Unlocking Workforce Potential: Grantees Awarded to Focus on Empowering Pathways, Job Skills, and Opportunities for Success

The education and workforce landscape is rapidly evolving, driven by an increasing need to align credentials and skills with employer demands, enhance accessibility, and promote workforce readiness. Credential Engine is focusing on expanding education and employment information available as linked open data through the Credential Transparency Description Language (CTDL) and in the Credential Registry to empower all stakeholders with clear, consistent information and to fuel the development of tools and services that use this information to help people make better decisions. 

Across the U.S., several initiatives are making significant progress in tackling the evolving challenges in education and workforce development. Credential Engine, with the support of a two-year grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, is collaborating with a select group of state agencies, institutions, and regional organizations to make opportunities for success, job skills, and pathways data available as CTDL-linked open data and publish to the Credential Registry. By making these data available in a linked open format, these subgrantees support a more accessible, transparent, and efficient ecosystem for learners and workers, fostering better alignment between education and the workforce. Making these data publicly available allows for greater clarity and consistency in how skills and credentials are recognized across different institutions and industries. 

Each of these subgrantees is addressing unique needs in workforce development, opportunities for success, and pathways:

Bristol Community College (Massachusetts)

Bristol Community College is addressing critical skills gaps in the Massachusetts workforce by aligning academic programs with employer demand. The project involves publishing 17 career-based academic credentials, including competency maps and job skills, to identify gaps between curriculum offerings and workforce needs. Additionally, the project will support the publishing of skills-based professional growth plans for institutional job roles, ensuring that new hires are equipped with the right skills and aligning with the state’s skill-based hiring strategy. A key initiative is partnering with employers to create a trust registry for leveraging digital credentials and Learner Employment Records (LERs), which will help build a talent pipeline. Additionally, the college will host outreach events, including presentations at conferences and a networking event for HR and assessment professionals in higher education. 

Houston Community College Foundation (Texas)

Houston Community College is working to strengthen pathways into healthcare careers by publishing detailed, actionable data on for-credit and non-credit programs in the health sciences field. The project will include information on essential skills, career pathways, labor market data, and employment outcomes. Additionally, it aims to connect other local institutions’ transfer agreements to build regional pathways into healthcare careers. Collaborating with other regional colleges like Delmar College and Texas Southmost College, the project will also publish healthcare-related data to help address Texas’ growing healthcare workforce shortages. 

Indiana Commission for Higher Education

The Indiana Commission for Higher Education is focused on expanding educational pathways in cybersecurity by publishing the Cybersecurity Transfer Single Articulation Pathways (TSAPs) between Ivy Tech Community College and Vincennes University to the Credential Registry. This initiative aims to enhance transparency and strengthen connections between two-year community colleges and four-year institutions, providing students with clear transfer options in the cybersecurity field. Additionally, the project will use the Credential Registry to develop a pathways visualization tool, integrated into the My College Core planning tool, to help students navigate their educational journeys and achieve their cybersecurity career goals.

Land of Sky P20 Council (North Carolina)

The Land of Sky P20 Council is working to improve the accessibility of workforce credentials across western North Carolina by publishing NC Workforce Credentials data from six regional institutions to the Credential Registry. This data will cover program details such as duration, costs, financial aid, credit, time to completion, and employment outcomes. The project aims to increase transparency, helping learners better understand credential options and connect with industry-recognized certifications, while prioritizing equity, particularly for underserved populations. Additionally, the initiative will create a data integration tool to help students and educators visualize available credential opportunities and make more informed decisions.

Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE)

Pennsylvania’s State System of Higher Education (PASSHE) — which oversees the state’s 10 public universities — is spearheading the Pennsylvania Credential Registry Project. The system has focused on enhancing transparency and accessibility of educational and career outcomes and is expanding that work beyond its universities by partnering with the state’s community colleges. Each participating community college will receive grant funding to publish essential data on all credentials offered, both for credit and non-credit programs. This includes key success data such as program duration, costs, and financial assistance options, helping students understand the financial and time commitments involved. Additionally, colleges will share employment outcomes data from the Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry to inform students about potential career opportunities.

The work being done highlights the growing importance of data transparency and workforce alignment. From creating clearer pathways for healthcare careers in Texas to fostering transparency and accessibility in credentialing systems in Pennsylvania and North Carolina, these projects are shaping the future of education and the workforce. As these projects move forward, they will not only support students in their educational journeys but also equip employers with the skilled workers they need to thrive in an increasingly competitive job market.

Learn more about this grant opportunity here. A request for proposals for another round of subgrants will be released in early 2025.

If you are interested in partnering with Credential Engine, contact us at info@credentialengine.org.