Courses to Employment: Partnering to Create Paths to Education and Careers

This report summarizes research from the Courses to Employment (C2E) project which studied six community college-non-profit partnerships that collaborated to help low-income adults succeed in the classroom and labor market. The report provides an overview of the approach and strategies the partnerships use, how they are structured with respect to institutional roles and responsibilities, factors that influence their structures, and the education and employment outcomes participating students achieved during the C2E project. Findings from participant outcome studies point to the project’s approach as a promising strategy for serving low-income adults. High percentages of participants completed community college programs, most graduates obtained employment after training and earned higher wages than they did prior to training, and many graduates continued to do well in their education and employment experiences after initial training and job placement.