Improving Career Connections for All Postsecondary Options

OPPORTUNITY: Learners have more options than ever for postsecondary education and workforce training, but not all offer the same likelihood of career success.

WHY IT’S IMPORTANT: Learners from low-income backgrounds need to know which option offers the best path to reach their goals and whether their investments of time and money will pay off. Policymakers, employers, and others also need to know where to invest their resources in developing the future workforce.

There are many postsecondary education and workforce training pathways that offer a path to good career outcomes.
There are good jobs that require all levels of training — from those requiring a bachelor's or advanced degree to those that may only require a set of skills learned from a short-term, highly focused training program.
Too often, learners from low-income backgrounds end up in programs that do not align with the needs of employers, resulting in dead ends.

Significant federal infrastructure and green energy investments add to the unmet demand for skilled workers in critical industries. Ascendium made significant investments during 2023 in identifying and validating promising training programs that provide learners with in-demand skills and connect them directly to employment in those sectors.

Creating Accelerated Pathway Options for Young Adults

More learners are looking for guided, quick, and affordable pathways to employment. They also need pathways that put them on a route to a meaningful career with living wages. Propel America is exploring how to grow its “jobs-first” postsecondary education model that allows young adults to participate in accelerated, credit-bearing training to prepare for jobs in healthcare. Learners complete an industry-recognized credential that also counts for college credit, all while receiving career training and support that helps them get a good job upon completing the program.

Studying Programs for Effectiveness and Outcomes

Typically, sectoral training programs provide specific skills required for jobs in certain industries. Economic Mobility Corporation is evaluating programs from two well-established nonprofit sectoral training providers — Project QUEST and Per Scholas — to see their impacts on the education and labor market outcomes for learners from low-income backgrounds. Their evaluation also includes identifying key factors that are associated with positive education and workforce outcomes from those programs.

Providing Funds to Expand a Proven Model

Project QUEST provides services to prepare learners for job readiness, placement, and retention in high-demand career pathways. Project QUEST strives to ensure the success of its learners by providing wraparound services and support to help them overcome barriers to success. With a 30-year history, Project QUEST has undergone rigorous external evaluations demonstrating its effectiveness in helping learners find employment and increase wages. Project QUEST will expand its evidence-based career training and job coaching services to more learners from low-income backgrounds.

View our report online to learn more about grants that bolster postsecondary education and workforce connections to good jobs.

EDUCATION AND CAREER CONNECTIONS ARE ESPECIALLY IMPORTANT IN RURAL PLACES

While job growth in some rural areas presents opportunities for upward mobility, not all rural communities are experiencing the same trend or have the resources to seize growth opportunities. This year, Ascendium invested significantly in grants to trusted partners working in rural communities focused on creating opportunities for upward mobility.

Developing and Strengthening New Training Pathways

For training pathways to be effective, they need to align with local labor market needs and lead to well-paying jobs in their regions. Goodwill Industries International is developing new training pathways that connect to local labor needs, particularly for young adults with low incomes in rural areas. They are doing this by coordinating efforts among workforce training providers and supporting learners as they complete training aligned with high-demand jobs.

Building Opportunities for Training

The Families and Workers Fund will scale career training programs aligned with workforce demands generated by federal investment in green energy and infrastructure. While the growth of new jobs in these industries could infuse new energy and economic opportunity into rural areas, realizing that potential will require the rapid development of new training pathways that are affordable and accessible for rural learners. The Fund will focus on helping rural communities build those training pathways and pair training with support to help learners access and complete them.

While job growth in some rural areas presents opportunities for upward mobility, not all rural communities are experiencing the same trend or have the resources to seize growth opportunities.

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