Now more than ever, the nation’s colleges and universities are being held accountable for job outcomes. From state-level accountability measures, to Workforce Pell, to the new earnings premium test that will soon apply to all postsecondary programs that wish to receive federal student aid funds, these new metrics go well beyond the traditional yardsticks of student retention and graduation.
This fundamental shift to employment and wage outcomes is leading institutions to take steps to align themselves more closely with workforce needs. That means not only identifying and training students in in-demand workforce skills for growing and emerging industries and occupations, but also teaching students the technical and durable skills they’ll need to get a good first job after graduation — and many more good jobs in the years that follow.
Crucially, these changes are putting growing pressure on institutions to help students navigate career opportunities, not just when they’ve completed a program but before they’ve even started. That means that to meet the current moment, institutions must offer students much more career guidance than they ever have.
Scaling promising practices
For community colleges, providing career navigation services is often an uphill battle. It sometimes happens at the program level, where faculty, curriculum committees or advisory boards try to align classroom instruction with industry needs or connect students with jobs. But a relative lack of funding compared to four-year institutions means that many community colleges lack the resources to offer more robust career navigation services. As community college leaders know well, their budgets are usually focused on trying to keep the lights on, and career services for too long have fallen by the wayside.
But at a time when funding and ongoing support increasingly depend on students’ workforce outcomes, the calculus is changing. And while structural challenges still make it difficult to invest in career navigation, community colleges provide the ideal platform for emphasizing career readiness and durable skills training in ways that lead to good career outcomes. Many are already showing what this looks like, and our work with two institutions offers some emerging and promising examples that may help other community colleges scale up their career navigation efforts in productive ways.
The Borough of Manhattan Community College (BMCC) in New York City is emphasizing careers by, among other things, shifting how it engages with students. Rather than asking students what they’d like to study, the question now asked is, “Who would you like to be?” This conversation enables college advisors to help students choose a major — or majors — that will lead to the career they want. Advisors also guide students along pathways to college transfer or to internships and other experiential learning opportunities that employers value. Starting this spring, the college is investing in professional development to help faculty embed durable skills instructions into their course curricula.
BMCC traditionally has offered career readiness programming in a year-long block for students pursuing an associate degree. But college leaders realize that many of their students are working learners who have little extra time outside of work and school to devote to this program. In addition, thousands of students enrolled in short-term programs aren’t eligible. So the college partnered with my organization, Year Up United, to offer a free online six-week career connection program that helps community college students learn how to build an eye-catching LinkedIn profile, catalog and demonstrate their durable skills, and write a plan to help them achieve their professional goals. By leveling up the job skills that employers are seeking, community college students can make the transition from college to career with confidence.
A different approach
Northern Virginia Community College (NOVA) has taken a different but equally forward-thinking approach that includes combining its business engagement and career services operations into a single office. The business engagement team works with regional employers to identify companies that would be good fits for students and graduates, build internship programs and career pathways, and collect real-time feedback about the strengths and shortcomings of NOVA students. The career services staff used this intel to adapt its workshops and programming and help faculty embed the right career preparation skills into their curriculum.
Since combining these two teams in 2021, the college has increased its employer partnerships by 40% and increased student appointments with career counselors by 60%. This growth suggests that employers are finding that the college can adapt its curriculum quickly to meet rapid changes in economic conditions — and that students can see that getting timely career guidance and sharpening their career readiness skills can help them get to where they want to go.
Community colleges have long led the way in teaching technical skills that help students find jobs. Now it’s time for these institutions to take the lead in strengthening career readiness skills that can help students find and keep jobs over their lifetimes. Outcomes are more important than ever — not just for institutions but for the students they serve.
