A Technical Assistance Learning Lab
Strengthening students' pathways to employment and economic opportunity.
| → | September 17, 2026 — RFA Released |
| → | Ongoing — Applicant Q&A & Supports (scheduled individually as needed) |
| → | November 6, 2026 — Application Deadline (end of business day, EST) |
| → | Nov. 16 & 30, 2026 — Finalist Conversations (as needed) |
| → | December 11, 2026 — Selection Notification |
| → | January 2027 — Orientation & Launch |
| → | Feb. 1–2, 2027 — In-Person Cohort Meeting (Columbus, OH) |
Community and technical colleges are increasingly focused on building stronger workforce pathways, particularly in response to new initiatives such as Workforce Pell. Much of this work requires deeper employer relationships, expanded partnerships with regional industries, and better tracking of students' labor market outcomes after graduation. Many colleges have dedicated staff, committed faculty, and industry partners — but not always the time, tools, or specialized expertise to turn employer needs into sustained institutional practice.
At the same time, a small set of nonprofit sectoral programs — including Per Scholas, Project QUEST, and Year Up United — have demonstrated striking long-term gains in participants' employment and earnings in rigorous randomized controlled trial (RCT) studies — often with a year or less of training. These programs center employer voice in program design and provide a robust set of services focused on the skills employers most value. However, to date, less is known about whether and how these high-impact practices could be adapted in community colleges and what supports might help colleges' implementation.
The Building Ready for Work Colleges and Students Learning Lab is an initiative designed to explore just that. With a generous grant from Ascendium Education Group, the Learning Lab brings together community colleges ready to learn from and adapt the mindsets and practices behind these effective programs — and to build the evidence base for what works in community college settings.
The Building Ready for Work Colleges and Students Technical Assistance Learning Lab is designed to help colleges learn, test, and innovate these approaches in their own institutional contexts. Each college is paired with a workforce expert who provides up to five hours of tailored coaching each month, organized around the Sector-Based Workforce Education and Training (SWET) framework — a set of mindsets and approaches drawn from rigorous RCT studies on the most effective sectoral programs. Colleges also participate in a vibrant community of practice — a peer learning network where institutions share insights, strategies, and innovations for improving students' pathways to good jobs and higher earnings. Sessions feature insights from sectoral program leaders, researchers, and community college practitioners who are among the nation's leaders in this work, each contributing knowledge gained from leading, building, or researching the practices the Learning Lab seeks to foster.
Colleges also work closely with the research team to build and innovate new mechanisms for tracking workforce outcomes, labor market information, and the quality of employer relationships — expanding colleges' capacity to measure and monitor students' success. Research on the Learning Lab ensures that participating colleges' experiences and innovations generate important insights for the field on how community colleges can deepen their alignment with labor market and employer needs.
Two documents make up the application: the RFA Overview & Guide (review this first) and the Application Packet (complete and submit this).
A technical assistance learning lab and research study for community colleges
With a generous grant from Ascendium Education Group, the Building Ready for Work Colleges and Students Technical Assistance Learning Lab (Ready for Work Lab) is supporting colleges in advancing their workforce training programs.
The Ready for Work Lab pairs colleges with an expert workforce coach who provides two years of tailored support in growing colleges' ties with employers and the workforce. Coaching is organized around the Sector-Based Workforce Education and Training (SWET) framework — a set of mindsets and approaches drawn from rigorous randomized controlled trial (RCT) studies of sectoral programs that have advanced their participants' earnings over multiple years, often with training of a year or less. Colleges will also join a vibrant community of practice, sharing strategies with one another and gaining insights from a senior advisory panel of national sectoral program leaders, scholars, and community college practitioners that are the nation's leaders in this work.
Each participating college works with the research team as a partner in building new capacity to track workforce outcomes, understand labor market trends, and measure the quality of employer relationships.
The research team also conducts a mixed-methods research study examining how colleges implement SWET practices, what supports and challenges they encounter, and what early results emerge for students and employers. Findings feed directly back into the technical assistance, helping the Learning Lab evolve in response to what colleges experience on the ground.
The study is led by EZR Consulting in partnership with RAND, with technical assistance from TPMA and Red Eagle Consulting.
These programs tend to focus heavily on their participants' employment outcomes and ensuring that they receive robust training and support services that develop the workplace skills employers most value.
