Clear Pathways to Post-secondary Success

National and Regional Resources

• National Conference of State Legislatures – Higher Education
  • The NCSL website covers student loan debt, tuition policy, student success and access, funding and affordability, and higher education workforce connections.

• Lumina Foundation – State Policy Priorities
  • Lumina’s three-point higher education policy agenda reflects the shifts in state policy needed to increase the percentage of adults with meaningful post-secondary credentials. Included under each point are specific evidence-based policies. These policies provide clear, detailed steps to increase higher education attainment, while also maintaining the flexibility to respond to unique conditions and the needs of each state. They are designed as a guidepost, not a checklist, for states looking to identify and implement the policies best suited to drive their higher education reform needs.

• Improve Quality of Student Outcomes in Terms of Completion, Learning, and Employment
• Align Investments with State Priorities and Student Needs
• Create Smarter Pathways for Students

• The Urban Institute Interactive Map of Debt in America
• Student Loan Debt

• Southern Regional Education Board – Advanced Career is the culmination of years of work by states and the nation’s largest school improvement network at SREB. The result is turnkey pathways with everything a school needs to be sure they work, from curriculum to assessments to extensive training and support for teachers.

• SREB Advanced Career Program 

• National Skills Coalition – National Skills Coalition is a broad-based coalition working toward a vision of an America that grows its economy by investing in its people so that every worker and every industry has the skills to compete and prosper. The organization engages in organizing, advocacy, and communications to advance state and federal policies that support these goals – policies that are based on the on-the-ground expertise of our members.
  •    Building a Skilled Workforce for a Stronger Southern Economy

• The Education Trust – The Education Trust is a nonprofit organization that promotes closing opportunity gaps by expanding excellence and equity in education for students of color and those from low-income families from pre-kindergarten through college. Through research and advocacy, the organization builds and engages diverse communities that care about education equity, increases political and public will to act on equity issues, and increases college access and completion for historically underserved students.
  • The State of Higher Education Equity: National & State Trends in Degree Attainment for Black and Latino Adults
  • Degree Attainment for Black Adults: National and State Trends
  •  Degree Attainment for Latino Adults: National and State Trends

Georgia Resources

• Georgia Budget and Policy Institute – Higher Education Data Book

• Georgia Department of Education – Career, Technical and Agricultural Education (CTAE)

1. Georgia’s Career Pipeline
   1. Explore Georgia’s Future Workforce
   2. Career Pipeline User Guide
2. College and Career Clusters/ Pathways
   1. CTAE Pathway Comparison Chart
   2. CTAE Pathways – Which Route Is Best to Take? (video)
3. Georgia Technical Skills Attainment Inventory 2017–2018
4. Industry Certification Standards
5. Work-Based Learning
6. Video
7. Youth Apprenticeship Program
8. Move On When Ready, Dual Enrollment/ Dual Credit

• Georgia Department of Economic Development – High Demand Career Initiative

1. HDCI Report
2. Workforce Assessment

• Technical College System of Georgia

1. Georgia College and Career Academies
   1. Ford Next Generation Learning Communities
   2. Best Practices
   3. Adult EducationQuick Start
   4. GED Testing Programs
   5. Workplace Literacy
   6. Certified Literate Community Program
   7. Health Literacy Program

• Georgia Student Finance Commission

1. HOPE Programs
2. REACH Georgia
3. Path2College – Georgia 529 Plan

Georgia Partnerships and Initiatives

• Georgia Competitiveness Initiative
  • This initiative is bringing state government and the business community together at the request of Governor Nathan Deal to develop a long-term strategy for economic development.

Community Partnership Models

• Pathways to Prosperity
  • In 2013, Georgia became a member of the Pathways to Prosperity Network, a collaboration of member states, the Boston-based nonprofit Jobs for the Future, and the Harvard Graduate School of Education. The Pathways to Prosperity Network seeks to ensure that many more young people complete high school and attain post-secondary credentials with value in the labor market. Each participating state is engaging educators and employers in building a system of grades nine to 14 career pathways, combining high school and community college, that launches young people into initial careers while leaving open the prospect of further education. In Georgia, the Pathways to Prosperity work is being led by a state-level cross-agency team that includes the Georgia Department of Education, the TCSG, the USG, and the Georgia Department of Economic Development.

• Carrollton–Carroll County Education Collaborative (CCEC)
  • Oak Mountain Academy, Carrollton City, and Carroll County Schools work together with the University of West Georgia and West Georgia Technical College and the Carroll County Chamber of Commerce to get students through high school and possibly into a two-year or four-year college.

• Southwire 12 for Life
  • To decrease the school dropout rate, Southwire partnered with Carroll County Schools and Florence City Schools in Alabama to create 12 for Life. This program places at-risk students in real jobs in Southwire that allow them to both earn school credit and earn money for their work. Students work a shift in the Southwire plant for half the day and take classes in a traditional school setting for the other half. Participants also benefit from instruction on the job and a mentoring program with Southwire employees.

• Gulfstream/ Chatham County
  • Two programs in Chatham County and the surrounding area serve students through a partnership with Gulfstream that actively recruits high school students from the area for its Youth Apprenticeship Program, and from Chatham County Schools for the High School Explorer Post Program. In the Youth Apprenticeship Program, students link school-based learning with actual business experience in highly skilled occupations. In the High School Explorer Post Program, students attend monthly meetings to learn about career paths, make professional contacts, and acquire skills they would need to pursue a career in aviation.

• Siemens AG/ Forsyth County Schools
  • As a result of Georgia’s Global Workforce Initiative, Forsyth County developed a thriving program focused on a manufacturing career pathway through a partnership with Siemens. At the end of the four-year program, student participants earn both their diploma and a manufacturing certificate that could help them enter the field more easily. Siemens provides advice, training, and feedback. Because of the positive experience with the partnership, Siemens has begun sponsoring other school and community programs including programs for students with special needs.