Effectively Communicating Career Technical Education to Engage Every Learner: Advance CTE released a new resource that offers local and state CTE leaders strategies on how to best communicate, engage and build relationships with key populations and groups, including learners with Perkins V special populations status. The self-paced tool can be customized to meet the needs of each user and comes with videos, transcripts and other resources to help users create and assess communications for key audiences.
Students’ Experiences and the Implications of Enhanced Holistic Supports for Non-degree Pathways: A report from the National Skills Coalition details how students experience non-degree pathways and identifies what additional supports students need. Researchers found the following about how students experience non-degree pathways programs:
- Students pursue these programs to build better lives for themselves and their families.
- Students believe that these programs are not set up for them, with a lack of flexibility that makes it difficult to balance work, life and education responsibilities.
- Students find supports inadequate. Financial security is a major issue for many, and information on how to access resources is often patchy.
Based on their experiences in non-degree pathways, students described what they want to see more of from their programs:
- More financial and basic needs services to support students.
- Additional support in navigating public benefit programs.
- Increased affordable child care access for parents.
- More information and tailored support for student decision-making.
- Better awareness and understanding of students’ experiences in non-degree pathways programs.
Inspiring Reenrollment in Some College, No Credential (SCNC) Students: Education Dynamics released a report that aims to better understand the circumstances surrounding students who attend a postsecondary institution but ultimately leave without a credential: 36.8 million students under the age of 65 fell into this category in 2022.
When initially enrolling in a postsecondary institution, these students' most common motivator was starting a new career to earn more money (60%). Students also cited launching a career aligned with their interests (40%) and taking the next step after high school/technical school (30%) as top motivators for seeking postsecondary education. Students reported they were aware of what career they wanted to pursue (85%) and were informed of potential career paths by their respective institutions (85%). However, 34% indicated that transferring credits was the most challenging part of the enrollment process, with the number of credits a school is willing to accept significantly influencing enrollment decisions.
Students exited their programs for a variety of reasons, most commonly cost (41%); lack of flexibility (19%); and inability to use federal financial aid (15%), as well as COVID-19-related reasons.
To address barriers to reenrollment, researchers recommend making credit transfer policies more transparent, accepting and easier to understand.
Women Need Better Access to High-paying Apprenticeships: The Institute for Women’s Policy Research published a brief that analyzes apprenticeship income and opportunities accessed by men and women. The Institute found that, in 2024, the median hourly wage for women that completed registered apprenticeships was $22 compared to $34.68 for men, with Black women apprentices earning only $20 an hour. Researchers noted that this pay gap is largely owing to women’s overrepresentation in low-paying apprenticeship fields.
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