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As states continue movement toward ambitious attainment goals, many are calling increased attention to post-graduation outcomes--including workforce development and graduate impact on a state's economy. Along with state initiatives and task forces, an increase in workforce development legislation highlights a movement toward codifying progress. Legislation in 2018 pertained to clear career pathways, financial incentives and strong partnerships or working groups. Coupled with the recent passage of the Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act at the federal level, this recent legislation illustrates a clear focus on workforce development and forward progress. To take a deeper look, Education Commission of the States visited four states to gain an on-the-ground perspective of these developments in postsecondary and workforce alignment. In addition to highlighting trending workforce development legislation and key findings from those state visits, this brief provides questions states might consider in their progress to align postsecondary credential outcomes with workforce needs.

As of 2011, 31 million adults in the United States had some college credit but had not earned a postsecondary credential, defined in this brief as a near-completer. This brief provides an overview of the 2017 near-completer policy landscape and a detailed review of three states implementing innovative outreach to this population. State example information was gathered through personal communication with state-level staff on how their initiatives came about and the process of implementation unfolded. This brief also includes policy considerations for state leaders as they begin to create legislation or design initiatives to reach near-completers and help them earn a credential.

The increasing need for highly-skilled employees in the workplace has policymakers and higher education leaders focused on innovative ways for students to access postsecondary education. These access points can include online programs, prior learning assessments and, the subject of this snapshot, competency-based education. The National Center for Education Statistics future projections show the adult population in postsecondary education growing at a higher percentage than students under the age of 25. With an influx of adult students, states are beginning to experiment with alternative modes of learning and accumulating credit, including competency-based education. Although competency-based education is not limited to the adult student population, these students typically encompass the majority of the population in these programs. Adult students have specific needs for postsecondary success including increased course flexibility through additional course section offerings in their major and multiple options for financial aid and affordability. Competency-based education programs often provide a lower cost, allow students to work at their own pace and may or may not incur assessment fees. The adult workforce population looking to up-skill may also benefit from competency-based education programs. Competency-based education policies may not be as far-reaching or prevalent statewide as prior learning assessments, as these policies may create a non-traditional education delivery model. Many of the introduced and enacted policies include studies on how to integrate competency-based education into current institutions or provide a specific program/institution for this delivery model. The main goal of competency-based education serves to award credit/degrees to students for meeting specific skill competencies agreed upon by faculty, industry leaders and workforce representatives. This innovative delivery model could create greater access to postsecondary education for returning adults, low-income students and working adults needing additional skills. This Policy Snapshot provides a summary of 2016 and 2017 legislative activities, as well as legislation, board policies and programs from previous years. A list of resources is included.

As states have begun to fully implement reverse transfer policies, their reported student-level outcomes data varies widely. Given the infancy of most reverse transfer policy, it is premature to pinpoint any single state action that has served to accelerate or hinder successful degree conferrals. However, taking a deeper look at exemplar state practices can provide guidance for states looking to implement reverse transfer policies in the future. The third in a series on reverse transfer policy, this brief presents early outcomes data for the 10 states that have implemented statewide reverse transfer policies and offers recommendations informed by prior state actions for states that have yet to enact or implement a statewide reverse transfer policy. The first brief, "Reverse Transfer: The path less traveled", defines reverse transfer and explores how states might utilize the policy as an approach to support increasing educational attainment. The second brief, "Reverse Transfer: Paving the pathway", focuses on the distinct approaches states are taking to implement reverse transfer policies. [For the first brief, "Reverse Transfer: The Path Less Traveled. ECS Education Trends," see ED556470; and for the second brief, "Reverse Transfer: Paving the Pathway. ECS Education Policy Analysis," see ED558966.]

States are taking several distinct approaches to implement reverse transfer policies. Although contextualized by state-specific factors, approaches to policy implementation commonly include determination of a group or regulatory body responsible for policy oversight, technology, funding and identification of students eligible to participate in reverse transfer programs. This analysis is the second in a series of three briefs discussing reverse transfer policies, their implementation and outcomes data from the states. As defined in the first issue brief, reverse transfer is "the process of retroactively granting associate degrees to students who have not completed the requirements of an associate degree before they transferred from a two- to a four-year institution. [See the first brief: "Reverse Transfer: The Path Less Traveled. ECS Education Trends" at ED556470.]

