Strategy 1: Build Alignment, Communication, and Coordination Across Systems and Sectors for Learner Success
Symbol Legend
Promising Practice
Commission Recommendation
Various local, state, and federal agencies fund and manage education, service, and workforce programs. These programs have different funding streams; may have different requirements or criteria for participation based on participant age, location of programming, or provider of the education or training; are held to different accountability standards; and track various outcomes and success metrics. An individual may be receiving education and training in multiple places or be eligible for different funding sources that do not share data, information, or application processes. Such fragmentation across systems complicates the search for information about the value of certain postsecondary pathways and comparisons of options. Siloed accountability systems also make collaboration across sectors difficult when programs have requirements that are at odds with one another or when they do not facilitate smooth transitions for participants. These silos unnecessarily complicate learners’ experiences and are an inefficient use of public funds.
Education leaders, business leaders, and policymakers should align education and credentialing to the existing and predicted structure of what the labor market needs. Cross-sector coordination both enhances and accelerates the quality of intelligence about how workforce needs are changing. Breaking down these silos would also help learners and workers to access and fully utilize the funds available to them through employer and service benefits. Data collection and reporting should provide the public with accessible and transparent dashboards that will inform their decisions about the credentials most likely to lead to economic mobility, and incentives should be aligned to provide learners with valuable credentials in high-demand occupations.
Recommendation 1
Break Down Silos and Build Shared Responsibility Across Education and Workforce Systems
The following recommendations are built upon a foundation of breaking down historical silos between K–12 education, higher education institutions, service organizations, workforce development agencies, and employers. A more collaborative ecosystem that intentionally connects these sectors can help ensure that learning experiences are aligned with evolving labor market needs and that learners receive effective guidance as they transition between educational and career milestones. Strategies to foster such collaboration include the development of cross-sector partnerships and the alignment of shared outcomes metrics. Establishing common metrics helps stakeholders evaluate progress toward shared goals and promotes transparency across systems.
Build Cross-Sector Partnerships to Support Education and Workforce Needs
The numerous local, state, and federal agencies, boards, and other bodies that govern education, other youth development programs, service pathways, and workforce development have a shared interest in aligning their work to better serve everyone. To align goals across traditional silos, state policymakers and system leaders can facilitate and incentivize collaboration between education and workforce governing bodies. While convening across sectors is a necessary first step, simply meeting on a regular basis will not improve learner outcomes. To be successful, state leaders must set a vision for cross-sector collaboration that includes shared goals and necessary resources, such as time, funding, and information.
Based in Wisconsin, WRTP | BIG STEP is recognized as a national model of cross-sector partnership, bringing together employers, labor unions, government agencies, and community-based organizations to align training with regional industry demand and connect individuals to family-sustaining careers.32 The organization delivers sector-based training through employer-informed curricula and apprenticeship pathways that respond to evolving labor market needs and skills shortages. Central to success is its role as a workforce intermediary, coordinating across stakeholders to identify workforce needs, design training programs, and facilitate job placement while balancing the interests of workers and industry. By serving as a convening and translating entity, WRTP | BIG STEP reduces fragmentation across systems and enables more efficient talent development, contributing to both economic mobility for participants and competitiveness for regional industries.
THE COMMISSION RECOMMENDS that, to facilitate collaboration across sectors and current silos, state leaders establish and support bodies, at the statewide and regional levels, that convene stakeholders across K–12, postsecondary education, workforce, philanthropy, military, service-year programs, and community-based organizations and that include learners.
Define and Align Readiness Metrics for Specific Education and Work Pathways
Learners need more specific guidance to prepare themselves for the career, college, or service path they choose. Leaders across higher education, industry, and service should work together to provide more specific measures of readiness for different paths to help learners understand the prerequisites necessary to be fully prepared to take their next steps. Furthermore, higher education admissions criteria and hiring requirements should be aligned to these readiness metrics so that learners can succeed in the next step in their journey if they reach the defined benchmarks. By collaborating, K–12, higher education, and workforce development can align more of their outcomes metrics and improve transparency and public access to information.
