Increasingly, people are looking for education and training options that are more affordable, flexible, can quickly open doors to good jobs, and--ideally--pave the way for further educational attainment. Businesses also want to hire workers with the skills needed for jobs in growing industries. Non-degree credentials (NDCs) can often meet these…

There are nearly 1 million credentials in the United States that students and workers can take advantage of, but how information about these credentials is collected and communicated is oftentimes inconsistent and hard to access. In February, we invited a group of postsecondary and workforce development experts to consider how policymakers can…

This article provides an overview of community colleges as an access point to higher education, specifically for individuals without a high school diploma. The article highlights how one community college system is addressing both postsecondary access and workforce demands through policy and practice change. The Louisiana Community and Technical…

The Multistate Longitudinal Data Exchange (MLDE) facilitates data sharing between states from K-12 education, higher education, and labor agencies. Its goal is to provide practitioners, policymakers, and researchers with a comprehensive data source to understand educational and career trajectories, including how these trajectories can cross state…

"Stackable credential programs" are designed to make it easier for students to earn multiple postsecondary certificates or degrees in a field as they advance in their careers. To examine the stacking of credentials in Ohio and inform ongoing efforts to scale stackable credential programs, the Ohio Department of Higher Education and the…

Increasingly, companies are dropping four-year degree requirements in job postings, favoring skill-based requirements--such as communication and writing--instead. These types of nonacademic "soft skills" are viewed as essential for employment--employers consistently cite these abilities as among the most valuable in job applicants, yet…

Career and technical education (CTE), sometimes referred to as vocational education, provides occupational and non-occupational preparation at the secondary and postsecondary levels. CTE is a key element of the nation's workforce development system, providing students of all ages with both academic and technical skills to succeed in further…

Texas depends on a talented workforce to fuel its economy, and Texans depend on our public education system to prepare them for the jobs of today and tomorrow. But unfortunately, workforce and public education systems often operate independently, making innovation and improvement difficult. Between now and 2036, over 70% of the jobs in Texas will…

The Student Success Center Network (SSCN) is dedicated to advancing racial justice and economic mobility by dramatically and equitably increasing the number of students earning postsecondary credentials with labor market value. Managed by Jobs for the Future, the SSCN has worked since 2012 to develop, implement, and scale student success…

This study snapshot presents the key findings from the full study on the alignment of middle-skill workforce supply and occupational demand across four rural regions in California to help stakeholders strengthen the economy in rural parts of the state. The four rural regions in the study are Central Valley and Mother Lode North, Central Valley and…

This Executive Summary provides a brief overview of the Annual Report of the Cohort 3 TPSID Model Demonstration Projects (Year 3, 2022-2023). Information is provided about the TPSID (Transition and Postsecondary Programs for Students with Intellectual Disability) projects about program characteristics, student characteristics, academics, academic…

At the beginning of the 21st century, higher education began to concentrate on leveling the playing field around admission. While this work is still unfolding, in the second decade of the last century, attention also began to be paid to identifying strategies that would improve student success and completion for all students, but especially for…

According to data recently released by the National Center for Education Statistics, most adults in the workforce (58 percent) either have a postsecondary degree or some other form of workforce credential, including postsecondary certificates, occupational licenses or occupational certifications. This is higher than the 45 percent of adult workers…

In 2018, BHEF and the Business Roundtable joined forces to create the Workforce Partnership Initiative (WPI). The initiative invited Business Roundtable CEOs to form multi-company partnerships and connect with leaders of postsecondary institutions to meet regional workforce needs. Dozens of CEOs responded, and the JPMorgan Chase Foundation awarded…

An increasing preference for nondegree credentials evident prior to the pandemic has become even more apparent. Nondegree credentials can and sometimes should be part of a postsecondary education, but the inchoate credentials environment encourages poor planning and unwise decisions. The competitive advantages that a balanced education can offer…