As the nation works toward higher postsecondary attainment goals, states are looking into ways to increase successful degree completion for students in higher education. A broad consensus between states, philanthropic interests, and the business and labor communities is that higher attainment rates are required to meet the workforce demands of the 21st century. This goal cannot be reached without innovative ways of increasing degree completion. One such innovation is expansion of reverse transfer policy. Reverse transfer is a unique process for awarding associate degrees to students who have transferred in pursuit of a bachelor's degree before completing the requirements for an associate degree at a two-year institution. Through reverse transfer policies and programs, students can combine credits they earned at two-and four-year institutions to be awarded an associate degree while also working toward a bachelor's degree. This brief defines reverse transfer and explores how states and organizations might utilize the policy as one approach to support increasing educational attainment. In the past 20 years, more than 31 million students have left higher education with some credits yet no degree or certificate. This highlights a need to support those students in their academic goals. Reverse transfer policies provide an option for awarding these students a credential.

States are introducing and enacting an increasing number of bills targeted toward workforce development and career and technical education. The increase in legislation illustrates a shift toward creating collaborations between higher education institutions and employers in the state as one strategy to enhance workforce development and postsecondary attainment success. Internships and work-based learning are a growing trend in state policy focusing on workforce development. Increasing the availability of internships and career curriculum can expose students to workforce needs in their state, multiple career pathways and the hard skills required for employment in high demand occupations. States' monitoring of employer needs can help institutions create a comprehensive career education curriculum and expose students to the skills needed for jobs in their community. The Education Commission of the States (ECS) reviewed enacted legislation, from 2012-14, across the 50 U.S. states that addressed higher education and workforce development. The specific substance of bills identified and cataloged varied, including bills addressing the creation and funding of state longitudinal data systems, targeted programs and pathways connecting specific workforce needs with educational offerings, financial incentives to complete specified education programs leading to employment in high demand fields and the creation of working groups or commissioning of reports addressing education to workforce pathways. This brief provides a deeper dive into the content of the specific policies that create targeted programs and pathways connecting specific workforce needs with educational offerings. The purpose of this brief is to assist state leaders in acquiring information about policies that can better align education programs and workforce needs.

Roughly one third of all U.S. high school graduates do not enroll in college soon after earning a diploma. There are many reasons why students do not do so, including work obligations, affordability concerns and lack of academic preparation. Yet research suggests that many of these students often aspire to a college education. Helping these students turn aspiration into action is a policy priority for states. One important factor in successful transitions for high school to college is demonstration of college readiness--traditionally measured by course seat time. However, as one strategy to enhance student transitions from high school to college, statewide and system-wide admission policies are beginning to assess college readiness through multiple measures. This Education Trends report reviews these multiple measures, provides a deeper look at competency-based assessments, and offers policy considerations for state and system leaders. Key takeaways include: (1) At least 18 states have complete or partial alignment between high school graduation course requirements and statewide or system-wide admission standards; (2) Instead of completing coursework, a growing number of states allow high school students to pass competency-based assessments to demonstrate mastery of subject content; and (3) State, K-12 and higher education leaders should continue to work closely and explore and evaluate more effective measures to gauge students' college readiness and chances of success.

In 2012, there were an estimated 11.2 million undocumented individuals living in the United States. The peak of unauthorized immigrant population occurred in 2007 with 12.2 million, a stark rise from original estimates of 3.5 million in 1990. Although down from its peak, a sizeable and stable population of unauthorized individuals resides in the United States. Given this population, both federal and state authorities have taken action to provide policy and regulations for this group. Among policy actions, states have sought to expand postsecondary education participation and access for a specific subset of undocumented individuals. Since 2001, 18 states have passed legislation to expand the eligibility for in-state tuition for undocumented and other individuals who do not have state residency; five of the 18 states also provide access to state financial aid programs for this population. These state actions, in addition to federal actions such as the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals and the recent Immigration Accountability Executive Action from President Obama, are creating a dialogue around undocumented student populations and how they are both regulated and allowed access to certain opportunities in the United States.

The Education Commission of the States launched the Blueprint for College Readiness initiative to provide guidance and support to the growing number of states working to improve student success and transition from high school into postsecondary. Designed by state leaders for state leaders, the Blueprint features a menu of 10 critical policies promoting college readiness and success. This 50-state analysis explores the extent to which states are pursuing these policies. The accompanying resources, technical assistance and online database are designed to respond to the unique needs of states. The Blueprint is designed to serve as a framework to help K-12 and higher education leaders conceptualize the multitude of education reform efforts underway in their states. The analysis includes four high school policies, four postsecondary policies and two "bridge" policies that impact both stakeholders. Collectively, the 10 policies described in the Blueprint enable states to bring together college and career readiness, transition and degree attainment goals. The second section of the report contains individual state profiles as a way for leaders to quickly discern where strengths and opportunities exist and where they can get more information and resources should they decide to take action. Finally, a 50-state searchable data portal will provide an array of content-rich, easy-to-understand features.