CTE Policy Watch: A blog for CTE advocates

Meet Zach Curtis, ACTE's new Manager of Government Relations

This week, I came aboard the ACTE team as the new Manager of Government Relations. I will be the association’s primary lobbyist, working alongside the public policy team to advocate for CTE priorities on Capitol Hill and with the executive branch. Specifically, I will be laser-focused on CTE funding through the federal budget and appropriations process, issues falling under the House and Senate education committees, and any relevant regulatory issues pertaining to the Department of Education or Labor. I am honored to be advocating on behalf of ACTE’s members – I hope to have the opportunity to meet you in the future, be it virtually or in person. But first, I wanted to take a moment today to introduce myself to you in my first blog post.

Before ever stepping foot in Washington, D.C., I was deeply passionate about education policy and its promise of being the “great equalizer”. In 2016, I had the opportunity to lead a consulting project between Bloomberg (a media and technology company) and San Francisco Unified School district in which we helped the district address issues of inequity in their school assignment process. I quickly learned that, despite all good intentions, our education and economic systems often do not provide equal opportunity to prosperous and fulfilling lives for every learner. I am particularly excited to begin at ACTE because, at my core, I believe that CTE is one of the most effective and promising ways in which we can work toward a better and more equitable future.

After graduating from the University of Oregon with a bachelor’s degree in International Affairs, I began my career in policy as an intern for Congressman Sam Farr (D-CA) working on constituent affairs. From there, I spent the next 6.5 years working for Bloomberg in New York, San Francisco, and Washington D.C. For the bulk of that time, I served as an Account Executive for Bloomberg Government advising government affairs teams at trade associations, nonprofits, and institutions of higher education. At the beginning of 2020, I began pursuing a master’s degree in Public Policy from the George Washington University – I expect to complete this degree in May of 2022.

Most recently, I worked on federal appropriations and educator preparation policies at Learning Policy Institute (LPI). In my research at LPI, I saw the staggering impact that COVID-19 had on financial barriers to enrollment for prospective CTE students. While concerning, I see this as a moment of tremendous opportunity to advance policies that allow hard-working citizens access to pathways to fulfilling, high-wage and high-demand careers.

I look forward to championing CTE on behalf of our members to ensure we provide generations to come with the skills needed to succeed in our modern workforce. Should there be any way I can be a resource and partner to you, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me at zcurtis@acteonline.org or at 202-930-3165.

The Role of Community and Technical Colleges in Workforce Education

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to accelerate changes in the labor market, community and technical colleges are increasingly seen as essential institutions to provide workforce education. While two-year institutions have the reach, scale and infrastructure to deliver the upskilling that will be needed in years ahead, policymakers are challenged with a lack of data on workforce education. To address this information gap, Opportunity America, in collaboration with the Lumina Foundation and Amherst H. Wilder Foundation, recently published a report on noncredit and credit workforce education programs using survey responses from more than 600 public two-year institutions.

Student characteristics: More than half of students at the community colleges that responded to the survey are enrolled in for-credit or noncredit job-focused programs, with an estimated 3.7 million students (35%) enrolled in noncredit programs. Additionally, noncredit programs have a larger share of older adult learners and students enrolled in occupation-focused programs than credit programs. The report also notes that community colleges collect little data on noncredit students, such as race and ethnicity, making it difficult to determine how well these programs are equitably serving learners.

Program characteristics: Both credit and noncredit programs are increasingly preparing students for industry certifications and 36% of colleges’ employer partners provide on-the-job work experience. Furthermore, while noncredit fields of study vary by college and state, health care is the most common field overall.

Transfer: The findings reveal that very few colleges provide transition opportunities from noncredit to credit education and less than 20% of students make this transition. The report noted that articulation agreements between credit and noncredit programs and increasing support for adult learners who return to college can improve transition opportunities.

Financing and accountability: Currently, noncredit workforce programs are ineligible for federal aid and three-quarters of noncredit workforce programs are shorter than 150 clock hours, excluding them from bills like the JOBS Act aimed at expanding workforce program funding. Therefore, students and employers largely cover the cost of noncredit programs. The report also details that most colleges use employer input and labor market data to assess noncredit workforce program quality, but rarely utilize employment outcomes.

Based on these findings, the authors suggest that state lawmakers undertake the following recommendations:

• Improve data collection on noncredit workforce programs
• Allocate funding based on programs’ labor market alignment and employment outcomes
• Use incentives, data and frameworks to create pathways between noncredit and credit workforce programs

Read the report here or view the Opportunity America’s virtual release here.

