Only one in five graduates of Baltimore City Public Schools matriculates to a four-year college; the vast majority enroll in community college or look for a full-time job. Baltimore graduates and job-seekers need postsecondary training that works. "The Path to Baltimore's 'Best Prospect' Jobs without a College Degree: Career Credentialing…

This short description examines vocational education and training (VET) in Bulgaria. The overall aim is to help build bridges between VET systems, encourage learner and teacher mobility across Europe, and foster the understanding that Bulgaria's VET is first rate. Four sections focus on: (1) External factors influencing VET (demographics, economy…

National and state policymakers are considering whether to expand or establish work requirements for safety net programs such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Medicaid. During this process, policymakers should take into account what safety net program recipients need to meet those requirements and place themselves on a…

Employers are demanding higher skilled and better educated workers. Yet employer sentiment and the high default rate on student loans suggests a mismatch between the programs students are completing and the work they are able to find. To report on trends in postsecondary education, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) mostly relies on surveys of…

ESL programs at post-secondary institutions must often generate revenue in addition to teaching students English. Institutions often impose explicit expectations on these programs to generate profit, creating unique challenges for those who administer them. This qualitative case study investigated challenges faced by ESL program directors at one…

Within the city, nearly 5,000 16- to 24-year-olds are not in school or employed. Most of these young people have already earned a high school diploma, but struggle to connect with employment opportunities outside of unstable, low-paying jobs with limited opportunities for advancement. This group, known as Opportunity Youth (OY), represents…

Despite the United Kingdom government increasing efforts to tackle unemployment, young people face a number of barriers to be employed. As a leading awarding body, City & Guilds launched the TechBac in 2014 to address some of these barriers and provide learners with a balanced programme of vocational study. This article is based on the initial…

This research overview summarizes the work undertaken by Kaye Bowman and Suzy McKenna in exploring jurisdictional approaches to the implementation of student entitlements to vocational skills training, a key reform initiative in the National Partnership Agreement on Skills Reform (NPASR) of 2012-16. The overview is a condensed summary of three…

Career technical education programs are viewed as an essential resource to addressing the economic and workforce development needs in the State of Alabama. The primary impetus for this study is to determine whether students attending postsecondary career technical education programs in Alabama were adequately trained to secure employment in…

A model describing the development of curriculum and coursework for dual certification programs in two-year postsecondary vocational education institutions throughout China is described. Dual certification programs allow students to obtain an academic diploma and a national vocational qualification certificate concurrently. Chinese educators and…

In 2012, the "Educational Policy Improvement Center" (EPIC) analyzed more than 2,000 entry-level course documents collected from a stratified sample of two- and four-year public and private institutions of higher education (IHEs) to establish an empirical understanding of entry-level college course expectations. Based on the findings of…

There is much to discuss, and debate, about the sources and effects of inequality on economic growth and social mobility, and the relationship between education and economic growth. However, an undergraduate degree from a highly selective and elite college gives students a strong advantage in gaining employment in jobs that promise greater…

There is a long-standing debate over the value of certain postsecondary programs in facilitating employment after graduation. The National Graduate Survey (2005) was used to examine how graduates of various programs differ in their pursuits of higher education, employment status, job-program relatedness and job qualifications. Results suggest that…

The authors look at the roles that vocations, vocational streams and productive capabilities can play in improving links between mid-level qualifications and occupational outcomes. Support for vocational streams and productive capabilities varied by industry but there is the potential to progress these concepts in each of the industries…

Policymakers and experts overwhelmingly agree that the United States needs more people with college degrees or other postsecondary credentials and are working on many fronts to fulfill that goal. This brief aims to help them do so in ways that are informed by and responsive to the needs and perspectives of the American public. This brief…