Effective sectoral programs tend to share a set of common mindsets and practices, summarized in the Sector-Based Workforce Education and Training (SWET) framework — a research-based set of practices and mindsets drawn from the most effective sectoral programs, as detailed in Ready for Work: Adapting High-Impact Workforce Training Models in Community College Settings (Rutschow, Feygin, & Chavarria, 2024). The table below provides a snapshot of these practices.
| Component | Key Practices and Mindsets |
|---|---|
| Leadership & Accountability |
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| Employer Involvement |
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| Occupational Skills Training |
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| Work Readiness Training & Services |
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| Support Services & Advising |
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How to apply to Building Ready for Work Colleges and Students
We invite community colleges to apply for the Ready for Work Learning Lab where they will join a community of practice offering tailored technical assistance to help them adapt effective, employment-focused sectoral program practices around their own institutional priorities. The Learning Lab will select six community colleges for individualized coaching, community of practice participation, quarterly webinars, and data-driven improvement support — all guided by the Sector-Based Workforce Education and Training (SWET) framework.
We welcome colleges at varying stages of workforce program development — what matters most is a genuine commitment to growth and a willingness to engage fully in the Learning Lab's activities. To be considered, applicants must meet the following criteria:
Start by reviewing the RFA Overview & Guide, then complete the Application Packet and submit it as a single PDF to ezrutschow@outlook.com.
Selection will prioritize a balance of geographic diversity (rural and urban), institutional size (large and small), and at least two colleges willing to share de-identified student-level data for more rigorous analysis.
Call for Applications and Application Packet
This guide provides an overview of the Ready for Work Learning Lab initiative, its research foundation, and instructions for applying. We recommend reviewing this before starting your application.
This is the application itself. Complete it by reviewing your college's current workforce training approaches, rating them across the five SWET framework areas, and responding to short narrative questions where you can expand on your ratings — then submit it along with the required attachments.
Publications, evidence, and the research study underpinning Building Ready for Work Colleges and Students
The publications below inform the design and focus of Building Ready for Work Colleges and Students. They document the gaps between employer and college expectations for partnership and the challenges that arise between labor market needs and the credentials colleges provide; discuss the practices of community colleges that are among the nation's leaders in graduating students with credentials of value leading to strong employment and earnings outcomes; present rigorous RCT evidence on the strong outcomes of effective sectoral programs such as Per Scholas, Project QUEST, and Year Up United; and analyze the high-impact practices that distinguish these programs — situated within a broader context of rigorous RCT research on college interventions and their impact on employment and earnings outcomes.
The researchers, practitioners, and leaders guiding Building Ready for Work Colleges and Students
The Learning Lab draws on a senior advisory panel of 15+ scholars, sectoral program leaders, and community college advisors — each contributing knowledge gained from leading, building, or researching the kinds of practices the Learning Lab seeks to foster.
| Name | Title | Organization |
|---|---|---|
| Scholar Advisors | ||
| Dr. Michelle Van Noy | Director & Associate Research Professor, Education and Employment Research Center (EERC) | EERC at Rutgers University |
| Dr. Zack Mabel | Research Professor and Director of Research, Center on Education and the Workforce (CEW) | CEW at Georgetown University |
| Dr. Thomas Brock | Director & Research Professor, Community College Research Center (CCRC) | CCRC at Teachers College, Columbia University |
| Dr. Kathy Hughes | Principal; former lead of the Institute for Education Sciences CTE Research Network | Edwordian |
| Dr. Lindsay Daugherty | Senior Policy Researcher; Professor of Policy Analysis, RAND School of Public Policy | RAND |
| Sectoral Program Advisors | ||
| Bertina Ceccarelli | CEO | NPower |
| Chelsea Mills | Principal (formerly at Towards Employment) | TCMG |
| Pooja Tripathi & Kelcie Richart | Senior Director / Associate Director, Workforce Innovation | Manufacturing Institute (formerly at FAME) |
| Meghan Cressman & Melinda Day | VP, Development and Partnerships / Chief Academic Officer | Merit America |
| Claire Dennison | Chief External Affairs Officer | Propel America |
| Felida Villarreal | CEO | VIDA |
| Francisco Martinez | President and CEO | Project QUEST |
| Melanie D'Evelyn | Executive Director, Advisory and Capacity Building | One Million Degrees |
| Leading College Advisors | ||
| Ben McCumber | Deputy Commissioner | Georgia Technical College System |
| Layla Merrifield | President | Wisconsin Technical College System |
| Dr. Lada Gibson-Shreve | Provost and Chief Academic Officer | Stark State College |
| Dr. Jayda Spillers | Chancellor | Northwest Louisiana Technical College |
* Colleges identified through Creating Credentials of Value in Community Colleges, which analyzed colleges most effective at translating workforce credentials into employment and earnings gains.