Montana’s Year-to-Career initiative is a powerful example of cross-sector collaboration addressing the needs of one of the country’s most rural states by developing common language and defining specific pathways from education to workforce and focusing on quality over quantity to meet local needs.33 Facilitated by Education Design Lab, the Montana Office of the Commissioner of Higher Education and Montana’s public two-year colleges have collaborated with employers, learners, and local stakeholders to codesign micropathways programs of stackable credentials earned in less than a year that can lead to an associate degree and immediate employment. Different colleges designed different pathways responsive to their local high-demand occupations, deepened their relationships with employers by moving from advisory to codesigner roles, and brought micropathways to a tribal college for the first time.34
Education leaders and policymakers should work together to clarify and close gaps in the reporting around transition points in learners’ journeys. Additional support could be provided by updating infrastructure to follow and assist learners through extended lifelong learning journeys, which will become more necessary and more complicated in a rapidly changing economy. State policymakers can contribute to these efforts by creating clear definitions of career, college, and service readiness, requiring a common set of outcomes and metrics, and aligning state plans and goals across systems.
THE COMMISSION RECOMMENDS that outcomes metrics used in state education and workforce plans be aligned across programs with transparent validation standards in order to avoid inefficient duplication, leverage the potential for braiding and blending of federal funds, and bring coherence to programs, education, and training that serves learners and workers.
Recommendation 2
Maximize Existing Resources to Fund Education Opportunities
As lifelong learning continues to be critical in adapting to an ever-evolving labor market in the face of rapid technological advances, workers are more likely to be interested in acquiring additional credentials throughout their careers. In the context of rapid technological advancement, including AI, learners and workers will need to upskill and reskill continually if they are to advance professionally. This growing need for lifelong learning requires sustained funding of postsecondary education and training to increase access to opportunity.
Serving in the military or participating in a service-year program endows people with valuable skills, competencies, and knowledge, such as collaboration on teams, problem-solving, and leadership under pressure. Individuals often leave service with financial education awards, matched by many postsecondary institutions, that can be applied toward future schooling. Additional benefits and supports could be offered to ease the transition to postsecondary education and training and to help individuals fully leverage the value of their employer-provided benefits and service experiences.
Sustain and Align Funding Across Federal, State, and Institutional Sources for Learner Access and Success
Local school districts, higher education institutions, service programs, and workforce training providers can receive funding from a variety of federal, state, local, and private sources, which can lead to conflicting eligibility or reporting requirements and introduces the possibility of variable year-to-year funding. Specific populations such as learners from low-income backgrounds and learners with disabilities may need more support to be ready for postsecondary opportunities and are eligible for vital additional aid that should be maintained.35 As the labor market demands more education and training from the workforce, not only must funding be sustained to ensure that these opportunities for advancement remain accessible to learners and workers; it must also be aligned across the various sources to avoid conflicting regulations and inefficiencies.
“Funding for partnerships is not a high priority. [There used to be] a monthly College Promise gathering, and they brought people from K–12 and the community college and the university, and that was amazing. . . . But instead, since then, the grants that we’ve gotten are Title V, to make a science resource center; or everything’s niche and local . . . and so therefore we’re missing out on each other’s expertise.”
—Community college administrator in California
Aligning funding also better serves learners who currently navigate a fragmented landscape of applications for federal and state financial aid and private and institutional scholarships or other aid. Increased coordination across these levels and the use of a single application for financial aid would greatly simplify the process and increase access for learners, helping them better understand the types, amounts, and terms of the aid they are eligible for.
The Kalamazoo Promise is a local, place-based “first-dollar” scholarship program in Michigan that guarantees funding of postsecondary education costs up to full tuition and mandatory fees at in-state public and participating private institutions for graduates of Kalamazoo Public Schools who attended for all of grades K–12, with a sliding scale for fewer years of enrollment.36 Unlike many last-dollar programs, this program’s structure allows learners to layer additional state and federal aid (such as Pell Grants) on top of the award to maximize total financial support. The program also provides flexibility to access these funds anytime within ten years after graduating high school, and it includes an extension for learners who are actively serving in the military.
