A 2014 report on global human capital trends found that many employers across the United States had difficulties maintaining a skilled and committed workforce. Yet unemployment among young people ages 16 to 29 years was well above the overall unemployment rate. In 2016, 8.2 percent of this group were unemployed, while the national average was 4.9…

Skills training offers a promising route to higher-paying jobs and career growth, especially in industries with a demand for skilled workers, such as healthcare, information technology, and advanced manufacturing. However, individuals with low incomes may find it difficult to access skills training programs due to financial barriers, the limited…

In 2021, approximately five million young people in the United States were not in school or working. This group of young people transitioning to adulthood, roughly ages 16 to 24, are often referred to as "opportunity youth" and sometimes "disconnected youth." Young people from low-income families and from communities of…

High-dosage tutoring-defined as consistently scheduled tutorials during the school day in which students work with a trained tutor in small groups (for example, four students to one tutor) at least three times per week--is among the most promising educational interventions for improving student learning. Despite their appeal, high-dosage tutoring…

A common narrative about women students of color in postsecondary education centers on the fact that they typically outperform men of color on measures such as college access, retention, and persistence. As a result, decision-makers might conclude that women of color do not need additional supports from institutions of higher education. Although…

One major challenge that institutions face when launching transformation efforts is that they operate in "silos," meaning that they have separate departments--for example, student services, financial aid, and advising--that operate independently with little communication or coordination. Many successful transformation efforts include a…

MDRC, Ascendium Education Group, and Rural Matters partnered to present a four-part audio series called "Rural Higher Education: Challenges & Opportunities," which aired on the Rural Matters podcast. This supplementary paper summarizes Part III of the series. This paper (and the podcast on which it is based) features the scholarship…

In 2019, MDRC launched the Scaling Up College Completion Efforts for Student Success (SUCCESS) project to improve college completion rates for traditionally underserved students, such as students from low-income backgrounds and students of color, at community and broad-access colleges (those that have open or minimally selective admissions…

Robust investment in early childhood education can help expand children's access to high-quality pre-K programs. These investments can also strengthen the ability of educators to gather valuable information about young children's behaviors, skills, and competencies in order to make better decisions about how to support their learning and…

As the availability of high-quality, center-based prekindergarten (pre-K) has increased, so too has the attention given to children's learning experiences in the summer between pre-K and kindergarten. Investment in summer learning programs may help sustain the effects of pre-K and also boost the outcomes of children who don't enroll in a formal…

Postsecondary education and middle-skills occupational training are viewed as important paths to higher-paying jobs and careers. Lifelong learning pathways geared toward working learners aged 25 and older also seem essential for career advancement and professional growth in the current job market. However, many learners face financial and other…

Community colleges and broad-access universities (those with minimally selective admissions policies) provide an opportunity for students across the United States to attain postsecondary degrees and economic mobility. However, graduation rates from such colleges are often low and there are many obstacles that can be difficult to overcome,…

Access to college has increased substantially over the last 50 years, but student success--defined as the combination of academic achievement and degree or certificate completion--has largely remained stagnant. The gap between access and success is particularly noteworthy for male Black and Hispanic students, whose college completion rates lag…

When they arrive at community colleges or open-enrollment universities, most students take placement exams in English and mathematics to determine whether they are ready for college-level courses. Students with low scores are referred to developmental--remedial--courses. Forty percent of all entering college students and over half of entering…

What works to help rural students succeed in higher education? In fall 2020, MDRC partnered with Rural Matters and Ascendium Education Group to produce a four-part podcast series called "Rural Higher Education: Challenges & Opportunities." The series gathered experts from across the country to examine the realities of rural life and…