HCM + CHEPP Release New Policy Paper on Improving Career Connection for Today’s Learners
The Center for Higher Education Policy and Practice (CHEPP) has released its latest policy paper,“Online by Design: Improving Career Connection for Today’s Learner” which explores how postsecondary institutions and policymakers can strengthen the connections between education and the labor market, particularly in online and hybrid environments where many students now study.
About the Paper
Today’s students are working adults, parents, and online learners. Higher education’s career support systems need to catch up.
This policy paper examines the viability of workforce connectivity for today’s modern learners. For most college students today, education is a pathway to economic mobility. According to one survey, 90% of prospective learners say they are pursuing higher education to increase their earnings, and 89% are motivated by the prospect of better job opportunities. Yet access to quality career advising and work experiences like internships and apprenticeships is still limited, especially for adult learners, working students, and those studying online.
This paper emphasizes the importance of integrating career connection strategies into all learning formats—online, hybrid, and in-person, through a variety of evidence- and equity-based strategies.
It highlights a continuum of career connection strategies—from curriculum design and career exposure to advising and work-based learning—and examines the structural supports needed to scale them. It also calls attention to the need for transfer-friendly practices, competency-based education, credit for prior learning, and better data systems to track and improve outcomes.
About this Series
This is the fourth policy paper in the ongoing partnership between HCM and CHEPP. We are proud to support this important work, contributing to the consideration and development of recommendations that make education more accessible and valuable to all learners.
To read about the first paper in this series, The Costs of Today’s College Credit Transfer System for Learners and the Mindsets and Practices that Reduce Them, click here.
To read about the second paper in this series, Improving College Credit Transfer: Policy Recommendations, click here.
To read about the third paper in this sereis, Online by Design: Delivering Robust and Relevant Online Academics to Support Learner Success, click here.
