Employer and Community College Partnership Challenge
This grantmaking initiative, launched in June 2022, builds on existing efforts to better connect education and opportunity by providing new resources and opportunities, including financial assistance, paid internships and apprenticeships, and support for supplies and curriculum.
Strada also supported a community of practice that provided grantees and partners the opportunity to share successes and challenges and learn from other partnerships.
This grant program recognizes community colleges and their unique capacity to support students and address regional workforce needs.
Grants
Strada awarded two-year grants of up to $400,000 to these 11 community colleges and their employer partners to meet regional workforce needs, boost employment and earnings for students, and encourage enrollment in community colleges.
Broward College partnered with more than 40 local employers in industries including information technology, manufacturing, health care, and skilled trades, to expand Broward UP, a community-centered program that addresses generational poverty by providing industry-recognized training for high-demand occupations. This expansion effort focused on ensuring that residents, regardless of where they live or their economic circumstances, receive the opportunity to pursue education and employment. The college coordinated with local governments and organizations to develop training opportunities and employers provided tuition reimbursements, developed competency-based training programs, and offered internships and other work-based learning opportunities.
The Sallisaw campus of Carl Albert State College, located on the eastern edge of Oklahoma, partnered with the Cherokee Nation, the Oklahoma Department of Veterans Affairs, Adventure Head Start, and the city of Sallisaw, to prepare and train the local workforce for careers in education and health care. Significant growth has occurred in the region, and this grant program focused on developing a skilled workforce to meet new labor market demands. The college developed training programs that support stackable credentials and transfer pathways for students, and employers provided resources to support program development, student recruitment, and scholarships.
Community College of Rhode Island partnered with Delta Dental of Rhode Island to address emergent workforce training needs in the state’s dental health sector. The partnership focused on expanding clinical skills training and increasing access for students in the college’s competitive dental hygiene degree program. Delta Dental provided funding support for student scholarships and the renovation of the college’s dental hygiene clinic. This capacity-building support allowed for a 50 percent increase in dental hygiene enrollment, creating a robust pipeline of skilled talent to fill a critical gap in Rhode Island’s dental health care workforce.
Green River College in Auburn, Washington, partnered with a technology industry consortium that included Washington Technology Industry Association, Computing for All, and Mentors in Tech, a local social good venture led by Microsoft alumni, to guide and support more students into successful technology careers. The consortium created an employer-guided capstone course in the software development program and related applied science degrees, and the college offered a capstone course in which students pitch solutions for projects to local employers. Mentors in Tech coordinated relationships with employers and provided guidance to student teams. This multidimensional model of facilitated, employer-engaged capstone projects will be replicated first at Lake Washington Institute of Technology and potentially scaled to similar programs in the state.
Honolulu Community College partnered with multiple employers across a range of industries, including technology, carpentry, and fashion, to develop and expand employer advisory boards. The boards focused on integrating labor market needs and standards into academic programs and creating career pathways for students. The college collaborated with employers on curriculum development and required faculty to participate in advisory board activities and set expectations for employers regarding work-based learning opportunities and recruitment for graduates.
Ivy Tech Community College in Indianapolis partnered with Eli Lilly and Co. to strengthen existing apprenticeship programs and training pathways by prioritizing recruitment and support of Black students through the Skills First Program. The program targeted roles that serve as pathways to careers, including positions within human resources, information technology, research and development, and advanced manufacturing. Students were given education-to-employment coaching and Lilly provided tuition assistance, paid internships, and consideration for job openings upon completion of the apprenticeship program.
Mira Costa College in north San Diego County, California, partnered with Sterogene Bioseparations Inc. and Open Biopharma Research and Training Institute to train students for careers in biotechnology, and reduce turnover in entry-level biotechnology roles. The college developed a work-based learning program, including project-based learning and internships, that is integrated with the bachelor’s degree program in biomanufacturing. Employers developed and supported apprenticeship programs and project-based learning opportunities, and provided students with professional mentorship.
Pima County Community College District in Tucson, Arizona, partnered with multiple employers, including American Medical Response, Competitive Engineering Inc., and Evaero, to connect microcredential pathways with work-based learning and employment opportunities. The college provided navigation support and career coaches to advance equity in its microcredential pathways, and the employers provided paid earn-and-learn opportunities, mentorship, and career development for students.
