Lifting Working Adults Through Flexible Training for In-Demand Careers

Increasingly, diverse postsecondary education and training options exist outside traditional degree programs. One example is Merit America’s short-term, fully virtual IT training for low-wage adults without a bachelor’s degree. It provides 14-21 weeks of skills and workplace training that learners can complete while working. This is followed by a job placement phase lasting up to three months. The model meets learners where they are while creating a clear path to meaningful, family-sustaining career opportunities.

With $10 million of our support, Merit America aims to bring its skills training and career placement programs in IT Support, Data Analytics and Java Web Development to at least 20,000 learners over the next three years. Ascendium’s investment will supplement up to $45 million provided by the Google Career Certificates Fund, which was co-designed by Merit America to bring unique financing to the workforce development sector. Programs like Merit America’s can help meet two related goals. First, they have the potential to address the needs of nearly two-thirds of American workers without a degree who work full-time and need a route to better jobs. Second, they can address the unmet workplace demand for good jobs requiring only short-term, but specialized training. Of note, The Chronicle for Higher Education reports that 900,000 tech positions in the U.S. went unfilled in 2021.

Grantmaking in our Streamline Key Learner Transitions focus area supports the development, evaluation and scaling of high-quality, diverse credential options like Merit America provides. These options help learners from low-income backgrounds meet their postsecondary education goals and succeed in the workforce. Merit America’s model has resulted in a greater than 80% graduation rate, with nearly all graduates getting jobs and seeing an average wage gain of $19,000 per year.