THE COMMISSION RECOMMENDS that local, state, and federal government officials sustain and align funding for education, service, and workforce programs to increase transparency and reduce complexity while closing affordability gaps and smoothing pathways for learners.
Align Education Benefits for Military Veterans, Service-Year Alumni, and Workers to Career Paths
In a 2024 survey, more than nine in ten U.S. companies reported offering this type of benefit, most often in the form of tuition reimbursement.37 However, the vast majority of these benefits go unused each year, and uptake rates differ starkly by type of industry, with white-collar professionals more likely to use their employer-provided education benefits.38 To maximize the use of these benefits across all sectors, employers, educators, and service organizations should work together to map the available education, service, and training opportunities that would help someone build the skills needed to enter a particular career, translate their service experience to another industry, or to advance at their current employer.
Every state has a service commission, and increased collaboration with the state education and workforce governing bodies would reap benefits across all three sectors.39 Several U.S. universities offer financial aid to match or supplement service benefits, especially schools with a public service focus, such as the Clinton School of Public Service at the University of Arkansas and the University of Michigan’s Taubman College.40 Some states and public institutions offer in-state tuition and waive residency requirements for anyone who has completed a service-year program in that state, including Maryland; West Virginia University waives the entire cost of tuition.41 Six states (Colorado, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, Oregon, and Wisconsin) waive income tax on the Segal Education Award for AmeriCorps graduates.42
A 2024 study of outcomes for the Post-9/11 GI Bill revealed that a majority of eligible military veterans had enrolled at an institution of higher education and used their education benefit.43 Almost twice as many veterans graduated within six years compared to peers. Consistent with national trends, veterans’ earnings generally increased with greater educational attainment, demonstrating the value of pursuing a degree following service. A 2025 survey of service-year alumni revealed that 69 percent of alums who began their service year with a high school diploma or general equivalency diploma (GED) went on to receive additional degrees after their service year.44 In addition to qualifying for financial benefits available to military veterans and service-year graduates, these applicants may also be eligible for admissions preferences and academic credit for prior experience.
As industries evolve more rapidly with technological advances, including AI, employees are more likely to switch industries or need to adapt to labor market changes over the course of their careers. Employees may need only a short program of study to learn new skills or gain competencies that allow them to take the next step in their career. Industry leaders can help workers maximize their employer-sponsored educational benefits by collaborating with higher education institutions to align benefits with programs that allow workers to upskill or reskill for other positions in the organization.
THE COMMISSION RECOMMENDS improving advising for military veterans and service-year alumni to fully leverage their education benefits; it also recommends expanding college tuition subsidies for service-year program participants to lessen financial concerns about college enrollment. The Commission recommends that employers and local institutions of higher education collaborate to clarify how their employer-provided education benefits might be used by employees to advance along different career paths within their organization.
Expand and Integrate Earn-and-Learn Experiences
High-quality earn-and-learn opportunities provide paid, on-the-job training alongside mentorship and related instruction, which may include youth and registered apprenticeships, internships, and service-year programs. Demand for earn-and-learn experiences has been growing rapidly as educators seek to provide learners with on-the-job training and learners recognize the importance of developing professional competencies while feeling squeezed to find paid work while in school. However, demand vastly outpaces supply in many communities across the country.
To encourage more employers to offer apprenticeships, policymakers should increase financial incentives to help offset high start-up costs and reduce regulatory barriers in the registration and approval process for apprenticeship programs. Employers should also partner with intermediary organizations for support and endeavor to provide more openings and mentorship to learners in their communities interested in taking on an internship or apprenticeship.