Salt Lake Community College partnered with Intermountain Healthcare, the region’s largest health care provider, to meet urgent health care workforce needs. This initiative provided training programs and created career exploration pathways for surgical technicians. The college offered an accelerated program track, expanded and upgraded training facilities, and supported students in the training pathways. Intermountain Healthcare provided tuition for current employees pursuing training and provided clinical learning and career mentorship for students.
West Georgia Technical College in LaGrange, Georgia, partnered with the Troup County Economic Development Authority, Delta Airlines, and local employers, to develop an Advanced Manufacturing Regional Training Center focused on manufacturing, transportation, and skilled trades. The center serves as a centralized training resource for workforce programs offered in response to regional industry needs. The college also built a regional training facility to respond to employer priorities through a subscription model. Employers advise on the training center programs and prioritize interviewing program graduates.
Our team
How a student chooses a college major is often the result of personal factors, such as interests, strengths, or education and career guidance.
President and CEO, Stephen Moret, provides a testimony during the “Strengthening WIOA: Improving Outcomes for America’s Workforce” hearing on March 5, 2025.
How a $25 million investment created a community of leaders and students who learn from one another while celebrating the legacy of HBCUs.
Strada board of trustees has unanimously elected trustee Ernest Newborn II to serve as its chair for a four-year term beginning January 2025.
Strada awards eight Innovation in Career Services grants to institutions focused on quality education-to-career guidance.
In 2025, Strada’s look and brand image will change to reflect our commitment to working with focus, connection, curiosity, agility, and optimism — qualities that will guide us and undergird all our efforts.
Strada is extending an invitation for each institution to participate in the State Opportunity Index survey and to receive confidential and benchmarked results, free of cost.
Hundreds of institutions have come together to provide simple and clear pricing and financial aid information to students and families as part of the College Cost Transparency Initiative.
Strada Education Foundation appoints Beth Cobert as president, affiliates and strategic partnerships
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Even though internships impart a strong labor market advantage that tends to persist after graduation, the nation’s supply of internships has not kept up with demand. A new report provides insights.
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Strada’s Public Policy Agenda lays out ambitious steps for improving both education and employment systems so students realize the economic value of their education and employers have the talent and skills they need to meet the demands of the labor market.
Strada’s report, Quality Coaching, looks at students’ experiences across three elements of quality coaching and we examine the experiences of recent graduates. The report also offers insights to leaders, practitioners, and others seeking to improve students’ career outcomes.
Strada worked closely with state data agencies and higher education executives to identify 10 critical elements that contribute to the capacity of state data systems.
Education-to-employment data help individuals make informed decisions about college and workforce training.
Mentors in Tech recruits tech industry veterans from the region’s robust tech industry to mentor students at the area’s small, affordable, open-access colleges. The partnership between Green River and Mentors in Tech, or MinT, is supported in part by a $400,000 grant from Strada’s Employer and Community College Partnership Challenge.
Nationally recognized experts on postsecondary education and workforce development will provide leadership and support for Strada’s strategic plan.
The Building Better Internships report looks at the latest findings from the National Survey of College Internships, a survey developed by the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Center for Research on College-Workforce Transitions.
Strada Education Foundation today announced two new leadership appointments. These leaders will support the foundation’s efforts to conduct research and develop policy solutions in two critical areas: quality coaching and work-based learning.
Through the Arizona State-led Work+Collective, more than a dozen institutions are injecting mentorship, career development skills.
Strada Education Foundation announced Justin Draeger will join Strada as senior vice president, affordability.
'Colleges and universities, states, and our country can do more to help prepare students for the critical transition from college to the labor market.’
The report offers a comprehensive picture of how college graduates fare in the job market over their first decade of employment after college.
The gift of time. A recognition of talent. A helping hand. How our mentors helped shape us as people and professionals.
Strada Education Foundation appoints Heather McKay to direct Institute for the Future of Work
At the heart of MiraCosta College’s Increase Diversity, Equity, and Advancement in Biotechnology program, funded in part by a $400,000 grant from Strada Education Foundation, is a unique partnership between the college and two local biotech employers: Sterogene Bio-Separations and Open Biopharma Research and Training Institute.