DC Digest: September 13-20

Last week, the remaining House Committees finished their work on portions of the Build Back Better Act, also known as the budget reconciliation package, and the Senate returned to Washington only to consider pending nominations. You can read more about the progress and next steps for the Build Back Better Act below, and here are other news and notes from Washington: 

• Next Steps for Build Back Better Act: The next legislative step is for the House Budget Committee to compile each piece of the bill into one larger bill and send it to the House Rules Committee, where it will continue to move through the legislative process. At this stage, the reconciliation process will likely move to closed-door negotiations between key Democrats and leadership in the House and Senate to come up with a package that can garner enough Democratic votes to pass each chamber. Further markups and activity may also take place in the Senate, making this a critical time for you to contact your Members of Congress and urge them to include the robust funding levels for CTE and workforce development in the Build Back Better Act, as well as include CTE programs, including at area CTE centers. in any free postsecondary education proposals. 
   
• ACTE Joins Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) in Applauding Committee Passage of the Build Back Better Act: Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) applauded the House Education and Labor Committee passing its portion of the Build Back Better Act, which includes $4 billion in dedicated funding for CTE programs, and nearly $80 billion total in funding for workforce development programs. ACTE joined Rep. Krishnamoorthi’s press statement celebrating the robust funding levels for CTE and workforce development programs, and is calling on the Senate to maintain or exceed these levels in the Build Back Better Act.

• James Kvaal Confirmed as Under Secretary of Education: The Senate has confirmed James Kvaal to be Under Secretary of Education in the U.S. Department of Education, where his focus will be on higher education priorities for the Biden Administration.

Research Roundup: Funding, Data and Accountability

Challenges in Sharing State Data: According to a report by the Data Quality Campaign (DQC), the pandemic has caused disrupted post-high school pathways, high levels of unfinished learning and low levels of student enrollment and engagement in secondary schools. Using public opinion polling of principals and parents, the report reveals disconnects in data that prevent school faculty and parents from addressing these challenges. The report outlines the following key findings and recommendations state leaders should take to improve access and use of data:

• Although 80% of principals feel confident that teachers can properly use data, teachers report they do not have sufficient support or training. State leaders should work with districts to implement data training and incorporate data literacy skills into teacher preparation programs.
• Most parents want data from state assessments and support resuming state assessments that were suspended during COVID-19, but 80% of principals think locally designed assessments are more accurate. This perception is driven in part by how long it can take to receive state assessment data on the local level. State leaders can improve the sharing of state assessment data with local leaders, educators and families by reporting this data as soon as possible and in an easy-to-understand manner.
• Few parents know where to find data about post-high school transitions. In addition, only 46% of principals report knowing where to find all the data they need to understand how well their school prepares students for their post-high school education and careers. State leaders should promote cross-agency collaboration to create high quality longitudinal data systems as well as include disaggregated data in reporting.

In 2020, Advance CTE and ACTE released two resources that can help state and local CTE leaders respond to data sharing challenges. Beyond the Numbers: Design Principles for CTE Data Reporting provides nine principles for developing effective and accessible CTE data reporting tools. Beyond the Numbers: A Toolkit for Communicating CTE Data includes models and templates that users can download to build their own engaging infographics, presentations and other materials to communicate their data.   

Post-pandemic Recruitment and Financial Aid Strategies: With enrollment down by 9.5% at community colleges across the country, an article by Inside Higher Ed covers innovative strategies colleges are employing to attract students for the fall 2021 semester. While many colleges reported using traditional on-campus registration and information events, some institutions are attempting to re-enroll former students who dropped out before graduating. For example, Blue Ridge Community College in North Carolina has seen re-enrollment strategies paired with scholarship opportunities increase enrollment by more than 13% compared to fall 2019. Other institutions established and marketed new programs that fill workforce needs, and a few community colleges reported implementing financial incentives for students using federal stimulus funds.

Pandemic Impacts on Accountability: The COVID-19 pandemic’s effects on the economy and financial aid policies are likely to impact federal higher education accountability metrics such as student loan repayment and earnings. In an Urban Institute report, researchers predict how each federal accountability metric will be affected by the pandemic. Most relevant to CTE, metrics on the College Scorecard, such as program-level earnings and employment rates, are predicted to decrease and could affect the decisions of prospective students.