In Rhode Island, the governor announced a comprehensive Rhode to Prosperity initiative, which includes a focus on expanding registered apprenticeships by leveraging federal funding, approving apprenticeships in new occupations, and providing a central hub of information and technical assistance to strengthen public-private partnerships. Building on other registered apprenticeships in K–12 education, Rhode Island is one of the first states to launch a registered apprenticeship program for school principals. The state also continues to grow in clean energy careers, and the state government is leading the way with registered apprenticeships in public-sector roles.45
Another avenue to increase earn-and-learn opportunities at a lower cost and risk to employers is service-year programs or degree apprenticeships. Policymakers could similarly increase funding and reduce barriers for service-year programs while incentivizing registration of service-year programs as pre-apprenticeships or apprenticeships, allowing participants to earn an industry-valued credential. Service-year programs and registered apprenticeships can also be aligned with degree programs, allowing participants to earn college credit and accelerate their paths to career and college.
In a 2025 review, nearly 350 institutions of higher education were found to have integrated registered apprenticeships into their associate, bachelor’s, or master’s degree programs.46 An area of particularly strong growth has been registered teacher apprenticeship pathways.47 However, several key industries, such as occupational and physical therapy, that could have success with this model have not yet developed these programs.
Alabama’s nursing apprenticeship program was instituted via Alabama Act 2021-275. As of December 2025, eighty employers and twenty-eight colleges and universities in the state have created nursing apprenticeship programs.48 Apprentices, who are required to stay at the hospital at which they train for one year after completing the program, thus increasing staff retention rates, say that they learn more via the one-on-one time they receive as apprentices than they would learn in traditional clinic hours, which are completed in groups.
THE COMMISSION RECOMMENDS that earn-and-learn experiences be expanded by increasing incentives and reducing barriers for employers to offer internships and apprenticeships.
Recommendation 3
Improve Data Collection and Sharing at All Levels for Transparency
Data are the backbone of any functioning accountability system, because “what gets measured gets done,” and most leaders, whether elected officials, school leaders, employers, or parents, prefer to make informed decisions about where they will spend their resources. Just as accountability and incentive systems are often separated along arbitrary lines between education and workforce systems, so, too, are data systems. More than forty states have or are building longitudinal data systems that endeavor to bring together data from early childhood, K–12, postsecondary education, service, and workforce systems.49 Local labor market data are valuable to learners, educators, and communities as cross-sector partners endeavor to improve educational and workforce pathways for learners to enter high-demand occupations that provide family-sustaining wages in their local communities.
Link Labor Market Data to Education, Occupation, and Industry-Specific Metrics of Success
Policymakers, educators, employers, learners, and the public want to better understand the outcomes and returns on investment from different programs of study and training pathways. As learners discover their interests and strengths, they would benefit from more accessible and transparent information about occupations that align with their passions and can provide the financial security and life stability they desire. As unpredictable as the future can be, especially in the face of AI, information about emerging demand for particular skills and credentials should be provided to learners and considered in determinations of value when practicable.
The return on investment made in learners’ education and training should be defined by factors that contribute to their social and economic well-being, including, but not limited to, their wage and other job-related benefits. Recent changes to federal accountability for higher education require that institutions report their graduates’ employment and earnings outcomes. These data are important for institutions of higher education to better understand which of their graduates and programs are more primed for success. Ideally, these data should be linked to specific occupations to improve programs and better align with industry standards where necessary. These data can also provide learners with a better understanding of potential outcomes and empower them to make more informed choices about different career paths.
