate access to training in occupational skills and knowledge valued by employers and stackable credentials that match labor market demand. Multiple exit points aligned with employment opportunities offer participants flexibility to access employment at different stages of the career ladder. Individuals may enter and exit career pathways at multiple points as they advance in their careers (What Works Clearinghouse, Designing and Delivering Career Pathways at Community Colleges).

Align career pathways to industry needs. When developing career pathways, community colleges should assess and identify regional industry needs to ensure the pathways will provide students with the occupational skills and knowledge that employers demand. Community colleges developing career pathways should collaborate with employers and industry partners to review labor market information and consult them to identify occupations for which training is needed (What Works Clearinghouse, Designing and Delivering Career Pathways at Community Colleges).

Define and create accessible pathways with clearly defined entry and exit points. Career pathways options that are clearly defined enable students to see how the education and occupational training along a pathway can lead to specific occupations or clusters of occupations. When pathways align with in-demand occupations within an industry sector, colleges can optimize the chance that students acquire the skills and knowledge needed to earn a credential and gain employment (What Works Clearinghouse, Designing and Delivering Career Pathways at Community Colleges).

Stackable credentials: Well-designed career pathways provide students with opportunities to continuously build or “stack” content knowledge and indemand credentials as they progress along the pathway. Stackable credentials promote vertical movement to the next-higher-skill job in a sector, with each new credential providing a new set of skills to master (What Works Clearinghouse, Designing and Delivering Career Pathways at Community Colleges).

Allow sufficient time for curriculum development and approval, but seek accelerated approval when feasible. If new courses will be required for a pathway, community colleges will need to allow sufficient time for curriculum development and approval. College administrators should carefully review their program development steps and processes to identify institutional roadblocks that could potentially be removed. They can also consider whether there are any fast-track program approval options in their state, which may facilitate their efforts to respond more quickly to industry changes (What Works Clearinghouse, Designing and Delivering Career Pathways at Community Colleges).

Connect students to pathways that align with their knowledge, skills, educational interests and career goals. Students interested in pursuing a career pathway can benefit from recruitment and intake procedures that are designed to assess their knowledge, skills and educational and employment background as well as their career aptitude and goals (What Works Clearinghouse, Designing and Delivering Career Pathways at Community Colleges).

Deliver contextualized or integrated basic skills instruction to accelerate students’ entry into and successful completion of career pathways (What Works Clearinghouse, Designing and Delivering Career Pathways at Community Colleges).

Assess CTE instructional materials to identify the math, literacy and writing skills students need to successfully progress along career pathways, assess students to determine their skill levels and identify opportunities to contextualize instruction. Reviewing course textbooks, assignments and other materials from courses offered at various points along a career pathway is one way to determine the skills students need in order to be successful and master the occupational content in a course. Community college faculty and staff can better design instructional supports for students if they know the levels of skills required to understand the course content as well as the skill levels of their incoming students. Data from intake assessments of basic skills proficiency can inform what types of skills instruction students need, as well as how much instruction they need to help them better understand course content (What Works Clearinghouse, Designing and Delivering Career Pathways at Community Colleges).

Determine strategies for teaching basic skills that are appropriate for the student population served and the resources available. Two common strategies for teaching basic skills needed to succeed along a career pathway are (1) pre-pathway bridge programs that offer contextualized basic skills curricula and (2) integrated instruction, where students begin an occupational training course on a pathway, but are team taught by an occupational instructor and a basic skills instructor. Bridge programs are offered just before or as the first step of a career pathway and can be designed to help students master basic skills needed to support their transition into pathway courses, especially when contextualization helps them see direct connections and applications of those skills in the occupations they are pursuing. Integrated instruction, on the other hand, embeds basic skills instruction into the technical content and is applied at each pathway step (What Works Clearinghouse, Designing and Delivering Career Pathways at Community Colleges).

If implementing a team teaching model for courses with integrated instruction, select a model that best fits your institution and faculty. Options for team teaching may range from monitoring, where one teacher is responsible for instruction while the other circulates around the classroom monitoring students’ needs, to shared teaching duties, where the occupational instructor and basic skills instructor each focus on their own area of expertise. Considerations for selecting a specific model include instructional needs of students, abilities of instructors and how adaptable the subject area is for team teaching (What Works Clearinghouse, Designing and Delivering Career Pathways at Community Colleges).

Provide professional development and collaborative planning time to support team teaching. The What Works Clearinghouse expert panel believes occupational instructors can learn pedagogical approaches from basic skills instructors; conversely, basic skills instructors can ensure basic skills are applied in more meaningful ways when they understand the contexts in which those skills need to be applied. Adequate, ongoing planning time for faculty to coordinate their teaching styles and the instructional content can promote more successful team teaching. Additionally, devoting time and resources to professional development for both occupational instructors and basic skills instructors may help ensure they are adequately prepared for their team teaching assignments (What Works Clearinghouse, Designing and Delivering Career Pathways at Community Colleges).

Assess whether basic skills instruction (contextualized or integrated) is delivered in a manner that is resulting in students achieving their learning goals. Program directors can use a number of approaches to assess the delivery of contextualized basic skills instruction in bridge programs or integrated courses offered on campus. For example, they can observe classroom instruction, conduct interviews with faculty or program staff or collect feedback from students through surveys or focus groups (What Works Clearinghouse, Designing and Delivering Career Pathways at Community Colleges).

Offer flexible instructional delivery schedules and models to improve credit accumulation and completion of non-degree credentials along career pathways. Students must balance their education and training with jobs, families and other obligations. Often, that can make traditional course formats and schedules problematic. Flexible delivery of instruction, through non-traditional course times and/or online or self-paced courses, can help students combine college with other commitments to facilitate access and progress along career pathways. Acceleration strategies, including awarding credit for prior learning and offering competency-based courses, can also help ensure that students acquire — and demonstrate mastery of — both technical and basic skills as they progress along a career pathway (What Works Clearinghouse, Designing and Delivering Career Pathways at Community Colleges).

Assess the institutional readiness and resources needed to offer flexible scheduling and/or instructional delivery models. Setting up flexible scheduling and course offerings in multiple formats requires coordination and logistics. For example, academic calendars and schedules may need to be modified to accommodate flexible course scheduling. Designing innovative instructional delivery models requires similar levels of coordination as well as resources for instructional technology and professional development for the instructors who will use the technology. Institutional capacity assessments can help community colleges think about which things they need to work on first when designing more flexible course schedules and models (What Works Clearinghouse, Designing and Delivering Career Pathways at Community Colleges).

Tailor flexible course schedules and instructional models to diverse student needs and instructional preferences. Students have different capabilities, needs, barriers and learning preferences that influence their ability to engage, to be retained, and to be successful along a career pathway. Community colleges can use various strategies to maximize flexible scheduling, such as block scheduling, evening and weekend course offerings, and self-paced online modules. These should be carefully aligned with, and respond to, the diverse needs of students (What Works Clearinghouse, Designing and Delivering Career Pathways at Community Colleges).

Provide training and support to instructors developing flexible instructional delivery models. Developing hybrid, online and flipped classroom formats requires skill sets that extend beyond those used in developing more traditional courses. Faculty designing and delivering flexible instructional models for career pathways must learn to leverage instructional technology while remaining attentive to student engagement strategies.15 They must also ensure course learning objectives, instruction and assessment align to industry needs, as identified during the creation and implementation of the career pathways. Successful design and delivery of alternate course formats may require additional funding for instructional technology, as well as time and resources for instructors to collaborate with instructional designers to ensure their new hybrid or online courses are effective (What Works Clearinghouse, Designing and Delivering Career Pathways at Community Colleges).

