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Phase 2 (2025-2027) builds on the incredible progress of Phase 1 (2022-2024), adding 13 colleges to 15 from the original cohort. Colleges will work with each other – and community partners in their regions – to implement evidence-based, institution-wide reforms grounded in the guided pathways framework. Learn more about Rural Pathways.

In 2025, NCII will provide the college a customized version of our Framework for Exploring and Using Labor Market Data for Improvement, assisting it in determining programs with good wages and solid demand in the Boston area. This effort will result in the identification of new programs to develop or current ones to expand, including non-degree, non-credit credentials.  

Between March and August 2025, NCII will study what preparation is needed to move workers from low-paying, front-line positions to supervisory roles that are the next step on their career ladder, and how community colleges can best partner with employers to support this progression.

This one-day event will introduce area labor market data to 12 East Texas community colleges, highlighting both high-demand and declining jobs and facilitating strategic conversations on opportunities for upskilling and reskilling community members to meet workforce needs. 

This annual convening engages educational leaders from the state’s 28 two- and four-year undergraduate institutions and is a cornerstone of the Louisiana Meauxmentum Framework, the state’s student success strategy which seeks to achieve 60% credential attainment among working-age adults by 2030.

The 21 HBCUs, HSIs, and community colleges convened virtually to share improvements in employer engagement and student experiences resulting from this initiative. They also exchanged key lessons on institutional change work designed to promote students’ economic mobility and ideas for future directions.

In Phase 2, Rural Pathways will expand to up to 32 colleges, including all but one of the colleges from Phase 1. Over the course of the next three years, the Phase 1 and Phase 2 colleges will be a single cohort. They will work with each other — and with community partners in their regions — to implement evidence-based, institution-wide reforms grounded in the guided pathways framework. Full application info available at www.ruralguidedpathways.org.

In these brief profiles, seven college teams describe major aha moments resulting from Rural Pathways Project participation. These moments changed individuals’ perspectives, reframed the pathways teams’ work, and added urgency to the colleges’ efforts. Learn from their experiences.

NCII Founder and President Rob Johnstone and Continuous Learning Institute Founder Al Solano discuss why labor market data needs to inform changes to students’ experiences and how to practically use it to improve post-graduation outcomes. Listen to the podcast.

NCII serves as a key advisor for the Aspen Prize and supports multiple aspects of the selection process. Awarded every two years, the $1 million prize is the nation’s signature recognition for America’s community colleges.