The Inter-University Consortium for Doctoral Courses in Public Budgeting, Finance, and Financial Management is the first collaborative project for online doctoral courses in public affairs. This article provides an account of the consortium's initiation, establishment, and operation for the pilot round. The consortium fills a niche in doctoral…

This analysis of college- and career-ready standards implementation is grounded in the policy attributes framework, which states that the more specific, consistent, authoritative, powerful, and stable a policy is, the better implementation will be (Porter, 1994). "Specificity" refers to how extensive, detailed, or prescriptive a policy…

Several federal grants prioritized the role of community colleges in education and training in recent years, and one of the most substantial investments was the Trade Adjustment Act Community College and Career Training (TAACCCT) program of the United States Department of Labor (DOL). Beginning October 2011, these $2 billion capacity-building…

Career pathways, comprised of stackable credentials and a coherently aligned sequence of programmes of study, are being hailed as an effective means for promoting postsecondary attainment and upward mobility, particularly for low-income and low-skilled adult workers. However, concerns have been raised regarding whether this strategy accomplishes…

The Certification Data Exchange Project (CDEP) was launched in 2012 to provide a model for sharing industry-recognized credential attainment data. Increasingly, employers and education leaders are recognizing the value of industry credentials to verify the knowledge, skills and abilities that students bring to the workforce. As states take steps…

The Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) launched Quality Collaboratives (QC): Assessing and Reporting Degree Qualifications Profile Competencies in the Context of Transfer in 2011 as a three-year project that engaged educational, assessment, and policy leaders in student learning outcomes assessment and transfer pathways.…