Use acceleration strategies, such as prior learning assessments and competency-based education, to reduce the time between students’ pathway entry and their attainment of non-degree credentials. Awarding credit for prior learning, offering co-requisite courses and/ or offering competency-based courses, programs and assessments can accelerate or compress students’ time to earning credentials. Prior learning assessments (PLAs), one mechanism for awarding credit for prior learning, help students move from the non-credit- to the credit-bearing parts of a career pathway. Another acceleration strategy is Competency-Based Education (CBE). CBE is a curriculum design in which students acquire and demonstrate their knowledge and skills by engaging in learning exercises and activities that target clearly defined competencies. Credentialing is based on mastery of targeted competencies, rather than on seat-time, clock-hours and face-to-face instruction (What Works Clearinghouse, Designing and Delivering Career Pathways at Community Colleges).

Continuously monitor and respond to students’ needs regarding flexible course offerings and delivery modes. Administrators, instructors and staff in career pathways should continually assess whether students are able to access the courses they need to make progress toward credit accumulation and credential attainment. This includes ensuring required courses are offered frequently, and at varied times. Community colleges must also consider whether students have the necessary hardware and internet connectivity to connect to and participate in courses that require remote lectures, labs or other activities. Many Learning Management Systems now incorporate surveys that continuously monitor students’ progress and challenges, including scheduling and student attendance problems. These types of student data may indicate unmet needs that could be addressed. As needed, community colleges may use data on student progress and outcomes to inform adjustments to when, how frequently, and in what format courses are offered (What Works Clearinghouse, Designing and Delivering Career Pathways at Community Colleges).

Provide coordinated comprehensive student support to improve credit accumulation and completion of non-degree credentials along career pathways. Students often need to navigate a variety of academic and non-academic challenges that can affect their ability to complete coursework and progress toward earning a credential. These challenges include choosing the right program of study and career, balancing education with family and work obligations, and covering tuition costs and related educational expenses. Providing comprehensive student support in a coordinated fashion helps students to be resilient to these challenges. The What Works Clearinghouse expert panel believes colleges should provide a broad range of academic and non-academic, career and financial support services. These may include proactive academic advising, mentoring, coaching, counseling, career navigation and financial aid, as well as referral to other support services. The panel believes these student supports should be intentionally integrated into the student experience so they are unavoidable as students progress along their career pathway — from intake to completion (What Works Clearinghouse, Designing and Delivering Career Pathways at Community Colleges).

Conduct an inventory of available supports and clearly define which college departments are responsible for delivering specific supports. Student support services may be provided by a large network of professionals, including those within a community college and those in the surrounding community. For this reason, the What Works Clearinghouse expert panel suggests it is important to conduct an organizational review of the services offered and clearly define who is responsible for them. Resource mapping provides an organizational overview of who will offer academic supports, non-academic (personal) supports, career and employment supports and financial supports to the students. Further, colleges should consider how to engage internal and external partners so that they can collectively identify gaps in support services and improve how students access available services (What Works Clearinghouse, Designing and Delivering Career Pathways at Community Colleges).

Assess students’ needs and connect one-on-one to provide them with relevant supports, from intake to program completion and beyond. The What Works Clearinghouse expert panel recommends that during the career pathways recruitment and intake process, student support staff conduct a comprehensive needs assessment with each student. This needs assessment should be holistic, focusing on both academic and non-academic (personal) issues. The primary aim of the assessment is to ensure students are matched with and connected to the right supports to help them be successful. Students should leave the intake process with a clear overview of the steps and available supports along their chosen career pathway (What Works Clearinghouse, Designing and Delivering Career Pathways at Community Colleges).

Integrate available supports into the student experience. Students may be unaware of student support services, unsure of how to access or make use of student supports, or even reluctant to seek out relevant supports. Therefore, the What Works Clearinghouse expert panel believes faculty and staff should proactively provide student supports. There are several ways to integrate student support services into the student experience. For example, faculty could introduce career navigators as part of their instructional teams, have them participate actively in class activities and integrate student support services into class exercises. In addition, making student support staff accessible in the evenings and on weekends will enhance accessibility for students balancing work and family obligations. For some student populations, using technology and online formats can increase accessibility and nudge students to make better use of existing student supports (What Works Clearinghouse, Designing and Delivering Career Pathways at Community Colleges).

Monitor student progress, academic and non-academic needs and supports accessed. Identifying needs and connecting students with relevant supports do not end at intake. The What Works Clearinghouse expert panel encourages all staff and faculty who engage with students throughout their program of study to be attentive to changes in students’ academic and non-academic barriers. Upon detecting barriers, faculty and staff should refer or connect students to services that can help meet students’ emerging needs. This requires that faculty be keenly aware of and understand all the support services available and that faculty and student support staff work in tandem (What Works Clearinghouse, Designing and Delivering Career Pathways at Community Colleges).

There are several strategies for monitoring student progress. Some pathway programs have proactive advisors, who initiate contact with students several times during their progression along the career pathway; other programs also dedicate resources to provide follow-up supports to students after program completion. The What Works Clearinghouse expert panel encourages staff to pay particular attention to student progress at transitions between education and employment, where students may experience challenges re-entering the career pathway, as these phases may offer practical opportunities for building in new supports (What Works Clearinghouse, Designing and Delivering Career Pathways at Community Colleges).

Consider hiring sector-specific career navigators. The transition from college to career can be difficult. Discipline- or sector-specific career navigators, advisors, mentors or coaches can tailor their advising and career guidance to the occupational sector in which a student plans to seek employment. When implemented well, navigators and career coaches can positively affect a student’s retention in a program and completion of a credential. Navigators can provide students with individual coaching, career planning and assistance navigating the transition to further education and employment. Navigators can also serve as an important resource in connecting students to necessary services (What Works Clearinghouse, Designing and Delivering Career Pathways at Community Colleges).

Develop and continuously leverage partnerships to prepare students and advance their labor market success. Career pathways that leverage employment-focused partnerships offer students both classroom- and work-based experiences to acquire the skills needed to be ready for work on day one. The benefits of investing in, building, and deepening employment-focused partnerships include: (a) improving the relevance and alignment of the curriculum to employer or industry needs; (b) expanding the opportunities for students to engage meaningfully with employer partners through employer presentations, onsite visits, work-based learning opportunities, and career fairs; and (c) increasing the potential for job placement and advancement. Ultimately, improving student labor market outcomes benefits students, employers and colleges alike. There is an incentive for administrators, faculty, and staff to work together with employment-focused partners to design, implement and continuously evaluate career pathways (What Works Clearinghouse, Designing and Delivering Career Pathways at Community Colleges).

Identify ways to get employers strategically engaged in each aspect of planning and implementing career pathways. When employers and industry partners are continuously engaged in all aspects of career pathways design and implementation, students are better prepared when they take an exit along the career pathway for employment. Community colleges can engage employment-focused partners in a variety of ways and at various stages of career pathways planning and delivery. Employer engagement can be in the form of curriculum planning and review, assessment of local labor market information, assistance with student recruitment, provision of mentorship or work-based learning opportunities as well as active promotion of the career pathway program (What Works Clearinghouse, Designing and Delivering Career Pathways at Community Colleges).

