This report describes how six Colorado community colleges used $1.4 million of pandemic relief funding to support individuals pursuing short-term credentials. The authors examined state and college decisions about program eligibility, student eligibility, grant amounts, funding uses, and application requirements as well as outcomes for those…

The Accelerating CTE project began as an extension of Jobs for the Future's (JFF's) Accelerating Opportunity (AO), a seven-year initiative to improve outcomes for adult education students in college. Building on the lessons learned and strong evidence realized in AO, the ECMC Foundation in 2016 invested in a three-year initiative where JFF…

This study explored the impact of a seven-college consortium called "Credentials to Careers" (C2C), which was created to foster innovative programs to retrain unemployed and displaced workers for STEM, advanced manufacturing and health-care-related careers, on students' self-efficacy. Using the Generalized Self-Efficacy Scale, we…

One component of postsecondary education needed for economic recovery and development relates to blue-collar industries, jobs requiring some postsecondary training but less than a four-year degree. The U.S. Department of Labor Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training (TAACCCT) program provides funding for community…

This report documents the implementation and early impacts of the Workforce Training Academy Connect (WTA Connect) program, operated by Des Moines Area Community College (DMACC) in Des Moines, Iowa. WTA Connect aimed to help low-income, low-skilled adults access and complete occupational training that can lead to increased employment and higher…

This report documents the impacts three years after random assignment for the Pathways to Healthcare program, operated by Pima Community College and Pima County One Stop in Tucson, Arizona. The program aimed to help low-income, low-skilled adults access and complete occupational training that could lead to increased employment and higher earnings.…

Several economic factors influence the availability of job openings and labor supply, including technological change and access to quality educational resources. One of the most important factors explaining the current disparity between available jobs and labor supply, however, has been the "skills gap," or the difference between the…

The Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training (TAACCCT) grant represented an unprecedented investment by the federal government in integrated postsecondary education and workforce training offered primarily by community and technical colleges. Between 2011 and 2018, 256 grants totaling nearly $2 billion were awarded through…

Many youth in America are not on track for labor market success. One factor that increases the risk of poor labor market outcomes among these youth is dropping out of school (Rumberger 2020). Youth who drop out of school are at greater risk for job instability and for lower longterm earnings (Hair et al. 2009). They are also more likely to…

Southwest Tennessee Community College (Southwest) received a Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training (TAACCCT) grant from the U.S. Department of Labor in 2013 to fund the Southwest Solutions program (Solutions). The goal of Solutions is to prepare, credential, and place veterans, dislocated workers, and unemployed or…

The Certification Data Exchange Project (CDEP) was launched in 2012 to provide a model for sharing industry-recognized credential attainment data. Increasingly, employers and education leaders are recognizing the value of industry credentials to verify the knowledge, skills and abilities that students bring to the workforce. As states take steps…

Relationships between community colleges and the public workforce system might have an important role in promoting students' success in the labor market and in college. In particular, the co-location of American Job Centers (AJC) on community college campuses is a particularly strong form of relationship that might benefit students. Yet little is…

The Opportunity Grant (OG) program is the Washington community and technical college system's dedicated financial aid program designed to help low-income students enroll in and complete programs leading to high-wage, high-demand careers. Washington's Integrated Basic Education and Skills Training (I-BEST) program is a nationally recognized model…

These appendices accompany the full report that summarizes the implementation and evaluation of the Accelerating Connections to Employment (ACE) program. The ACE program model is designed to improve employment and employment-related outcomes for low-skilled workers through formal partnerships between Workforce Investment Boards (WIBs) and…

These are the technical appendices for the report, "Supporting Student Parents in Community College CalWORKs Programs." The appendices include: (1) CalWORKs and EOPS Programs at California Community Colleges; (2) Survey of Program Directors; (3) Survey Instrument; (4) Survey Summary Statistics; and (5) Analysis of CalWORKs Students.…