Commissioners heard from learners about the importance of financial stability and sustainability, but they also expressed a desire to live a life of purpose in service to their families and communities. A narrow focus on earnings outcomes can obfuscate the importance of careers in the arts, education, public health, and social work (among others) that are critical to a healthy democracy and society. Industries should align on definitions of successful outcomes within their particular field that might be measured through quantitative or qualitative methods to expand the picture of success beyond future earning potential. In the performing and visual arts, success can be measured in financial sustainability, but artists also stress the importance of staying true to their vision, impacting their audience, and finding joy in the creative process.50
Some states are already shifting toward outcomes-based funding for higher education, with Texas leading the way in updates to their community college funding model in 2023.51 Texas’s community college funding model, established through House Bill 8, shifts state allocations from a primarily enrollment-driven formula to an outcomes-based system that rewards measurable learner success. Under this approach, colleges receive performance funding tied to key outcomes such as earning credentials of value, successful transfer to four-year institutions, and completion of workforce-aligned coursework, with additional weighting for high-demand fields and priority student populations. The model also incorporates a dual structure of performance-based funding and a funding floor to ensure institutional stability, while encouraging continuous improvement in student outcomes and economic mobility.52
THE COMMISSION RECOMMENDS the collection of labor data at the occupational level within industries and linking those data to education and training programs to provide greater transparency on industry-specific metrics of success and broader measures of well-being.
Expand and Enhance Statewide Longitudinal Data Systems
State data related to education and workforce outcomes are often housed in separate systems that may measure the same things about the same people but without being able to link or compare data due to outdated systems. Disparate data systems can also use different definitions of the same terms, like rural, which can lead to public confusion and limit options for comparing programs and outcomes statewide.53 Statewide longitudinal data systems (SLDS) that connect early learning, K–12, postsecondary education, service, and workforce data are important mechanisms for collecting data as individuals progress through their education and career journeys and for understanding how certain choices or experiences impacted their later outcomes.
In addition to collecting data, states should analyze and use these data to examine current practices and adjust to improve outcomes. States should also use these data to more closely align the supply and demand of skills in the labor market and to improve the fidelity of signals to learners and workers about changes in the job market. SLDS can also improve the transparency of the return on investment for learners so that they can make more informed choices. To maximize the utility of postsecondary data, SLDS should include data from noncredit programs in addition to more traditional data on degree programs.
The Kentucky Center for Statistics (KYSTATS) oversees Kentucky’s SLDS, which integrates data across education and workforce systems, including K–12, postsecondary, workforce, and unemployment insurance records, to track outcomes from schooling into employment.54 The system produces a wide array of publicly accessible, interactive reports, such as the Kentucky Future Skills Report, Students’ Right to Know, and county-level data dashboards, which are designed to inform policymakers and provide transparency to the public about education, workforce outcomes, and economic conditions.55 Finally, KYSTATS explicitly incorporates labor market information and projections to align education and training insights with evolving workforce needs, enabling the system to adapt to changing economic conditions.
THE COMMISSION RECOMMENDS that state policymakers support the creation and expansion of SLDS that collect and maintain data from early learning, K–12, higher education, service, and workforce systems.
Maintain and Leverage Federal Data Collection and Incentives
While the United States has a strong federalist system of governance in education, the federal government has a vital accountability and data collection role in building an understanding of outcomes across the country. For example, states and educational institutions would benefit from more access to federal earnings data by institution and program. Internal Revenue Service data, for example, are more accurate than state unemployment data but are currently restricted. As the federal government adjusts priorities for data collection and reporting, clear guidelines and the alignment of resources to states, localities, and institutions will remain important.
The Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes (PSEO) data from the U.S. Census Bureau are an important resource for states, higher education institutions, and the public, linking records from participating colleges and universities with federal earnings data to provide detailed information on graduates’ employment and earnings trajectories. States and higher education institutions commonly use PSEO data to assess program-level return on investment, evaluate equity in labor market outcomes, and inform policy decisions related to funding, accountability, and workforce alignment. Additionally, the data can support counselors’ guidance and learners’ decision-making and strengthen connections between postsecondary education and regional labor market needs.
The federal government also could do more to encourage states to have interoperable and integrated data systems and could provide additional funding or regulatory relief for systems upgrades through block grants or waivers to states. Federal agencies also employ staff with expertise in data systems, privacy, and management who provide valuable technical assistance to help states design data systems and remain compliant with federal regulations.
THE COMMISSION RECOMMENDS that the federal government maintain its critical role in data collection and reporting and provide financial and technical assistance to states as they work to improve their own data systems and comply with federal accountability requirements.