Conduct an inventory to identify current and potential employment-focused partnerships. In order to best leverage employment-focused partnerships to support students’ labor market success, community colleges should conduct an inventory to identify current and potential partners and think critically about how to engage with them. To identify new employment-focused partners, colleges can first connect with local workforce boards. They can also reach out to local, state or regional industry associations. Colleges may consider conducting a “self-check” to identify opportunities to strengthen or deepen partnerships with leaders in specific occupational sectors that are relevant to the career pathway(s) offered by the college. The National Council for Workforce Education suggests colleges should develop an employer engagement plan that includes an environmental scan of internal and external perceptions of employer engagement and its effectiveness; college goals; an employer checklist and database; and a communication plan that covers internal and external communications (What Works Clearinghouse, Designing and Delivering Career Pathways at Community Colleges).

Designate staff time and resources to build and sustain employment-focused partnerships. Engagement with employment focused partners allows college administrators and staff opportunities to better understand employer and industry expectations and labor market needs. Involving employers and industry partners in the planning and design of career pathways may improve job placement rates when students complete their pathway studies (What Works Clearinghouse, Designing and Delivering Career Pathways at Community Colleges).

Collaborate with employers and industry partners to provide students hands-on learning opportunities that are relevant to occupations along their chosen career pathway. When career pathways provide students with hands-on exposure to occupations they are pursuing — or might pursue in the future — students can develop realistic expectations about those occupations. Project-based learning, high-fidelity simulations and experiential field trips are strategies that instructors can use to align course content and delivery with students’ career interests. Internships, work-based learning opportunities, clinical placements and apprenticeships allow students to gain employment experience as they progress along a career pathway. As appropriate, faculty and staff can advise students to take advantage of employment opportunities at transition points along the career pathway. When doing so, they should consider how and when they will encourage students to return for additional education and training, and what kinds of supports students will need to successfully re-enter their career pathway program (What Works Clearinghouse, Designing and Delivering Career Pathways at Community Colleges).

Regularly review the employment-focused partnership inventory to assess whether or not the right partners are involved to help advance students’ labor market outcomes. Community college administrators and staff can use partnership inventories to identify gaps that may need to be filled by strategically engaging employers and industry partners. Ongoing communications with current and former students and employers is important for program improvement. Colleges should consider developing and implementing mechanisms to allow employers the opportunity to provide feedback on their pathways programs and student hires, including the extent to which colleges are preparing workers with the right skills (What Works Clearinghouse, Designing and Delivering Career Pathways at Community Colleges).

Registered Apprenticeship (RA) is a career-training program that offers structured on-the-job training combined with related technical instruction tailored to industry needs. The program, created in 1937, seeks to produce well-trained workers whose skills are in high demand. In 2010, almost 450,000 people across the nation were enrolled in RA. Apprenticeship programs range from one to six years and are offered in approximately 1,000 occupations, including the traditional skilled trades such as electrician, plumber and carpenter, as well as such occupations as truck driver, child care worker, nursing aide and correctional officer. For apprentices, RA provides on-the-job training, related technical instruction, incremental wage increases as skills are attained and upon completion, nationally recognized certification in the chosen career area. (Mathematica, An Effectiveness Assessment and Cost-Benefit Analysis of Registered Apprenticeship in 10 States).

Support apprenticeship systems and program designs through support models, like Jobs for the Future’s Center for Apprenticeship and Work-Based Learning, which aims to connect a diverse population of youth and adults to quality jobs and enable businesses to develop workers with the skills they need to grow (Jobs for the Future).

Leverage third party, external support to employers for building high-quality apprenticeship programs. Creating and sustaining high-quality apprenticeship programs poses significant challenges for many employers, particularly small and midsize businesses. In addition to demanding substantial resources, apprenticeships are difficult to develop and require time, training expertise, and organizational capacity — resources that many employers feel they lack. Without external support to help employers establish and manage apprenticeship initiatives, scaling such programs nationally remains a formidable task (Jobs for the Future).

Apprenticeships: Apprenticeship models involve an industry- and employer-driven structured approach to occupational training. Apprenticeship models typically combine paid, work-based learning; on-the-job training and mentorship; related technical instruction, often provided in a classroom setting; and an industry-recognized credential upon completion. Apprentices are paid, productive employees of an employer that sponsors or partners with the apprenticeship program. Apprenticeship has long been dominated by the construction trades, and the existing evidence has largely been focused on these trades. However, DOL and state apprenticeship offices have recently focused on expanding apprenticeship programs in sectors with high demand for skilled workers, most notably health care, information technology and advanced manufacturing. (The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act Research Portfolio).

Transitional employment: Transitional jobs, also referred to as subsidized jobs, are a form of earn-and-learn employment program that provide participants with work experience and help them find employment by paying all or some of their wages. Transitional employment programs are not always included with other work-based learning models, because these programs offer a mix of strategies. For example, some transitional employment programs provide only work-based income support, whereas others aim to improve future employability by addressing employment-related barriers such as educational attainment and vocational skills. Transitional employment programs may often provide classroom training, job search assistance and basic education services. They may also conduct job readiness assessments and tailor services based on career interests or by allowing participants to explore different vocational training opportunities (Sattar 2010) (The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act Research Portfolio).

Career pathways programs allow participants to progress through education and training in multiple discrete, stackable components in particular sectors by offering a clear sequence of education coursework or training credentials aligned with employer-validated work readiness standards and competencies (Kozumplik et al. 2011). Career pathways programs under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act are defined as programs that offer a clear sequence, or pathway, of education coursework and/or training credentials aligned with employer-validated work readiness standards and competencies, and are guided by six essential components. The six components are: (1) building cross-agency partnerships and clarifying roles, (2) identifying industry sectors and engaging employers, (3) designing education and training programs, (4) identifying funding needs and sources, (5) aligning policies and programs, and (6) measuring system change and performance (U.S. DOL and Manhattan Strategy Group 2015) (The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act Research Portfolio).

Sector-oriented training programs are related to career pathways programs and aim to provide training that produce workers with the skills needed by groups of employers in a particular industry or sector that has strong local demand and offers the opportunity for career advancement (Schaberg and Greenberg 2020). These programs are often provided through partnerships between employers and training and educational organizations. Input from employers and published labor market information are used to design these programs, and employers also provide work-based training opportunities, such as internships or on-the-job-training, to participants (Holzer 2015). Many sector-oriented training programs also provide participants with job search assistance and job placement services, and some programs continue working with participants after they find a job (Schaberg and Greenberg 2020). Common industries targeted by sector-oriented training programs include health care, information technology, manufacturing, and transportation (Schaberg and Greenberg 2020). (The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act Research Portfolio).

Incumbent worker training (IWT) programs provide those who are currently employed with services such as mentoring, on-the-job learning, and other training to help with career advancement and job retention. Under WIOA, IWT programs focus on ensuring that employees of a company can acquire the skills necessary to retain employment and advance within the company, or to acquire skills necessary for averting a layoff (WIOA 2017b). (The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act Research Portfolio).

Elements of Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) Youth programs: (a) Tutoring, study skills training, instruction and dropout prevention; (b) Alternative secondary school services or dropout recovery services; (c) Paid and unpaid work experience; (c) Occupational skills training; (d) Education offered concurrently with workforce preparation and training for a specific occupation; (e) Leadership development opportunities; (f) Supportive services; (g) Adult mentoring; (h) Follow-up services; (i) Comprehensive guidance and counseling; (j) Financial literacy education; (k) Entrepreneurial skills training; (l) Services that provide labor market information; (m) Postsecondary preparation and transition services (The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act Research Portfolio).

