Community colleges provide a viable arena for workforce development, but it is important that employers and business leaders also invest in employee development. This report identifies steps that employers/business leaders and community college boards can take to promote community colleges as a way to raise the level of skill in the American workforce, including partnering in the development of curriculum and training programs. The authors provide examples from current programs and initiatives.

While community colleges nationwide struggle to figure out how best to increase completion rates for their students, one state has achieved high completion rates with its unique postsecondary education system. This case study describes the Tennessee Technology Centers and how these 27 institutions are organized, how they operate, and how they are able to achieve postsecondary success for their students. The report examines four highly integrated components of the Centers’ framework and how these components appear to be critical to producing high rates of completion and placement in relatively high-wage jobs. Through the description of this alternative approach to occupational education and the lessons learned by Tennessee Technology Centers, a working model for student success is offered.

Participation in career pathways—a combination of skills instruction, workforce training, and other support services—can increases the likelihood of adult students finding success in the job market. Using examples from five sites, the Adult Basic Education Career Connections (ABECC) manual provides an overview of general steps and resources for implementing and connecting Adult Basic Education and career pathways. The manual also offers examples regarding the challenges in student recruitment, course placement, partnerships, and data collection and the strategies used to address these.

Jobs for the Future’s Breaking Through initiative is designed to help community colleges build programs that encourage low-skill adult students in pursuing career training and degree programs. In support of this goal, schools need to effectively gather and analyze data to determine program impacts. This toolkit provides a guide to data types and collection and analysis methods and outlines the common core data points that will help colleges ensure the usefulness of data collected. An appendix includes a larger map of data points to consider.

“Learn-and-Earn” describes a type of educational program that integrates career-oriented curriculum, relevant work experience, and financial assistance. In this summary, the authors provide a brief overview of the characteristics of various program models and the findings uncovered from analysis of existing programs. Among these findings: learn-and-earn programs function better when the organizations involved (e.g., postsecondary institutions, employers, and state policymakers) have functional partnerships with clearly agreed-upon goals.

The new American majority of students on college campuses, especially community colleges, is a population balancing work and school within an outdated system that was designed for full-time, residential students. This policy brief describes how college completion rates can be improved if students took less time to graduate, which could be achieved if schools offered more directed program choices and fewer individual course options. The author maintains that state leaders and policymakers, as well as leaders of higher education, must enact reform efforts that are systemic and replicable toward changing the structure of community colleges, such as those in Indiana, Ohio, and Tennessee.

Our nation’s ability to recover economically and ensure a livable income for low-skilled workers is dependent upon building a more skilled workforce. Postsecondary institutions play a critical role in training and educating individuals for this new workforce, but they need to improve the success rates of these students. According to this policy brief, states need to establish an effective state data system to measure postsecondary student performance and track outcomes, especially for nontraditional students and low-income workers, and to use that data to improve these students’ outcomes. The author examines possible barriers states may encounter, presents ways to assure a K-20 longitudinal data system, and offers recommendations for policy action and next steps for building or reforming a student data system.

Millions of Americans who are out of work want to work, but don’t know how to reenter the 21st century job market. This report describes how five Career and Technical Education (CTE) pathways provide education and training that could help Americans become employable for jobs that offer middle-class earnings without the need for a bachelor’s degree. The authors discuss different types of jobs and industries in the current job market and describe each of the five pathways that best support those particular jobs and industries. The authors also suggest policy recommendations for advancing the nation’s CTE infrastructure.

Often unaware of financial aid resources and employment services available on campus, many community college students struggle to get the support they need and end up leaving, never attaining their degree or certificate. This documentation study examines how integrated service delivery, specifically the Center for Working Families (CWF) bundled approach, is being implemented at ten community colleges to achieve improved postsecondary outcomes for low-income students. The authors discuss the diverse ways that these community colleges have deployed the CWF approach, while presenting key findings on implementation and lessons related to data tracking, bundling of services, and sustainability. Using case studies and brief descriptions, the report describes each of the ten community colleges’ CWF program or implementation process. 

It’s believed that an education requiring less than one year of study has little economic value, but certificates are overlooked as a pathway that can lead to employment or a higher-level credential. This report describes how certificates can positively influence long-term income earnings, especially when a certificate holder works in the field of study or in fields with high-demand occupations. Using longitudinal data, the report discusses certificate-earning trends, the demographics on who is earning them, and the states that award the most certificates.

