Streamline Key Learner Transitions

This grant supports MDRC in implementing a grantmaking initiative to build evidence on nonprofit-led sectoral training programs. The initiative will focus on identifying program elements and mechanisms needed to deliver and scale effective programs.

This grant supports American Institutes for Research in evaluating the impact of competency-based education programs – degree programs designed around self-paced demonstration of specific competencies or skills – on learners’ completion outcomes and labor market success.

This grant supports Mathematica in conducting an evaluation that supports iterative program improvements of Tools of the Trade scholarship to maximize the difference the scholarship makes for Wisconsin apprentices seeking upward mobility.

This grant supports Economic Mobility Corporation in partnering with two well-established nonprofit sectoral training providers – Per Scholas and Project QUEST – to evaluate program impacts on low-income learners’ education and labor market outcomes and to identify key program factors associated with positive outcomes.

This grant supports the Valley Initiative for Development and Advancement in strengthening their sectoral training program and partnering with an external evaluator to assess its impact on low-income learners' education and employment outcomes.

This grant supports the Coalition for Evidence-Based Policy in expanding evidence-based postsecondary education and workforce training programs in Maryland. By leveraging matched philanthropic and public funding, the Coalition will support state and local agencies in expanding proven programs and incorporating requirements for rigorous evidence into future government funding criteria.

This grant supports the University of California at Irvine in partnering with the Virginia Community College System to assess impacts of noncredit workforce training programs on learners’ labor market outcomes and to examine effectiveness of an innovative state-wide policy designed to incentivize student enrollment in and completion of noncredit programs in high-demand fields.

This grant supports the Council of Independent Colleges in partnering with 25 member institutions to develop and evaluate employer-driven work-based learning projects embedded in courses. It aims to eliminate barriers to professional opportunities for learners from low-income backgrounds and improve their post-graduation career outcomes.

This grant supports Social Finance in piloting innovative workforce training financing models to improve labor market outcomes for learners from low-income backgrounds. Social Finance will design models leveraging outcomes-based funding structures in two areas: (1) to support learners in accessing and succeeding in pre-apprenticeships and (2) to catalyze training programs within specific industry sectors critical to rural workforce needs. Social Finance will also launch the Social Finance Institute as a hub for dissemination of insights from these and other initiatives, with a focus on informing public and private leaders about strategies to build sustainable and inclusive talent development pipelines.

This grant supports Community College Research Initiatives at the University of Washington in addressing the shortage of STEM transfer students from low-income backgrounds by enhancing inter-institutional transfer partnerships in Washington state.