Job Corps, supported under the WIOA legislation, is the nation’s largest and most comprehensive career technical training and education program for at‐risk youth. The program’s objective is to help disconnected youth become more responsible, employable and productive citizens by providing them with individualized academic education, vocational training, counseling, and job placement assistance. A defining feature of Job Corps is its residential component: Most participants live in a Job Corps center during the week, where all education, training and counseling services are provided. The National Job Corps Study, a nationally representative randomized controlled trial, found impacts on earnings and hours worked in the fourth year after enrollment (Schochet et al. 2008) (The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act Research Portfolio).

The YouthBuild program, also funded under WIOA, aims to provide at-risk youth ages 16 to 24 with services to help them attain a high school diploma or equivalent and teaches them construction skills, and it has expanded to offer youth career pathways training in high-demand industry sectors (YouthBuild 2020) (The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act Research Portfolio).

The National Guard Youth Challenge program is a six-month residential program to improve the education, life skills and employment potential of high school dropouts. Upon completing the residential phase of the program, participants receive a year of structured mentoring and are placed in employment, education programs or the military. An RCT evaluation of the program found that three years after enrollment, program participants had higher rates of employment and earnings than the control group (Millenky et al. 2011) (The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act Research Portfolio).

Year Up provides urban young adults with intensive training and offers internship tracks in desktop/network support, quality assurance, project management, advanced system administration and cyber security at corporate partner locations. An RCT of Year Up’s career pathways program for youth found that the program increased participant earnings, with program participants earning $1,895 more than those in the control group in the sixth and seventh quarters following random assignment (Fein and Hamadyk 2018) (The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act Research Portfolio).

Youth Transition Demonstration (YTD) projects, conducted between 2006 and 2012, were intended to help youth ages 14 to 25 with disabilities who received or were at risk of receiving Social Security disability benefits to become more economically self-sufficient. Participants were offered some combination of benefits counseling, career counseling, and coordination of services, as well as internships, job shadowing, job coaching, competitive paid employment and empowerment training. An RCT study examining the program implemented in West Virginia observed positive impacts on employment and earnings one year after implementation (Fraker et al. 2012). However, an RCT measuring the impacts for all six YTD project sites 24 months after random assignment found no significant impacts on employment and earnings outcomes (Hemmeter 2014) (The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act Research Portfolio).

Youth Corps provides youth with a stipend as well as educational services, employment and training and community service activities. An RCT study of Youth Corps found positive impacts on earnings 18 months after enrollment but no impacts on employment or education (Price et al. 2011) (The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act Research Portfolio).

Youth Career Connect (YCC) is a high school-based program designed to encourage America’s school districts, institutions of higher education, the workforce investment system and their partners to scale up evidence-based high school models that will transform the high school experience for America’s youth to connect them to college and careers. The program blends features of the career academy and sector-based models, including small learning communities; college preparatory curriculum based on a career theme that aligns occupational training with employer needs; and employer, higher education, and community partners (Maxwell et al. 2019) (The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act Research Portfolio).

Work-based learning, a strategy used in many programs funded by WIOA Youth to provide youth with occupational and basic skills training in a work-like setting, is found to have positive effects on employment and earnings outcomes (Carter et al. 2011) (The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act Research Portfolio).

Genesys Works recruits high schoolers from underrepresented student groups and places them in year-long paid internships in the IT departments of tech and non-tech companies in their senior year, with the hope that the exposure to computers, corporate culture and adult mentors working in professional jobs will get them on the path to a technology-related college career (Genesys Works).

Promote policies that modernize and expand states’ apprenticeship system to increase access to high-quality apprenticeships (Jobs for the Future).

Advocate for expanded Apprenticeship Budget at the Federal Department of Labor. In Fiscal Year 2024, the government spent $184.35 billion on higher education via the Office of Federal Student Aid and Office of Postsecondary Education alone, while the Department of Labor’s apprenticeship budget for FY24 was only $285 million. This funding gap reflects a longstanding emphasis on traditional degree programs despite growing recognition that apprenticeships offer a high quality, work-based alternative (Jobs for the Future).

Strengthen incentives for employer participation (Policy Blueprint to Modernize and Expand Apprenticeships Nationwide).

Establish a national framework for youth apprenticeship (YA) (Policy Blueprint to Modernize and Expand Apprenticeships Nationwide).

Expand and strengthen pathways into apprenticeship (Policy Blueprint to Modernize and Expand Apprenticeships Nationwide).

Position intermediaries as the facilitators of apprenticeship (Policy Blueprint to Modernize and Expand Apprenticeships Nationwide).

Mitigate the “cliff effect” by disregarding income earned during apprenticeship training from means tested public assistance programs (Policy Blueprint to Modernize and Expand Apprenticeships Nationwide).

As policymakers continue to make investments necessary to grow apprenticeship programs, their policies must center around women, people of color, and other underrepresented groups to ensure equitable access. Policymakers can help facilitate that access by continuing to support equity intermediaries and other workforce intermediaries that can help with recruitment and the coordination of supportive services such as child care, transportation and legal assistance. The Center for American Progress has called for investments in labor management-led intermediaries that can fill this role (CAP, The Apprenticeship Wage and Participation Gap).

Policymakers should work to eliminate occupational segregation in apprenticeship programs, as well as ensure that women and people of color have access to apprenticeship programs in the highest-paying occupations. Analysis by the Center for American Progress shows that gender wage gaps narrow significantly when women have access to male-dominated apprenticeship programs (CAP, The Apprenticeship Wage and Participation Gap).

Policymakers should ensure that apprenticeship programs are required to comply with the Davis-Bacon Act and support wage progression. These policies help ensure that the highest-wage programs remain well-paying. (CAP, The Apprenticeship Wage and Participation Gap).

Policymakers should seek to expand apprenticeships into new industries, while working to raise the wages in those industries. For example, child care and hospitality apprenticeships are popular among women, yet both industries are plagued by persistently low wages. It is not enough to expand apprenticeships into new industries; wages in historically undervalued occupations dominated by women must be raised as well. (CAP, The Apprenticeship Wage and Participation Gap).

Policymakers should also ensure that incarcerated apprentices are paid at least the federal minimum wage, which can help reduce recidivism and facilitate re-entry. (CAP, The Apprenticeship Wage and Participation Gap).

Policymakers should focus on implementation and enforcement of the 2016 EEO regulations and resist efforts to weaken the labor standards governing apprenticeship programs. (CAP, The Apprenticeship Wage and Participation Gap).

Youth with justice system involvement: Two studies assessing the impact of employment-related programs on youth with justice involvement observed positive findings. In a random assignment study of the Avon Park Youth Academy and STREET Smart program (National Council on Crime and Delinquency 2009), the program improved employment and earnings. The Avon Park Youth Academy and STREET Smart program serves youth ages 16 to 18 who are transitioning out of a secure custody residential facility in Florida, and its vocational training component includes opportunities for work-based learning through on-the-job training. In a subgroup analysis of JOBSTART, a program providing basic skills education, occupational training, support services, and job placement assistance to youth who had dropped out of school, young males with prior justice system involvement experienced statistically significant gains in earnings in the fourth year after random assignment (Cave et al. 1993). A large-scale evaluation of the Reentry Opportunities Employment grant program is currently under way and will examine impacts on youth with involvement in the justice system (The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act Research Portfolio).

