This year, I’ve traveled 18,000 miles visiting 12 states across the country to learn how education and business leaders are strengthening the connection between learning and work. As employers struggle to find skilled workers and learners seek faster, more affordable pathways to good jobs, policymakers are refining what it means for a credential to have value.
When Lumina launched the FutureReady States initiative in July 2025, we intentionally designed it around state and local context. While we’ve learned that there are key commonalities in how states define and invest in short-term workforce credentials of value, there are important differences across states as well. Red and blue states, densely populated and more rural states, large and small states: All approach the work through the lens of their own economies, priorities, and partnerships.
Although every FutureReady State is pursuing the same goal—ensuring short-term credentials lead to economic prosperity—there is no single blueprint. Each state’s economy, workforce, political context, and education system shape a different approach.
So while we have found common themes across the 12 states—and will publish more analysis in the coming months—we also want to share the individual stories of each state to show how local priorities, industries, and communities shape each state’s approach to building credentials of value.
To that end, we’re excited to launch the first three FutureReady States profiles, a series of short pieces that highlight the policies and practices the 12 states are working on, and—critically—why they chose those priorities. To capture those differences, veteran higher education journalist Kathleen Kennedy Manzo traveled to all 12 FutureReady States, interviewing policymakers, higher education leaders, employers, and workforce partners about how they’re building credential systems that reflect their state’s unique needs. As the series unfolds, she’ll highlight the student populations state leaders hope to better serve, the industries driving labor market demand, and the unique strengths each state is building on to increase attainment of credentials of value.
Together, these first three profiles illustrate a broader shift: States are moving beyond simply increasing credential attainment to ensure those credentials lead to good jobs, higher wages, and long-term career mobility. They show how:
- Connecticut is using the development of a statewide credential of value definition to strengthen and align an often-fragmented workforce development ecosystem;
- Mississippi is working with employers and other stakeholders to identify credentials that not only lead to a good first job, but also connect to further college or apprenticeship pathways that support longer-term career advancement; and
- Tennessee is making significant new investments in short-term credentials, including dedicated funding for credentials that lead to jobs in the nuclear and green energy fields, where employment opportunities are growing rapidly.
Collectively, these stories demonstrate that there is no single model for building a credential ecosystem. Instead, states are building systems that reflect local economies while pursuing a common goal: helping more learners earn credentials that create lasting opportunity. These aren’t just 12 profiles—they’re a snapshot of a national movement already underway.