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…

The "Improving the Pipeline for Tennessee's Workforce: Academic Supply for Occupational Demand Report" is a joint report between the Tennessee Higher Education Commission (THEC), Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development (TDLWD), Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development (TNECD), and Tennessee Department of…

To provide insights into how institutions can scaffold institutional researchers' construction of strong professional identities, we employed a qualitative approach, rooted in the constructivist paradigm, which involved conducting semi-structured interviews with 11 IR professionals regarding how they conceptualized their professional identities.…

The Colorado General Assembly passed the Colorado Achievement Plan for Kids, SB08-212 (known as CAP4K), creating alignment from preschool through postsecondary education. The law requires a regular review of academic standards, state assessments, and postsecondary and workforce readiness. In addition, annual reporting needs to include…

A key question raised by the Australian Universities Accord is how the tertiary education system can enhance participation rates and align vocational education and training (VET) with the evolving needs of the labour market. However, the alignment between VET in Schools enrolments and local labour market needs remains unclear. This study…

Apprenticeship is engrained in America's history -- three of the Founding Fathers started their careers as apprentices. Apprenticeship is a model employers can trust, helping to ensure talent is prepared for in-demand opportunities while also providing a quality postsecondary path for young Americans who are questioning the traditional four-year…

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…

Higher education remains a pivotal driver of social and economic mobility, with college graduates earning significantly more over their lifetimes compared to their peers without a degree. However, the benefits of higher education remain out of reach for an increasing number of students, as enrollments decline and stopout rates climb. In recent…

Today's dynamic and rapidly changing economy is marked by ongoing labor shortages and by continuous advancements in technology and industry. An organization's growth and success hinges on a skilled workforce that is capable of navigating these advancements. Skills-based practices (also referred to as skills-first practices) to select and develop…

Manufacturing employers often cite challenges to finding and hiring a sufficient number of highly skilled and diverse workers, so it is important to understand how pathways into manufacturing and the retention of manufacturing workers may be improved. The authors of this report address this research gap by examining the pipeline between Ohio's…

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…

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 report shows how Kentucky and its campuses are faring on key performance indicators associated with the statewide strategic agenda for postsecondary education. Additionally, the report highlights activities the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education (CPE) is leading to advance their key priorities: (1) affordability; (2) transitions; (3)…

Many states, including Ohio, intend to strengthen and grow their computer science (CS) and information technology (IT) workforces. Jobs in CS and IT are projected to grow in coming years, but it is not always clear how states can expand and diversify their CS and IT workforces. In this report, the authors leverage representative national and state…

The number of jobs in computer science (CS) and information technology (IT) is projected to grow rapidly in the United States over the next decade as the demand for workers expands and current CS and IT workers retire. Against the larger backdrop of growth in CS and IT employment and wages nationally, Ohio is looking for ways to grow and diversify…