The report "State Approaches to Short-Term Postsecondary Credentials: Challenges, Opportunities, and Policy Gaps" explores how state policymakers engage with short-term postsecondary credentials, highlighting key policy levers such as state authorization, consumer protections, financial aid, and quality standards. It examines the…

In late 2020, Congress passed the FAFSA Simplification Act, restoring access to federal Pell Grants for confined and incarcerated students for the first time since 1994. Following the reversal of this nearly 30-year ban, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) established a new application process for institutions of higher education seeking to…

The Mississippi Integrated Basic Education and Skills Training (MIBEST) program provides pathways into college for adult education students across the state. This brief serves as a supplement to the Urban Institute's original evaluation of MIBEST (Briggs et al. 2022) with an analysis of two factors not explored in the original MIBEST report: the…

Job opportunities in the United States are growing, but there are not enough interested or qualified workers to fill them. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is also transforming the future of work, bringing both innovation and uncertainty and emphasizing the growing need to equip students with adaptable, future-ready skills. This report advocates for…

Young people need clear pathways to navigate from K-12 education into careers that align with their interests, strengths, and life goals. But they often lack the information, support, and access to choose and complete postsecondary pathways that are right for them. The federal government can play an important role in bridging this gap, by…

"Project QUEST" ("Quality Employment through Skills Training") provides comprehensive support services to help participants complete occupational training programs at local community colleges and professional training institutes, pass certification exams, and obtain well-paying jobs in targeted sectors of the local economy.…

"Project QUEST" ("Quality Employment through Skills Training") provides comprehensive support services to help participants complete occupational training programs at local community colleges and professional training institutes, pass certification exams, and obtain well-paying jobs in targeted sectors of the local economy.…

"Project QUEST" ("Quality Employment through Skills Training") provides comprehensive support services to help participants complete occupational training programs at local community colleges and professional training institutes, pass certification exams, and obtain well-paying jobs in targeted sectors of the local economy.…

America's labor market presents a paradox. Although the unemployment rate is just 3.9%, there are more jobs open than people who can fill them. Nationwide, there are roughly 68 workers for every 100 open jobs. Many factors contribute to this workforce shortage, but one of the most significant is a growing skills gap -- millions of workers across…

Intermediaries play a complex and critical role in the growing work-based learning ecosystem, but little is known about the funding models that support them or how their funding approaches might vary depending on the programs they lead, where they sit within an ecosystem, or the nature of their relationships with other partners. To begin building…

Swiss Vocational Education and Training (VET) is based on national legislation which was introduced in the 1930s and renewed in the 1960s (as well as in the 1970s and in 2002). At first, the goal of the national VET legislation was to further Vocational Education and Training in order to support small and medium enterprises; however, later, it…

Technical and vocational education and training (TVET) has been the backbone of Singapore's push to build an industrialised workforce and is currently responsible for the post-secondary education of 65% of its Primary 1 cohort. Admissions to polytechnics increased from 5% of Primary 1 cohort in 1980 to 40% today while the Institute of Technical…

Vocational education is formal education about work, and vocational programs of study typically target a narrow subset of middle-income occupations. In this chapter, we trace vocational education from competing 20th century education philosophies to its varied structures throughout the 21st century world. We then review the body of economic…

Career pathways (CP) has gained prominence as a strategy to ensure that high school students and displaced workers acquire the college and career readiness skills needed in a fast-changing, globalized economy. In an effort to ensure future success for CP, Stephen F. Hamilton examines the School-to-Work (STW) movement of the 1980s and 1990s and…

The Council on Postsecondary Education (Council) is charged with guiding the reform efforts envisioned by state policy leaders in the Kentucky Postsecondary Education Improvement Act of 1997 and is Kentucky's statewide postsecondary and adult education coordinating agency. To gain better insight into economic conditions and workforce trends,…