Montana Year-to-Career Micro-Pathways Initiative

Program Description:

Montana’s Year-to-Career is a statewide microcredential initiative to expand the college-to-career pipeline for high-demand fields. This initiative is a collaboration between Education Design Lab, the Montana Office of the Commissioner of Higher Education (OCHE), and Montana University System (MUS) colleges to design stackable credentials learners can complete within a year.  

These micro-pathways lead to an associate degree and/or immediate employment in fields such as information technology, allied health, construction, advanced manufacturing, and agriculture technology. Year-to-Career created a shared taxonomy for describing micro-pathways, credentials, and skills that align with state and national standards and communicate the meaning and value of the credential to learners and employers. Montana’s model standardized a method of collaborating across the education and workforce systems while allowing each college to tailor pathways to meet the needs of local employers.

Phase II:

As the work continues through 2027, new areas of opportunity have emerged. This prompted Education Design Lab, OCHE and MUS to develop a Phase II strategy to (a) ensure the long-term sustainability and impact of these pathways; (b) increase awareness of the short-term skills-based credentials throughout Montana; and (c) engage additional tribal communities in a design process to assess and market their short-term credential offerings. By leveraging partners’ expertise, the initiative will continue to build and deliver sustainable talent solutions for the state’s most pressing workforce needs. 

Impact:

Twelve MUS colleges participated in the Year-to-Career design process facilitated by Education Design Lab. The colleges worked alongside employers and learners to create micro-pathway credentials spanning healthcare, education, construction, and skilled trades that will put learners on track to earn an associate degree or to secure a job in a high-demand field.  

Thus far, 12 microcredential programs have been launched and up to 20 programs are planned. Year-to-Career publishes its micro-pathways to a statewide credentials registry to enable a comprehensive view of educational opportunities serving workforce needs. 

Population served:

Learners at community colleges and employers in high-demand industries in Montana. 

Learn more here.

Page last updated in August 2026