The authors propose several options for helping learners make informed decisions using College Scorecard data, such as preserving pre-pandemic earnings data in lieu of or along with pandemic-era earnings data, excluding data from the first six months of the pandemic or providing additional context. In the longer term, data could be cushioned from the swings caused by temporary economic disruptions by averaging across more years of data or across multiple cohorts of students.

Performance-Based Funding and Student Earnings: In response to growing concerns about the value of public postsecondary education, some states adopted performance-based funding (PBF) systems to hold colleges accountable for student success metrics and labor market outcomes. InformEd States published a working paper to determine if PBF has impacted student earnings by analyzing federal data on post-college outcomes between 1997 and 2009. Researchers outlined the following key findings:

• PBF systems resulted in an average 1% earnings increase for students who attended four-year institutions, with larger increases for low-income students. For two-year colleges, there were no increases in earnings.
• PBF systems subject to equity metrics, such the academic success of low-income students, showed some increase in earnings, while workforce metrics had little impact.

The authors call for additional research and suggest that colleges serving large numbers of students of color may be disadvantaged by PBF owing to systemic labor market discrimination against people of color.

Updated: Biosciences Sector Sheet

ACTE recently updated its Sector Sheet on CTE’s role in developing the biosciences workforce with current labor market projections, information about how CTE prepares the workforce for this sector, and examples of exemplary programs in the biosciences.

The biosciences field has been absolutely critical to combatting COVID-19, and a continued demand for research and development of treatments and vaccines for infectious diseases will drive a projected rise in employment. The sector expanded its workforce in 2020 and opportunities for lab technicians are expected to grow by at least 9% through 2029. In addition, the pharmaceutical and medicine manufacturing sub-sector is projected to grow its workforce by about 19% through 2029 owing to production of vaccines and other pharmaceuticals.

CTE programs are at the forefront in preparing youth and adults for bioscience careers. On the secondary level, Carlmont High School in Belmont, California, is home to the Biotechnology Institute, a three-year, cross-curricular small learning community. The biotechnology coursework culminates in a college-level biomanufacturing course in which students follow the path of a drug from inception to a final, marketed product. In addition, learners interact with biotechnology professionals through guest speakers, industry tours, mentorships and job shadowing. On the postsecondary level, InnovATEBIO is a National Science Foundation-funded initiative that is developing the biotechnology technician workforce. It assists 119 community college programs in 38 states with curriculum, professional development and other supports. In addition, InnovATEBIO builds bridges across the biotechnology workforce pipeline through relationships with industry leaders, four-year colleges and K-12 schools.

ACTE’s Sector Sheet series is generously supported by Pearson.   

DC Digest: September 6-12

House Committees spent the last week in Washington marking up portions of the $3.5 trillion budget reconciliation package, the Build Back Better Act, while the Senate and full House remained in recess. The House Education and Labor Committee held its portion of the bill’s markup on September 9 and 10. The bill contains $4 billion for CTE to be distributed through existing Perkins V funding streams, in addition to a significant number of other investments in programs or initiatives that could benefit CTE programs, students and institutions. You can read more below! As this bill moves forward, it is important that CTE stakeholders continue to keep up the pressure on Members of Congress to include important investments in education and workforce development in the budget reconciliation bill, and to ensure all CTE programs are included! As we wait for more details on the timing of further movement on this bill and other issues, here is the latest from Washington:

 

• House Education and Labor Committee Marks Up Portion of Budget Reconciliation Package: The Committee’s portion of the bill contains a total of $761 billion in new funding, and in a significant victory, $4 billion for CTE programs through the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act (Perkins V)! ACTE has sent a letter to Chairman Bobby Scott (D-VA) of the House Education and Labor Committee expressing support for the CTE funding, but concern over the exclusion of area CTE centers in another part of the bill focused on free community college. We are actively working with Congress to support these critical institutions. Read more on CTE Policy Watch. 

 

• Department of Education Announces Funding for School Districts Facing Withheld Funding: The Department of Education has announced a grant program, Project SAFE, to support school districts that have funds withheld by states, or that incur financial penalties, for implementing COVID-19 mitigation strategies. The program will use funding within the Department of Education from the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) Title IV, Part F, School Safety National Activities program. School districts would be able to apply for grants to restore funding withheld by state leaders when a school district implemented mitigation strategies. 

 

• Department of Education Announces Rethink Adult Ed Pre-Apprenticeship Challenge Winners: The Department of Education has announced the grand-prize winner and four runners-up in the Rethink Adult Ed Challenge, a $750,000 competition to advance pre-apprenticeships. Nearly 100 adult education providers created high-quality designs for programs that better prepare learners for success in their apprenticeships. 