Youth with prior or current foster care involvement: Although few studies have examined the labor market outcomes of youth with prior or current foster care involvement, two have found positive impacts. In an RCT of an intervention helping youth transition out of foster care, youth in the program earned an average of $611 more than youth who did not participate in the program (Valentine et al. 2015). Youth who participated in the program received counseling, referrals to other services, financial assistance, group social and learning activities and educational and vocational coordination. In a quasi-experimental study of the Foster Youth Demonstration Project, which provided youth with job preparation and educational and supportive services, youth with foster care involvement who participated in services longer were more likely than those participating for fewer quarters to secure a paid job (Institute for Educational Leadership 2008) (The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act Research Portfolio).

Youth experiencing homelessness: A study including two experiments found positive employment impacts of a social enterprise intervention and an Individual Placement and Support (IPS) program for homeless youth. An RCT comparing a social enterprise to the IPS program for homeless youth reported that 39% of youth who participated in a social enterprise program reported any paid employment, compared to 32% of youth in the IPS program over the 20-month study period. However, this difference was not statistically significant. (Ferguson 2018). The youth who participated in the social enterprise intervention attended vocational and small-business classes and received clinical or case-management services. Youth in the IPS program met individually with their employment specialist, a case manager and a clinician at least once weekly to discuss life goals such as employment (Ferguson 2018). In another study of youth receiving shelter services including temporary housing, skills training, and referral services, youth who received these services showed no significant improvement in employment status when compared to those receiving day treatment (Thompson et al. 2002) (The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act Research Portfolio).

Youth parents or expectant parents: An RCT of the Young Parents Demonstration (YPD) examined the provision of enhanced services to improve educational and employment outcomes for youth parents and those expecting a child. The core program components offered to all study participants typically included education, training and employment-focused services as well as supportive services. The enhancements offered to the treatment group included mentoring or guided employment, education, training and related supports. The study found positive earnings impacts for the first two rounds of grantees through the first two years after random assignment. However, overall, the enhanced services had no impact on employment and earnings (Trutko et al. 2018) (The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act Research Portfolio).

Youth disconnected from education or employment: The Performance Partnership Pilots provides services for disconnected youth, defined as individuals between ages 14 and 24 who are low income and either homeless, in foster care, involved in the juvenile justice system, unemployed or not enrolled in or at risk of dropping out of an educational institution. In a synthesis of the local evaluations of the first cohort of pilots, of the six types of interventions implemented, three demonstrated evidence of improving expected youth outcomes — case management services for out-of-school youth, combined case management and WIOA services for out-of-school youth, and a two-generation education and training program for pregnant and parenting youth. However, one of the three local evaluations examining case management for disconnected youth also found evidence of negative effects of participation in career preparation and subsidized employment (Maxwell and Yañez 2020) (The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act Research Portfolio).

Youth who have experienced trauma: Two models of trauma-informed approaches for youth have been rigorously evaluated: the Attachment, Self-regulation, and Competency (ARC) model and the Sanctuary Model. The ARC model focuses on improving three areas impacted when youth experience trauma — attachment, self-regulation and resiliency (Berk et al. 2018). For youth ages 13 to 19 in a residential environment, use of the ARC model reduced post-traumatic stress disorder and improved behavior (Hodgdon et al. 2013). The Sanctuary Model — initially developed for adults but more recently adapted to in-school youth and children — develops an understanding of trauma, uses a framework for addressing disruption, and includes an implementation toolkit (Berk et al. 2018). In a residential setting, one combined experimental and quasi-experimental study found that youth in locations that had implemented the Sanctuary Model had greater self-control, reduced verbal aggression and used fewer negative coping strategies after six months (Rivard et al. 2005). In addition, trauma-informed approaches are also used for adults with barriers to employment in settings outside of WIOA, and this strategy could be applicable to some adult job seekers within WIOA programs (The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act Research Portfolio).

How many students at a college or university are taking internships? The National Survey of College Internships (NSCI) found that far fewer college students (just 21.5%) reported taking an internship than previously reported. Prior studies have estimated that 50%-60% of college students have taken an internship. NSCI’s data from 12,130 students suggest that these estimates may be too high, though the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic should be considered (National Survey of College Internships).

Are there differences in internship participation by race, gender, first-generation college student status, and so on? The National Survey of College Internships (NSCI) found that internship participation may vary by racial identity, first-generation status, and other attributes of students, disciplines and institutional characteristics (National Survey of College Internships).

Which students are experiencing obstacles to internships, what are these obstacles and how can we change our programs to ensure equitable access to internships for all students? The National Survey of College Internships (NSCI) found an alarming number of non-interns (67.3% or 6,407 students) wanting to take an internship but not being able due to a variety of obstacles, thus revealing a considerable issue with equitable access. College and universities should pay more attention to adequately advertising internship positions, exploring how to reach busy and/or working students, and engaging employers in creating more internships or other more accessible forms of work-based learning (e.g., online internships, campus-based experiences, etc) (National Survey of College Internships).  

Length of internship program: The National Survey of College Internships (NSCI) found the average length of an internship to be 18.3 weeks, a considerable investment in student (and employer) time (National Survey of College Internships).  

Student satisfaction with internship: The National Survey of College Internships (NSCI) found students on average reported being very satisfied with their internship experiences, but 1 in 4 reported less than satisfactory experiences. The large number of students reporting high rates of satisfaction is good news for higher education, but the 25% of students with less than satisfactory experiences indicates that considerable work remains to ensure that all students have access to a high-quality experience (National Survey of College Internships). 

Quality of supervision and mentoring: The National Survey of College Internships (NSCI) found students rated their supervisors’ support for their well-being (M=4.2 on a 1-5 scale) more highly than their task-specific mentoring (M=3.45). These results suggest that while supervisor support appears to be of high quality, colleges, universities and employers could provide more training for supervisors on how to be effective mentors with respect to task performance (National Survey of College Internships).

Are students experiencing racial, gender or other forms of discrimination during the internship experience? The National Survey of College Internships (NSCI) found that while the number of students reporting discrimination at the internship site on the basis of their race, gender, sexuality, disability status, and/or other personal attributes is relatively low (3.3%), the fact that 86 students reported such behaviors is cause for concern. Campuses should provide training and resources for students, academic advisors and internship supervisors regarding anti-discrimination policies in the workplace and what to do in the event that a student experiences inappropriate behavior or treatment (National Survey of College Internships).

The amount of funding dedicated to workforce development programs as a percentage of total educational funding in a state (Education to Workforce Framework).

State investment in workforce preparation and development (that is, the amount states spent on education, training and recruitment of workers with programs concentrating on improving the skills base and job placement of a state and/or community’s labor base) (C2ER, State Investment in Workforce Development on the Rise).

Federal funding for workforce preparation and development (e.g., through U.S. Department of Labor programs) (C2ER, State Investment in Workforce Development on the Rise).

Does the state provide workforce development funding through the following sources: (a) the department of labor and/or economic development; (b) the state education agency; (c) the state higher education office; (d) the community and/or technical college system; (e) other departments? (Education Commission of the States, Workforce Funding).

Redesigning for equity in workforce development would ensure job quality for all workers, increase competitiveness and drive inclusionary growth (CAP, A Design for Workforce Equity).

Apprenticeships benefit apprentices and employers alike. Apprentices learn on the job, obtain credentials, contribute to meaningful work and earn a salary. Employers have loyal and productive workers, higher retention rates and the opportunity to train apprentices according to their own standards and procedures (Urban Institute, Public Sector Apprenticeship).

When governments hire apprentices, returns to the public sector are especially high. Apprentices hired from the local community reduce the need for other training programs. As with private employers, government agencies can use apprenticeships to fill job openings and those vacated by retiring employees, maintaining staffing and service continuity (Urban Institute, Public Sector Apprenticeship).

