Helping more students complete college credentials is not enough to improve student outcomes and make them more equitable. To truly move the needle, colleges must extend their focus to include students’ post-graduation success. This work involves considering:
- How the credentials colleges award connect to regional economic development needs.
- How colleges can effectively prepare students for in-demand jobs and career advancement.
- Who is currently left out of family-sustaining employment and how to close these opportunity gaps.
NCII’s career connections support builds on our extensive guided pathways work and helps colleges improve both students’ and employers’ experiences so the local economy and the community thrive. We help colleges:
- Source and use labor market data to better understand current and future trends.
- Strategically engage employers to align program offerings with workforce demands.
- Better articulate the value proposition of college enrollment and attainment to students.
- Offer students meaningful workplace exposure prior to completion.
- Partner with employers to address barriers to student hiring and promotion.
We work with educators to develop programming that prepares students for entry-level opportunities and the advancement that should follow. We also emphasize integrating holistic support to ensure more learners, particularly historically marginalized students, complete credentials, transition to the workforce, and attain long-term economic security.
In addition to our consultation with colleges across the country, the Bank of America Signature Jobs Initiative informs our work in this area.