 

• Department of Education Approves Additional ARP-ESSER Funds: The Department of Education has announced that it has approved ARP-ESSER plans for Idaho, North Carolina, Maine and Nevada. ARP-ESSER funds are utilized to sustain the safe operation of schools and expand opportunities for students impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. 

 

• Department of Labor Announces Funding to Expand Registered Apprenticeships in Critical Industries: The Department of Labor has announced the availability of funds to award up to four new contracts to Industry Intermediaries to launch, promote and expand registered apprenticeship models in critical industries impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. Industry Intermediaries are organizations within an industry or sub-sector serving as liaisons to employers, other industry partners and the department’s Office of Apprenticeship to determine skill needs and workforce trends and work with employers to increase apprenticeship opportunities, particularly in the care economy sector, electric power, supply chains, and transportation and logistics. You can learn more about the funding opportunity here. 

 

• Department of Labor Announces Funding to Expand Job Opportunities for Women in Apprenticeships and Nontraditional Occupations: The Department of Labor has announced $3.3 million in grant funding to help recruit, train and retain more women in quality preapprenticeships, registered apprenticeship programs and nontraditional occupations. Grants were awarded to organizations in California, Mississippi, New York, Texas and Wisconsin.

House Education and Labor Committee Marks Up Portion of Budget Reconciliation Package

UPDATE: The markup continued into September 10, and the full committee approved its portion of the Build Back Better Act, 28-22. Stay tuned to CTE Policy Watch for more details about next steps, including the timing of markups in the Senate. The full House will return on September 20. In the meantime, continue to contact your Members of Congress and urge them to include important investments in education and workforce development in the budget reconciliation bill, and to ensure all CTE programs are included! ACTE is calling on Congress to maintain the robust funding levels provided for these programs in the House Education and Labor Committee’s portion of the Build Back Better Act.

 

The House Education and Labor Committee began marking up its portion of the House’s $3.5 trillion budget reconciliation bill, known as the Build Back Better Act, on September 9. The Committee’s portion of the bill contains a total of $761 billion in new funding, and in a significant victory, $4 billion for career and technical education (CTE) programs through the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act (Perkins V)! 

The bill also includes a significant number of other investments in programs or initiatives that could benefit CTE programs, students and institutions. Relevant components of the bill include: 

 

• Perkins Basic State Grant/Innovation and Modernization: $3 billion in funding through the Perkins Basic State Grant funding stream, with an additional $1 billion in funding for the existing Innovation and Modernization fund, for a total of $4 billion to be distributed through Perkins V. 

 

• Tuition-Free Community College: Beginning in financial aid year 2023-24, the bill provides two years of tuition-free community college for eligible students. 

 

• WIOA Allocations: $16 billion for dislocated worker employment and training; $15 billion for adult worker employment and training activities; $9.05 billion for youth workforce investment activities; $3.6 billion for carrying out ex-offender activities. 

 

• Registered Apprenticeships, Youth Apprenticeships and Pre-Apprenticeships: $5 billion for grants, cooperative agreements, contracts or other arrangements to create or expand registered apprenticeship programs, youth apprenticeship and pre-apprenticeship programs. 

 

• Community College and Industry Partnerships Grants: $2 billion for grants to community colleges to expanding workforce development and employment opportunities in high-skill, high-wage, or in-demand industry sectors or occupations. 

 

• Industry or Sector Partnership Grants: $10 billion for competitive grants to partnerships to expand workforce development and employment opportunities for high-skill, high-wage, and in-demand industry sectors or occupations, including information technology, clean energy, infrastructure and transportation, advanced manufacturing, public health home care and early childhood care and education. 

 

• Direct Care Workforce: $1.48 billion to award competitive grants to provide competitive wages, benefits, and other supportive services to direct care workers, and for the recruitment, retention and training of direct care workers. 

 

• Adult Basic Education: $3.6 billion to support adult education programs under Title II of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act. 

 

• Rebuild America’s Schools Grant Program: $81 billion from FY 2022-24 for grants to state educational agencies (SEAs), with $39.6 billion awarded in each of FYs 2023 and 2024. Funds would be awarded to local educational agencies to create and implement facilities plans to address health, safety, educational equity, enrollment diversity, environmental sustainability and climate resiliency of public school facilities. 