Report indicates both success and need for improvement in meeting students’ varied goals
The community college learning lab and dental clinic is now a newly refurbished space where dental hygiene students refine their technique on mannequins outfitted with realistic incisors, molars, and cuspids. The clinic was remodeled through a partnership with Delta Dental of Rhode Island and supported by a $400,000 grant from Strada Education Foundation.
Veteran education policy advocate brings extensive federal experience to shape policy solutions that strengthen pathways to opportunity.
A new and improved Free Application for Federal Student Aid expected late this year should provide opportunities for more students and their families to access money to pay for college. Yet the transition to this new form presents unprecedented challenges for those who work to help students complete it.
Microcredentials empower students at The University of Texas at Austin
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A Texas-sized push for microcredentials: The University of Texas at San Antonio
How The University of Texas at Arlington prepares students for immediate employment
A Texas-sized push for microcredentials at a state university system
To better understand the value community colleges provide to individuals and communities, we need to acknowledge the range of needs they serve.
According to new Strada Education Foundation research, community college attendees who complete an associate degree or successfully transfer to a four-year institution value their education at rates comparable to or higher than recent bachelor’s degree completers. However, researchers found first-generation students rated the value of their community college education about 20 percentage points lower than those who are not first-generation students.
Newly established teams will focus on collaboratively shaping policy at state, federal levels to create pathways to opportunity for more people.
Eloy Ortiz Oakley, president and CEO of College Futures Foundation and former chancellor of the California Community Colleges, will join a Strada Education Foundation webinar Sept. 7, when he and other panelists will explore Strada’s latest report, “The Value of Community Colleges: Recent Students' Motivations and Outcomes,” which captures several factors that motivated recent alumni to enroll in community college.
Major changes in the form, combined with an expected delay in its release, are combining to intensify the work of spreading the word about the updated FAFSA.
Initiative designed to support aspiring leaders at HBCUs through scholarships, work-based learning opportunities, expands to 50 schools.
Veteran higher ed leader will provide collaborative leadership to help Strada strengthen the link between education and opportunity in America
A wide range of experiences prepare students for success beyond the completion of their college degree. The evidence for the value of interning on students' future careers is strong.
The recognition, awarded to Strada plus all four supported nonprofit organizations that make up Strada Collaborative — CAEL, Education at Work, InsideTrack, and Roadtrip Nation — signals a continued prioritization of DEI efforts.
Longtime senior leader to assume role permanently after leading Strada’s financial operations through leadership, strategy transition as interim CFO
In an era of student enrollment declines, tight labor markets, rising college costs, and a growing lack of confidence in the value of a postsecondary education, community colleges and employers have ample reasons to partner together.
Partnerships between community colleges and employers have the opportunity to address local and regional economic needs through a range of tools, including supporting student success through resources and services, integrating work-based learning, and building career pathways.
Innovative leader brings an extensive track record of navigating through challenges to create effective education-to-employment data systems
Seasoned postsecondary education policy leader to oversee nonprofit organization’s advocacy work with state and federal policymakers
Three-year grants awarded to four institutions will support expansion of programs designed to help learners succeed during and after completion of their degree or credential. These programs deploy a broad range of strategies from new technology solutions to embedded, industry-recognized credentials, which will be made available to thousands of new learners through these grants.
Veteran corporate leader brings diverse range of experience to guide Strada’s legal team and serve organization’s Board of Trustees
Two-year grants will support proven partnerships that connect learners to education and in-demand employment opportunities and strengthen regional economies.
At a time of growing societal uncertainty about the value of higher education and declining enrollment, the views of alumni turn out to be particularly insightful. This group can provide especially valuable feedback about how their education experiences have enriched their lives, which can help us ensure that today’s students maximize all the benefits that college offers.
A rich mixture of skills gained in college improves post-completion outcomes for graduates
The list of benefits associated with earning a college degree is extensive and oft-repeated. It includes higher average lifetime earnings, employment security, greater self-esteem, and better health, among many others.
National workforce development leader to head social impact organization’s dtrategy and innovation team
New study from Strada Education Network reveals a silver lining at a challenging time
Amid all of this disruption, the number of U.S. workers leaving or changing their jobs sharply increased. Known variously as the Great Resignation, Reshuffle, or Realignment, the trend has been cast in the cultural imagination as a collective desire on the part of the American workforce for more rewarding or meaningful work.
