Pathways

If we want young people to have fulfilling careers and opportunities for economic mobility, we must do more than simply help them graduate from college. Students need support at every stage of their education-to-career pathway. This means not only ensuring access to education after high school—such as a college degree, certificate, or credential showing mastery of a skill—but tools, resources, and support that help them discover a path, stay on it, and ultimately thrive.

Supporting students transitioning from high school to college, career, and beyond

All students deserve the opportunity to build fulfilling lives that provide financial stability, personal autonomy, and the ability to contribute to their communities. Education beyond high school is one of the most effective ways to achieve these goals, yet too many young people face barriers in navigating the transitions between high school, postsecondary education, and the workforce.

Currently, these “pathways” are often unclear, with students receiving limited guidance and support. Students are also exposed to powerful, but often inaccurate narratives that “college isn’t worth it”, when the data show that over a 40-year career, a bachelor’s degree holder earns about $1.2 million more than someone with only a high school diploma and an associate’s degree holder earns about $400,000 more than a high school graduate (median earnings). This has a real impact on students’ lives and on the nation’s workforce needs: In 1983, 32% of jobs required more than a high school diploma—by 2031, it will be 72%.

We are committed to ensuring that more students—particularly those facing economic or structural barriers—have access to clear, structured, and affordable pathways to credentials that lead to meaningful careers. By expanding advising support, career-connected learning, and credit mobility, we aim to provide all students with the knowledge, skills, and social capital needed for long-term success—recognizing that no single path works for everyone.

Learn more about our pathways strategy and some of our partners including OneGoal and Rush Education and Career Hub (REACH).

Our latest impact

Pathways grantees

JFF Equitable Pathways
OneGoal
Dana Center
Christensen Institute
National Student Clearinghouse Student Tracker
Bellwether Education Partners
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Pathways focus areas

We aim to ensure that more students – particularly those facing economic or structural barriers – have access to clear, structured, and affordable pathways to credentials that lead to meaningful careers and provide all students with the knowledge, skills, and social capital needed for long-term success.
Supporting students

Interventions such as mentoring, advising, career-connected learning, and early credential attainment (e.g. dual enrollment) have shown real promise in improving educational and career outcomes for students – especially for students who might not have otherwise seen college as an option.

We support efforts to develop and implement effective strategies—such as integrated advising for high school students and networks that build social capital—so students can forge relationships that help them access, enroll in, transition into, and gain early momentum in their chosen postsecondary pathway.

We also fund partners that are working to shift high school coursework to better align with postsecondary programs that target labor market demand, which will give students early momentum toward earning a credential of value and reaching their career goals.

Connecting K-12, postsecondary, and the workforce
A key element of pathways work is effective coordination across systems. By developing “public goods” such as effective models, tools, and platforms that can work in different places and in different contexts, we aim to enable better coordination and alignment across the K-12, postsecondary, and workforce sectors. We also shine a light on existing models that have been successful in helping sectors collaborate more effectively. By understanding what it looks like when K-12, higher ed, and employers work together, we can identify approaches communities can replicate to drive success for their students.

We strive to create adaptable roadmaps for how to build effective partnerships between K-12 districts, postsecondary institutions and employers that enable more career-connected coursework and experiential learning for our target population of students. For example, in Texas we work with partners to demonstrate how pathways systems can be built over time through supportive policy, research-based approaches, and data infrastructure that helps drive insights and collaboration.

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