 

• “Grow Your Own” programs: $197 million to address teacher shortages in high-need subjects and locations and to increase the diversity of the education workforce. 

 

• Retention and completion grants: $9 billion for retention and completion grants to institutions of higher education. 

 

• Pell Grants: increase the maximum aid amount by $500 per year through the 2029-30 school year. 

 

However, based on the definitions included in the draft legislation, area CTE centers (ATCs) have been left out of the free community college proposal in particular. In many states, these public, fully accredited institutions are the primary delivery of postsecondary CTE certificate programs, but because they do not grant associate degrees, ATCs would not be included in this important program. 

ACTE has sent a letter to Chairman Bobby Scott (D-VA) of the House Education and Labor Committee expressing concern over the exclusion of ATCs in the Committee’s portion of the Build Back Better Act, and is actively working with Congress to support these critical institutions.   

As this bill moves forward, it is important that CTE stakeholders continue to keep up the pressure on Members of Congress to include important investments in education and workforce development in the budget reconciliation bill, and to ensure all CTE programs are included! 

You can read the full text of the Committee’s print of the Build Back Better Act here. Stay tuned to the CTE Policy Watch blog for the latest developments impacting CTE during the budget reconciliation process!

DC Digest: August 30-September 5

Members of the House and Senate will soon begin to return from their August recess with an eye toward crafting pieces of a $3.5 trillion budget reconciliation package. The House and Senate committees that received reconciliation instructions in the budget resolution, including the House Education and Labor Committee and the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, are working with an informal deadline of September 15 to complete their work. This is a critical time for CTE, as lawmakers will be making key funding decisions during the reconciliation process. You can contact your representatives and senators and ask them to ensure CTE and workforce development are prioritized in the budget reconciliation package. 

 

• Congressmen Krishnamoorthi and Langevin Introduce Resolution Supporting CTE: Congressmen Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) and Jim Langevin (D-RI) introduced a House resolution calling for doubling federal funding for CTE through the budget reconciliation process. ACTE has endorsed this resolution, and ACTE Executive Director LeAnn Wilson is quoted in the press release. ACTE urges Members of Congress to recognize and take advantage of this unique opportunity to support CTE programs at a critical time for our nation’s students and economy. 

 

• ACTE Sends Letter to House and Senate Committee Leadership to Support Area CTE Centers: ACTE, along with Advance CTE, sent a letter to the bipartisan leadership of the House Education and Labor Committee and the Senate HELP Committee to ensure that area CTE centers (ATCs) are not inadvertently overlooked as eligible institutions in any free college proposal offered in the budget reconciliation package, or any other postsecondary programs included in that package designed to support students as they obtain postsecondary credentials. 

 

• Department of Education Releases Resource to Address Lost Instruction Time: The Department of Education has released a new resource, “Strategies for Using American Rescue Plan Funding to Address the Impact of Lost Instructional Time,” to help support educators as they implement, refine, and work to continuously improve their strategies for supporting students.

ACTION ALERT: Ask Your Members of Congress to Support CTE Funding During Critical Budget Reconciliation Period!

Following the passage of a budget resolution by the House and Senate, the House Committee on Education and Labor and the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee will begin drafting their portions of the larger budget reconciliation package. At this stage of the process, the key funding decisions for CTE are being made by members of these committees. We need your help to put pressure on policymakers to prioritize investments in CTE programs and workforce development in the budget reconciliation bill.  

Your advocacy has been instrumental in securing funding increases for CTE for the past several years, and your voice is critical to ensuring that policymakers in Washington understand the many benefits of high-quality CTE programs. The Biden Administration has proposed $10 billion over 10 years for CTE programs in the reconciliation bill as a part of the President’s Fiscal Year 2022 budget request and American Jobs Plan. More broadly, the Biden Administration is calling for $100 billion in funding for workforce development. However,amidst competing priorities and limited resources available for education spending in the bill, these funds may not be included. 

In addition, there are numerous discussions underway about how to provide up to two years of free college through the bill, and how to support postsecondary retention and completion. ACTE is proactively working to ensure that CTE programs at area CTE centers and certificate programs at other institutions are included in any of these proposals. 

The House Education and Labor Committee is expected to begin considering its portion of the budget reconciliation package as soon as Thursday, September 9, and is putting that proposal together now. The Senate HELP Committee is expected to follow soon after, so now is the time to act! 
 