Public sector apprenticeships can attract and expose young people to diverse career opportunities in government. Engaging and training young people for public sector careers can upgrade the quality and quantity of public services, thereby benefiting all residents (Urban Institute, Public Sector Apprenticeship).

Finally, when public officials use apprenticeships for their own talent development, they can be more convincing in persuading private employers to do so as well (Urban Institute, Public Sector Apprenticeship).

Examples of workforce development initiatives focusing on manufacturing, professional, scientific and technical services: (1) the American Apprenticeship Initiative (AAI) aimed to increase registered apprenticeship in nontraditional occupations, such as manufacturing, healthcare and computer/IT and to populations typically  underrepresented in apprenticeship including women and people of color; (2) Pledge to America’s Workers sought commitments from companies to provide job training and apprenticeship opportunities. Several manufacturing companies were part of this initiative, pledging to expand workforce training in the sector; (3) Manufacturing USA is a network of 14 institutes dedicated to advancing manufacturing innovation, which also involves workforce development. These institutes focus on research and development in manufacturing technologies and creating training programs to develop skilled workers for advanced manufacturing jobs (C2ER, Powering Industry Growth Through Workforce Investment).

Functions of a local workforce system: The programs, services and activities implemented by organizations in local workforce systems serve five major functions: (1) Providing employment services to help workers of all ages explore career interests, find jobs, and advance; (2) Providing education and training to prepare workers for careers by developing occupational and technical skills; basic academic skills, such as reading, writing and math; and career readiness skills, such as teamwork, critical thinking, professionalism, conflict resolution and communication; (3) Providing supportive services can include both personal or academic supports to help people be successful in education, training or work; (4) Supporting employers’ human resources needs, including defining hiring needs and job requirements, advertising for available positions, recruiting and screening candidates, onboarding new employees and supporting and upskilling incumbent workers; (5) Improving job quality and access for job seekers and workers by working with employers to adopt “high road” strategies (better pay, predictable schedules, and other benefits) or advocating for changes, such as in local or state wage policies, hours and working conditions (Urban Institute, Guide to Learning about Local Workforce Systems).

Organizations in local workforce systems perform various functions and take on varying roles, depending on their organizational type and mission. Organizations involved in local workforce systems can be grouped into the six categories: (1) Service providers offer education, training, employment and supportive services and include a range of organizations, such as community and technical colleges, high schools, American Job Centers, trade schools, unions and community organizations; (2) Government agencies oversee public workforce programs and funding; (3) Employers and industry and business groups hire and provide training to workers and may partner with local organizations to oversee, design and deliver programs; (4) Foundations and philanthropic organizations provide financial resources to workforce programs and organizations, primarily through grants. Corporations may also support workforce initiatives as part of corporate responsibility efforts; (5) Unions and advocacy organizations seek to change employer practices, working conditions and workforce policies; (6) Collaborative entities bring together partners in the workforce system to identify workforce needs; plan, develop and implement strategies to meet those needs; and raise funds to support these strategies (Urban Institute, Guide to Learning about Local Workforce Systems).

The people who use the programs and services provided through local workforce systems fall into five general categories: (1) Unemployed workers are jobless, looking for work and available for work. Underemployed workers have part-time, temporary, intermittent or low-wage work that does not provide enough income to live stably; (2) Youth, typically defined as people ages 16 to 24, may be participating in high school vocational or career technical education programs, attending high school equivalency or adult education classes, enrolled in postsecondary education and training, or receiving employment services; (3) Adults with low basic skills lack the math, reading, writing or English proficiency skills required to enter postsecondary education or secure a middle- or high-wage jobs; (4) People with personal challenges to work have circumstances that make it difficult to complete training or secure a job, such as a disability, criminal history, housing insecurity or lack of access to affordable child care; (5) Workers seeking career change or advancement may be experiencing job loss or insecurity, want to work in a more interesting field or desire to move up from entry-level work. (Urban Institute, Guide to Learning about Local Workforce Systems).

Coordination and Systems Change: In the context of local workforce systems, systems change refers to strategies that focus on improving coordination, collaboration and alignment across actors, policies, and programs in the local workforce system toward specific objectives. Examples of shared objectives include improving accessibility to services for a target population to increase employment outcomes or meeting skilled labor gaps in a specific sector. Organizations within a local workforce system can undertake system change activities toward shared goals, including the following activities: promoting knowledge sharing; developing shared goals, strategies and plans; using scarce resources more efficiently and effectively. Coordinated approaches to improving employment and training outcomes and meeting stakeholder needs in local areas include sector strategies or partnerships that focus on local or regional needs of a specific sector, collaboration between training providers and employers, and career pathway strategies that coordinate. Collaborative entities create or implement coordinated approaches or systems change strategies (Urban Institute, Guide to Learning about Local Workforce Systems).

Identifying and Leveraging Multiple Sources of Funding: Local workforce system programs and services rely on various funding sources from federal, state and local government, as well as funding from private sources. Local workforce development organizations and policymakers overseeing workforce funding streams use a variety of funding models and initiatives, including the following: (a) Blended and braided funding, where individual organizations leverage multiple public and private funding streams to provide a set of programs and services; (b) Collaborative funding models, which pool funding from various foundations and philanthropies to support programs and initiatives with similar models or goals; (c) Performance-based funding, which distributes funds based on participant outcomes (such as completion or earnings) rather than outputs (such as enrollment numbers); (d) Public-private funding, where activities or programs are funded by a partnership between employers or philanthropies and public entities; (e) Social impact bonds, which use private-sector investor funds for workforce programs to create improved outcomes and pass on part of the savings achieved to investors (Urban Institute, Guide to Learning about Local Workforce Systems).

Many local workforce system organizations and programs collect, analyze and disseminate data to identify needs, inform policy making, measure program progress and improve programs. Strategies using data to inform and improve local workforce system activities include the following: (a) Data sharing of participant information between agencies and organizations to allow education, training, and employment programs to better meet participant needs and examine participant outcomes, such as educational attainment, job attainment, and wages; (b) Labor market information analysis to identify local area employment growth by sector and potential skills gaps in the local workforce; (c) Performance measurement to help education, training and employment programs identify successes and challenges and improve; (d) Evaluation of programs to determine effectiveness or return on investment, leading to additional funding, program changes or program replication (Urban Institute, Guide to Learning about Local Workforce Systems).

Integrated service delivery: Creating more closely integrated services across programs has been an important principle of Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), as well as the goal of many recent initiatives aimed at generating efficiencies and reducing challenges in reaching self-sufficiency for individuals and families. Integration of services and programs can impact all areas of operations, including case management approaches, training, staffing, funding and administration. Additionally, integration aims to reduce siloing, or separation and isolation, of programs and services, thus supporting increased access and improved efficiencies (The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act Research Portfolio).

Co-location, consolidating administrative structures and cross-training. The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO 2011) identified both co-location (that is, being located within the same building or facility) and consolidating administrative structures as ways to increase efficiency and improve coordination. At the agency level, 14 states consolidated core WIOA programs under a single agency, thus reducing or removing barriers to coordination. At the local level, the emphasis on co-location, as well as alignment and program coordination under WIOA, enabled partners to work together and streamline services (Dunham et al. 2020) (The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act Research Portfolio).

Shared data and data systems. The Employment and Training Administration encourages states to consider implementing integrated case management data systems across WIOA partner programs (U.S. Department of Labor 2020), and some research supports data-sharing policies to increase participants’ access to different benefits (Adams and Spaulding 2018; Durham et al. 2019). Koller and Paprocki (2015) note the benefits of shared data systems between partners within American Job Centers (AJCs) include reducing burden related to data entry and increased ability to track services provided to customers across other programs (The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act Research Portfolio).