Without a postsecondary degree, otherwise employable adults are not able to be part of the workforce that would contribute to sustaining a thriving economy. This brief examines New Jersey’s existing policies, programs, and initiatives toward providing better and flexible options and support services to those postsecondary students who are just short of their degree or certificate. The authors discuss current initiatives aimed at reengaging adult students and suggest policy recommendations to strengthen state efforts to increase degree completion rates in the Garden State, with a focus on systems alignment and goal setting, student recruitment and retention, tuition funding, student supports, and flexible delivery options.

Compared to traditional college students, working adult students attending community college programs have greater limitations in achieving their postsecondary education and training. This study investigates each of the fifty states and examines state initiatives and policies focused on increasing access and affordability of higher education that lead to occupational advancement. The authors identify common ways that states support these institutions in increasing access for nontraditional students, and in expanding as well as improving financial aid options targeting nontraditional students and specific occupational fields for workforce development particular to that state.

The Council for Advancement of Adult Literacy (CAAL) is a national public charity dedicated to developing adult education, ESL, and workforce skills in America. CAAL operates a varied program of  research, policy and issue analysis, symposia, planning, and leadership development activities. 

Students believe that a college degree or certificate will improve their employment opportunities and income-earning potential. In this report, longitudinal data shows that more students are borrowing funds to attend college, but are dropping out before completion. The author discusses who the borrowers are, the unemployment rates between borrowers and non-borrowers, and the education sector that is seeing the highest increases in borrowing and dropping out.

While dual enrollment programs historically have focused on high-achieving students, these programs can benefit underperforming students as well, particularly when integrated with a career focus. This report examines eight dual-enrollment partnerships in California that included a career-focused strategy for engaging struggling students. The authors describe each partnership and discuss the program variations among them, including the advantages and disadvantages of particular program features related to location, instructors and pedagogy, and course selection and content, among others. These findings are lessons to be considered when redesigning a dual enrollment program.

Students forced to complete a long sequence of remedial or English language classes before they can begin their postsecondary program are less likely to earn college certificates or degrees. This brief highlights six promising programs that show how career pathway bridges help lower-skilled students move farther and faster along college and career paths through programs that link basic skills and occupational certificate courses. The author explains two career pathway bridges models — the paired course approach and the integrated course approach — and describes how six colleges implement either approach to meet the particular needs of lower-skilled adults.

Drawing together data on workforce characteristic and growth and trends in graduation rates, the authors forecast an increasing need for higher levels of education in the workforce as the U.S. economy continues to move toward a more service-oriented model. The report provides growth projections for a variety of occupations and industries, detailing the shifting education requirements for successful employment in each. The authors also make the argument that career advancement is increasingly likely to come through training in a specific occupational path rather than from upward mobility within a specific industry.

There is a sense of urgency to produce workers who are educated and trained with the skills required to meet the demands of a changing workforce. In this brief to the White House Summit on Community Colleges, business leaders mobilize in a call to action for employers, business leaders, and community college leaders to play an important role in building this new workforce. The brief describes key ways for employers and business leaders to create workplace conditions that would enable workers to acquire skills and credentials, and to partner with community colleges with knowledge and funding. Additionally, community college boards are advised on key areas for building and strengthening partnerships with the business community.

Far too many community college students, especially developmental education students, are at risk of failing, and thus at greater risk of not earning a living wage or advancing through job opportunities. This policy brief examines the challenges of developmental education and the efforts that states can pursue to increase the success of students enrolled in remedial courses, leading to improved rates of transition to credit-bearing courses. The authors recommend that state policymakers consider policy changes affecting data systems, assessment and placement, concurrent developmental and college-level course taking, financial aid eligibility, support services, and funding for new models of delivery. These recommendations are discussed along with brief examples of what a few states have done to increase student transition out of developmental education.

In response to decreased federal support of career-training resources, community-based organizations and employers are stepping up efforts to provide low-income individuals with training that improves their potential in the job market. This report evaluates the impact of three community-based training programs—Boston’s Jewish Vocational Services, Per Scholas in the Bronx, and Wisconsin Regional Training Partnership—on the employment outlook for participants. The study tracked a pool of approximately 1,300 program eligible participants who were assigned to either program or control groups, gathering data on their employment over a 24–30 month period.

This study uses data from one state, including post-college data, to examine labor market returns based on community college degrees and certificates earned across fields of study. In their findings, the authors describe how income earnings are higher for those with associate degrees than those with certificates, but that the rate of return varies by field. 