Delaware State sophomore accounting major eyes and a different career path after viewing a wealth of options.
Sophomore engineering ‘rock star’ learns to become a leader while following in the HBCU grad footsteps of his parents and brother.
As a natural leader, student embraces opportunities to work in her field and build campus community
With a passion for writing and teaching, student seeks ways to teach while she’s still learning
Over the past 80 years, our nation has made great strides in improving access to college, and then ensuring that many more students could complete a college degree.
As the country experiences a dramatic period of job turnover, economic uncertainty, and postsecondary enrollment declines, employers and educators alike are eager to find ways to meet rapidly changing education and workforce needs.
Spring 2022 enrollment numbers from the National Student Clearinghouse reveal a fifth straight semester of enrollment declines, with more than 1 million fewer students enrolled compared to spring 2020
Phase 2 allows Taskforce members to seek up to $1.5 million ($6.25 million total) to expand efforts to connect education to employment.
Higher education’s measurement of student success is in the midst of an evolution. For nearly five decades, success efforts focused on access, then two decades with completion as the horizon for success, and now the focus is extending to student outcomes beyond completion.
Ducks Rise: Empowering Underrepresented Minorities and Low-Income Students Through Research Internships and Intentional Student Experiences
At the innovative Rochester campus of the University of Minnesota, our vision is to “inspire transformation in higher education through innovations that empower graduates to solve the grand health challenges of the 21st century.”
Access to college isn't enough. Neither is completion of degrees. It's time to focus on outcomes.
Developing In-Demand Skills Among Undergraduates for Better, More Equitable Post Completion Outcomes
Credit for prior learning helped Loyce Shelley see herself in a new way — and complete her degree.
Disparities in securing paid internships persist for women, people of color, first-generation college students, and students with low incomes — even when taking into account their fields of study
Applied connections between education and work are increasingly a part of undergraduate education in the United States.
Two centuries after the first historically Black colleges and universities were founded, the 101 accredited HBCUs in operation today continue to deliver on their legacy of expanding educational opportunity for Black students that leads to successful and fulfilling lives.
As a field, higher education has experienced a continuing evolution in how to measure success. For nearly five decades success efforts were focused on access, followed by the past decade and a half pursuing completion, and the field now has a growing focus on the value of a degree and student outcomes beyond completion.
Strada Education Network announced today the winners in the initial phase of a $10 million grant challenge aimed at helping higher education institutions identify and expand new solutions that will improve career and life opportunities for more students of color, first-generation students, those who struggle to afford education, and adult students and workers.
Recognized economic and workforce development leader to join national nonprofit in January 2022
Grant competition seeks to connect learning with employment for first-generation students, those who struggle to afford education, and students of color.
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Roslyn Clark Artis grew up in southern West Virginia, the only African American in her graduating class. The daughter of a coal miner, she dreamed of becoming a lawyer and applied to every public university in her home state, hoping to find an affordable route to college.
$25 million grant from Strada Education Network taps the collective experience and insights of HBCU leaders to scale experiential learning and leadership development within the college experience
The pandemic has led to a national crisis of widespread disruption to both work and education for millions of adults in the U.S., especially those from historically marginalized groups.
Over the past 15 years, the number of student loan recipients has increased by 51 percent and the debt associated with those loans has more than doubled.
University of Utah leader will drive Strada Education Network’s research, philanthropy, policy, and thought leadership on national stage.
Breaux, Jenkins, and Olinger join governing board; Coulis selected as board chair for national social impact organization focused on strengthening education-to-employment pathways
Five months into the pandemic, Americans are now three times more likely than they were in April to believe COVID-19’s impact will last more than a year.
A “How To” Playbook for America’s Governors
What do Americans value in their education? We haven’t really known, because too often learners have been absent from the conversation.
The number of job openings in the United States now surpasses the number of people available and qualified to fill them. Through the Strada-Gallup Education Survey, we talk to Americans about their desire for more education and skills training and explore what motivates them to return to school.
Choksi, Dyke, and Markell join governing board for national social impact organization focused on strengthening education-to-employment pathways