Pooled funding and cost sharing. Under WIOA, AJC partners must contribute to infrastructure costs, whether or not they are co-located. As of 2018, this was not the practice in many AJCs, and the expectation for contributing toward infrastructure costs corresponded directly with co-location (Brown and Holcomb 2018) (The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act Research Portfolio).

Public funding is made available for workforce development programs

Public sector apprenticeships exist nationwide but remain a very small segment of the government workforce. One prominent example of public safety services using an apprenticeship program is the California firefighting apprenticeship program, which has been operating for more than 25 years and has employed more than 10,000 apprentices across 175 fire departments. In Boston, an emergency services apprenticeship program was started in 2018 to attract more diverse candidates and address staffing shortages for emergency medical technicians (EMTs) across the city. These programs provide employment on-ramps to careers, while ensuring residents receive consistent, high quality services from critical government agencies (Urban Institute, Public Sector Apprenticeship).

Example of youth public sector apprenticeship in Kentucky (Automotive technician specialist). In 2018, Kentucky launched several pilot apprenticeship programs as part of a broader strategy related to filling critical skill gaps in the commonwealth’s talent pipeline. One program was designed to train automotive technician specialists working for the Transportation Cabinet. The program was created to cultivate the next generation to fill current and future automotive technician jobs across the state’s 12 transportation districts. An equipment garage supervisor put his projected staffing concerns in stark terms when he stated, “In 3 to 5 years, 70% of people in this garage might be retired, and [the apprenticeship program] will be a good way to get good, qualified candidates [whose skills] are up to date.” The program also helped apprentices rapidly gain the two years’ work experience required for the National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence (ASE) certification exam, preparing apprentices for a career in both the public and private sectors (Urban Institute, Public Sector Apprenticeship).

Example of youth public sector apprenticeship in Colorado (Teaching assistant). Colorado is facing general teacher shortages in rural areas, as well as increased statewide demand for specialists like early childhood educators, counselors, and ESL instructors. To meet such local needs, CareerWise Colorado established a paraprofessional youth apprenticeship program in 2019 and has since worked with the Cherry Creek, Denver, Estes Park and Thompson public school districts to employ high school students in the local elementary schools. Across these four districts every year, 20 to 30 youth apprentices work as teaching assistants with early childhood and elementary-age children. During their program, apprentices divide their time between finishing high school classes, working in elementary schools and taking college courses to further their teaching education. Overall, the program has been successful for school districts, apprentices, students and parents. School districts see apprenticeships as an obvious solution for their staffing requirements and goals to bring more diverse, local staff to the classroom. Apprentices also benefit from the opportunity to learn whether teaching is right for them. Students benefit by having educators and counselors who are as racially and ethnically diverse as their classes. The program’s success has spurred additional school districts in Colorado and other states to consult CareerWise on using this model (Urban Institute, Public Sector Apprenticeship).

Example of youth public sector apprenticeship in Maryland (Building maintenance technician). Prince George’s County Public Schools (PGCPS), like many school systems in the US, has a talent shortage across a range of occupations beyond teaching, including core administrative and building maintenance roles. To meet PGCPS’s talent needs and help young people find career opportunities and employment, the school district started a “school-to-work” apprenticeship model. Select students start an apprenticeship while in high school and transition into full employment in the school system after completing the program. The first program at PGCPS was launched in 2018 with a building maintenance apprenticeship program including 20 students in 11th grade. Despite the challenges for on-the-job learning amid COVID-19, all 20 students in the first cohort graduated and are continuing the final years of their apprenticeships with PGCPS or an industry partner of the school. Hiring for the program’s second year paused because of COVID-19, but plans to hire another cohort of 11th graders in the 2021–22 academic school year are underway. PGCPS leaders hope this example will create interest among other school departments to start apprenticeship programs. As the program coordinator noted, “We have many departments like IT, food services, HR, transportation that could all potentially benefit from an apprenticeship program.”

To create a more equitable workforce, policymakers must boldly shift away from presumptions based on the skills narrative to facilitate conditions in which employment risks and insecurities generated during economic change are shared equitably by everyone who has a stake in the economy (CAP, A Design for Workforce Equity).

Workforce development thinking must shift so that the sole focus is no longer on upskilling but rather on creating a new system in which aggregating employer demand is determined by equity considerations. Supply-side job training interventions alone are insufficient to broadly manage changing employment effects and planning decisions when measured against factors such as stagnant wages, stalled compensation and increased affordability issues. In order to drive the pursuit of inclusive economic growth, public policy must systemically align multiple mismatches in the labor market (CAP, A Design for Workforce Equity).

Example of increased state funding for workforce development programs: Minnesota’s FY2020-21 biennial budget proposed more funding for Youth and Young Adult workforce development programs. Minnesota provided state funding for the Youthbuild program, Youth at Work Competitive Grants, and a Youth Program offer a construction career pathway for at-risk youth and young adults who have dropped out of school, youth with industry-recognized credentials and pre-apprenticeship training in residential construction; and provide summer and year-round employment and training services to low-income and at-risk youth, ages 14 to 24, through a partnership with the Local Workforce Development Boards and Youth Committees. However, the Department of Employment and Economic Development proposed a 6% decrease in workforce development for FY2020-21 (C2ER, State Investment in Workforce Development on the Rise).

Example of increased state funding for workforce development programs: New Jersey has enhanced and refocused its investment in workforce development and apprenticeship programs over the past two years. There was a 32% increase in funding for workforce development programs in FY2019. The vast increase in funding is the result of additional support being put into the state’s Manpower and Employment Services and the Work First New Jersey program. The focus of these funding increases being employment and training services, strengthening of workforce development programs in the state. FY2020 budget proposal continues that commitment to workforce initiatives (C2ER, State Investment in Workforce Development on the Rise).

Example of increased state funding for workforce development programs: California has proposed an 11% increase in funding for workforce development programs in FY2020. The Governor’s proposed budget has included increased investment for pre-apprenticeship and apprenticeship programs and the state’s High Road Training Partnership program, a sector partnership initiative of the California Workforce Development Board (C2ER, State Investment in Workforce Development on the Rise).

Legislation such as the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act in 2021 and the CHIPS and Science Act in 2022 have created training opportunities and encouraged workforce development in the manufacturing and PSTS sectors. These policies aim to strengthen and modernize the U.S. workforce by advancing research, expanding STEM education, and equipping workers with the skills needed for a competitive, innovation-driven economy. Both federal and state policymakers have emphasized developing the workforce for these industries. In fact, approximately 40% of all state business incentives directly targeting workforce preparation and development are either in the manufacturing or professional, scientific, and technical services (PSTS) industries (C2ER, Powering Industry Growth Through Workforce Investment).

Some states are supporting growth by partnering with academic institutions to provide training and recruitment, such as the Virginia Talent Accelerator Program. Other states work with middle and high school students to encourage career exploration and engage them with relevant work opportunities such as the Massachusetts high school Apprenticeship Challenge, Nebraska’s Developing Youth Talent Initiative, and the New York Youth Jobs Program Tax Credit. By supporting workforce development, states hope to encourage growth within priority industries, like manufacturing. Below are some recent examples of how states are leveraging their workforce preparation and development programs to land major manufacturing projects (C2ER, Powering Industry Growth Through Workforce Investment).