Based on survey data of more than 600 young adults, this final report of three examines the perspectives of students who completed college, students who didn’t finish college, and those who never attended to better understand the supports and barriers that influenced their higher education choices and outcomes. The report discusses key findings that reveal a group of young adults who may not understand the growing importance of an education for a changing workforce and are unaware of financial resources available to them. The authors present implications and questions for policymakers, especially related to financial aid. 

California, like many other states, is facing the need for updating and expansion of its infrastructure, which is going to require qualified workers in many fields, including green jobs, construction, and the utilities. This report analyzes how California community colleges can prepare students to fill high demand “middle-skill” positions requiring certificates or credentials in various career pathways (e.g., restructuring programs and providing additional supports). The authors provide case studies of middle-skill programs currently in place and outline challenges to program success, from lack of student preparedness to a disconnected labor market.

Since higher education funding is based on student enrollment rather than student success, there is little incentive for colleges and universities to improve, much less measure, student outcomes. Aware of the need for higher education to change its focus, this study analyzed the higher education accountability systems of all fifty states to uncover the kind of information a state gathers about its colleges and students, and how it uses the information to make colleges and students more successful. The report describes the current state of higher education accountability — highlighting best practices already in use — and offers a set of guidelines for designing a model state higher education accountability system.

Currently, basic skills students must spend additional time and money taking remediation courses. This is the key reason, according to research, for why these students don’t graduate or transfer. This brief suggests key principles for policymakers concerning resource adequacy, transparency, and acceleration. Additionally, the author briefly describes strategies institutions can use in redesigning instructional systems and support services to better support students in need of basic skills.

Earning a bachelor’s, master’s, or doctoral degree generally leads to greater lifetime earnings, but this isn’t true for everyone. This report examines the financial worth of a college degree by analyzing lifetime earnings for eight levels of educational attainment and the earnings variations within levels. The authors discuss how occupation, age, race/ethnicity, and gender affect earnings, thus creating variations even among those with the same degree. Overall, their analysis finds that, generally, individuals with a college education do earn significantly more in their lifetime than individuals without a college degree.

Employers need skilled workers, but there needs to be new and clearer career pathways for adults to get the education and training they need to become such workers. As part of a technical assistance effort, this report presents a framework — comprising six key elements — that workforce investment systems can use to develop and implement successful career pathways, especially for adult learners. For each element, the report offers examples of specific approaches and models in place among states. The authors also discuss how key state and local workforce investment systems can strategically partner to improve career pathways toward educating a more prepared generation of workers.

This report presents findings from a control-trial study on the impact of three sector-focused programs—Boston’s Jewish Vocational Services, Per Scholas in the Bronx, and Wisconsin Regional Training Partnership—on participants’ earnings and ease of finding consistent employment. Focusing specifically on training in career sectors likely to experience growth, the authors identify common elements that contribute to the programs’ successes in helping participants achieve increased employment stability.

As demand for an educated workforce increases, effective high school-to-college pathways are needed to improve college and career readiness. This policy brief describes dual enrollment initiatives that seven states are enacting to provide more high school students — high- and low-achieving students — with opportunities to take college courses while completing high school. The authors introduce a web tool and offers six design principles for helping state leaders shape research-based policies on this key strategy.

Improving the success of college completion and transfer rates requires new innovations aimed exactly at those efforts. This report profiles five California community colleges that have implemented practices or programs focused on completion and transfer to a four-year university or the workforce. Additionally, this report presents four commonalities, based on the work of these community colleges, that serve as a framework for any effort to improve student success: information matters, working together, supporting students outside the classroom, and college leaders are key.

With national interest focused on increasing college completion rates, decision-makers and the public need to understand some of the barriers to completion from the perspective of the students themselves. Using survey data of more than 600 young adults, this first of three reports compares the reasons why students leave college before completing a degree or certificate with those of students who had successfully completed a two- or four-year college program. The authors discuss the myths about why students drop out of college and the actual findings as reported by the students. The report also presents solutions that students believed would have made a significant difference in successfully completing their postsecondary education.

In order to succeed in the current economy, states need to develop and retain a strong workforce with the education and skills for today’s job market. Unfortunately, many states lack a coherent approach to policymaking to bring about increased postsecondary access with high levels of success in workforce development. This report discusses the challenges that states face in linking policy and practice; identifying barriers within K–12 and postsecondary education, adult education, and workforce development programs; and strategies state policymakers can use to align policies and improve outcomes for students at all levels.