ACTION NEEDED:  

CLICK HERE to ask your Members of Congress to weigh in with their colleagues on the Senate HELP Committee and House Education and Labor Committee to ask them to support these three priorities in the budget reconciliation bill: 
 

• Include the Biden Administration’s proposed investment of $10 billion over 10 years for CTE programs  
• Match the Biden Administration’s $100 billion request for workforce development funding overall, including CTE funding 
• Ensure that CTE programs are included in any postsecondary proposals, such as free college and college retention and completion initiatives, including programs at area CTE centers.  

Additionally, if you have met with a staff member during NPS or at another time and have a direct contact, feel free to call or email directly rather than using the Action Center link. You can also call the U.S. Capitol switchboard at (202) 224-3121, and an operator will connect you to your requested House or Senate office. Please contact your Members of Congress today!

Research Round-up: Improving Credential Quality and Data

Credential Quality and Transparency: With nearly one million unique credentials issued by 500,000 providers in the United States, both data transparency and credential quality assurance are essential for learners to make informed decisions about their futures. The National Skills Coalition (NSC) has released a toolkit providing a guide for how states can help to improve credential quality and transparency. The toolkit recommends states use a four-criteria framework developed by NSC to assess the quality of non-degree credentials and map results to an open-access tool, currently being built by Credential Engine, that learners can access to obtain trusted information on credentials.

State Authorization for Short-term Credentials: The State Higher Education Executive Officers Association (SHEEO) released a report intended to assist states in developing authorization and regulatory policies for short-term credential programs. The researchers examined legislative documents and interviewed leaders from state agencies and private organizations in five states that have already implemented these regulatory policies, including California, Georgia, Illinois, New York and Washington. Their findings informed the following recommendations for policymakers and state authorizing agencies to consider when crafting short-term credential regulatory policies:

• State authorizing agencies should collect and publish outcome data on all postsecondary credentials in the state and create a database of high-quality short-term credential programs.
• Policymakers should develop a state longitudinal data system that includes employment and earnings data.
• State authorizing agencies should assist credential programs in the authorization process and encourage postsecondary institutions to accept stackable credentials toward an associate or bachelor’s degree.
• Policymakers should expand Pell Grant programs and state-based financial aid to support non-degree skills training and incentivize institutions to forge relationships with employers.

Improving Career Education Pathways into California’s Workforce: The Public Policy Institute of California released a research report detailing challenges faced by career education students and programs in the California community college system. The study looked at the trajectories of nearly one million students who have pursued career education at the state’s community colleges and interviewed stakeholders. Researchers described the following key findings:

• On average, it takes 2.5 years to complete a credential. Black, Latino and younger students are less likely to earn a credential.
• Students who complete at least one full-time term or who received Pell Grant funding have significantly higher completion rates.
• While only 25% of students who pursued career education earned a credential and 5% completed a stackable credential pathway, many students re-enrolled within three years of completing their first credential, indicating a desire to further their education.
• Stakeholders cited challenges to partnerships with employers and stated that current programs do not provide enough support systems for adult learners.

The report offered five priorities to ensure student success and high-quality workforce training in California’s community college system: provide support systems to help students complete credentials, address equity gaps in student achievement, increase understanding of students’ goals, improve collaboration among colleges and employers, and create statewide coordination and goals.

Which College Programs Give Students the Best Bang for their Buck: Third Way published a report outlining which college programs give students the best return on investment (ROI). The report analyzed nearly 2.2 million graduates from 40,000 college programs using data from the U.S. Department of Education. Researchers determined a program’s ROI by calculating how long it takes to recoup the costs of earning a credential, based on the earnings premium the typical graduate obtains after completing a program. The report describes the following findings:

• Nearly half of all college programs find their graduates earning enough to recoup their costs in five years or less and two-thirds do so by 10 years after graduation. But almost one quarter of all programs show their graduates fail to earn enough to recoup their costs within 20 years after graduation.
• While a larger portion of bachelor’s degree programs have positive ROI for graduates, students who earn an associate degree have the highest likelihood of recouping their costs within the first five years. Similarly, almost half of all certificate programs experience a high likelihood of recouping costs in the first five years.
• Programs at public institutions have the highest likelihood that graduates will be able to recoup their costs within five years (56%) and 10 years (73%) and over half of private non-profit institution programs show that graduates are able to recoup their costs within 10 years. Conversely, nearly half of programs at for-profit institutions show no ROI at any point.
• Bachelor’s degree and associate degree programs see higher ROI in higher-paying fields such as science, engineering and health. Certificate programs report higher ROI in fields with high-demand skills such as trucking.