Georgia Quick Start helped the state land Hyundai’s first dedicated electric vehicle facility in the U.S. in Bryan County, GA. Their workforce training program will provide customized workforce training free-of-charge. This incentive also helped Georgia secure a Kia training facility in 2008. The evolution of the program to meet modern workforce needs played a key role in helping Georgia land this state-of-the-art facility  —  a $7.59 billion investment that is projected to create over 8,000 direct jobs (C2ER, Powering Industry Growth Through Workforce Investment).

Schneider Electric’s plant expansion increases the company’s energy storage capabilities to meet growing demand. The Missouri One Start program will provide customized recruitment assistance, along with resources to train and upskill new and existing employees. The company invested $73.6 million into the expansion project and received over $4 million in awards from the BUILD Program ($2,000,000), Missouri Works Program ($2,102,697) and Missouri One Start ($150,000). The project will create 241 additional jobs at the plant in Columbia, MO (C2ER, Powering Industry Growth Through Workforce Investment).

Hyundai Steel Plant: This first-of-its-kind site marks Hyundai’s inaugural North American steel facility to support automotive manufacturing. To support the workforce the Louisiana Community and Technical College System (LCTCS) will develop a new local workforce training center. Hyundai will also have access to LED FastStart’s workforce recruitment and training services. The agreement leaves potential for $100 million in performance-based grant awards for infrastructure improvements. Hyundai’s $5.8 billion investment in Donaldsonville, LA will create over 1,300 direct jobs (C2ER, Powering Industry Growth Through Workforce Investment).

Ohio partnered with Anduril to create a 5 million square foot advanced defense manufacturing facility for autonomous systems, weapons, and other U.S. national defense products. The $1.5 billion endeavor in Pickaway County, OH represents the largest single job creation and new payroll project in the state’s history. In addition to a $70 million award from the Ohio Future Fund, JobsOhio helped secure the project by offering their Job Creation Tax Credit and their Talent Acquisition Services program tools to Anduril. According to the State Business Incentives Database, the Job Creation Tax Credit provides a refundable and performance-based tax credit applied toward the company’s commercial tax liability. JobsOhio’s Talent Acquisition Services will identify talent challenges and build sustainable talent recruitment strategies for companies to help them acquire human capital (C2ER, Powering Industry Growth Through Workforce Investment).

A common focus of workforce development programs is offering an incentive for employers to provide training by reimbursing or allowing a tax credit against the training costs. Both the Minnesota Automation Training Incentive Pilot Program and Arizona’s Rapid Employment Job Training Grant offer reimbursement for training costs. Minnesota reimburses training costs for small businesses to train existing workers in new automation technology. Employers can apply for grants up to $25,000 to cover the cost of training workers who work full time and earn at least 120% of the federal poverty wage. As a direct response to COVID, Arizona’s program reimburses the cost of training for hires made after March 1, 2020. Virginia created the Worker Training Tax Credit to incentivize businesses to not only provide training but also collaborate with middle and high schools to provide manufacturing training or instruction. Companies can receive a 35% tax credit for training costs, up to $500 per worker and $1,000 if the worker’s income is below the state median wage. For employers that provide training to middle and high school students, they are eligible for the 35% tax credit on direct training costs (C2ER, New Workforce Development Programs).

In Massachusetts, the Advanced Analytics-Data Science Internship Program reimburses the cost of intern stipends for students with postsecondary degrees, Bachelor’s and above, who intern with a research institution or small business. The reimbursement ranges from $20-$40/hour depending on the education level of the intern (C2ER, New Workforce Development Programs).

North Carolina’s Golden LEAF Opportunities for Work program provides grants up to $500,000 to help the state prepare for job growth, especially jobs that require postsecondary degrees. The program accomplishes this goal through re-engaging individuals in the workforce, providing skills training and postsecondary opportunities and addressing barriers to employment in rural and economically distressed communities. The program targets “disconnected” youth, people who are underemployed and those experiencing long term unemployment (C2ER, New Workforce Development Programs).

Percentage of high school graduates enlisted in the military, enrolled in an apprenticeship program, enrolled in noncredit career and technical education (CTE) courses, or employed and earning at least the median annual full-time earnings for high school graduates ($35,000 per year) before October 31 following graduation (Education to Workforce Framework).

High school graduates create concrete postsecondary plans as part of a graduation requirement. For example, as part of Chicago Public Schools’s “Learn.Plan.Succeed.” initiative, students must submit proof of a postsecondary plan for one of the following pathways: (a) College acceptance letter; (b) Military acceptance/enlistment letter; (c) Acceptance at a job program (e.g., coding bootcamp); (d) Acceptance into a trades pre-apprenticeship/apprenticeship; (e) Acceptance into a “gap-year” program; (f) Current job/job offer letter; or (g) Other, a new category introduced in response to feedback from schools designed to capture other diverse pathways such as entrepreneurship, industry certification completion, continued education at a specialty school or continuation of high school (Chicago Public Schools).

Post-employment counseling: Workforce Innovation & Opportunity Act (WIOA) programs, including programs supported by WIOA Youth, offer follow-up services that may include post-employment counseling. In instances where participants obtain employment, post-employment counseling may help support their transition to and ongoing success in their new position (The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act Research Portfolio).

The Work Plus program, focused on TANF recipients as part of the Employment Retention and Advancement project, offered post-employment job supports and intensive case management to help participants find and retain employment. Although this program supported TANF recipients, the strategies it used are inherently workforce development strategies that could be applied to WIOA programs (The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act Research Portfolio).

The WorkAdvance program provided training and employment services to low-income adults to improve employment outcomes and meet the needs of local employers. The program included five main elements: screening of potential participants before enrollment, work-readiness services (for example, career coaching, supportive services), occupational training, job development and placement and follow-up retention service coordinated with employers (The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act Research Portfolio).

The Good Transitions program, focused on low-income, noncustodial parents, placed participants into subsidized employment while providing job coaching, job development and case management. After one month, participants were placed into a different position, with less coaching but continued case management and job development support. In a randomized controlled trial of this program, Good Transitions program participants had increased short- and long-term earnings, increased employment, increased education and training completion and decreased public benefit receipt compared to individuals in a control group who did not receive Good Transitions program services but could participate in other services from the Division of Child Support Services’ Fatherhood Program (The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act Research Portfolio).

The Individual Placement and Support (IPS) model, in addition to job search assistance and a range of other services, also includes post-employment support. IPS is an approach to supported employment, often applied in the vocational rehabilitation realm for individuals with significant challenges to employment, such as serious mental illness. IPS focuses on integrating vocational and treatment services, with the core principles focusing on competitive employment, systematic job development, rapid job search, integrated services, benefits planning, zero exclusion, time-limited supports and worker preferences (IPS Employment Center 2021). Receipt of IPS has generally been shown to result in higher rates of competitive employment, more days worked and greater earnings over the same period of time as compared to nonparticipants or those who received a limited range of services (The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act Research Portfolio).

Workforce Development: In an interview conducted with state-level members of the National College Attainment Network, members in three states (Florida, Ohio, Tennessee) identified workforce development as a key state policy issue. Interviewees signaled that, in some cases, attention at the state level may have even shifted away from postsecondary access and attainment issues toward workforce and economic issues, with rapid credentialing and certification programs on the rise, alongside partnerships between industry and postsecondary institutions. Organizations highlighted tensions between state approaches to four-year degrees and certification programs and are curious about the role each can play in bridging postsecondary education and workforce needs. States are also examining the specific needs and roles of various student populations (such as adult learners and students from low-income backgrounds) in postsecondary attainment and workforce outcomes. (NCAN, Building Momentum at the State Level).