Focus magazine, Spring 2023—3 stories on short-term credentials

FOREWORD

Short-term programs bring long-lasting benefits—when designed with students in mind

Shortcomings associated with short-term credentialing programs have for years been neglected. Too often these programs have led to low-wage jobs, including some that workers could have found with no credential at all. People who are Black and brown were routinely tracked into career and technical programs rather than directed toward programs leading to college degrees. Many programs weren’t designed with students’ needs in mind, and schools sometimes designed them with little attention to labor market demands.

A constructive effort in California

Recalling her time as a college accounting major, Catiana “Cat” Beaver admits: “I was not about it. I ended up failing most of my classes because I just wasn’t into them.” These days, thanks to a program designed to help prepare California residents for construction jobs, the 22-year-old is firmly bonded to her new field of study: welding.

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Students are motoring in Michigan

Jake Taber, an avid video gamer since his middle school years, always knew his future would be wired. He just didn’t know it would arrive so quickly. At 21, Taber has already earned an associate degree and built an impressive resumé as an IT professional, thanks to an innovative program offered by Michigan’s community colleges.

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Illinois program attacks inequities

Jack Camp says he “grew up a bit rough”—quite an understatement for someone who was raised by drug-addicted parents and served 10 years in state prison. Today, at age 40, Camp has turned his life around. A state-funded program helped him earn a commercial driver’s license for free, literally putting him on the road to a productive future.

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PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

If adversity is a great teacher, the COVID-19 pandemic is certainly one of the biggest learning opportunities in decades. Among other lessons, it taught us the “essential” nature of the workers we often ignore or take for granted—not just nurses and other health care professionals, but delivery drivers and IT workers, garbage collectors, and grocery […]

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Video: A “desk job” wasn’t for her, but she’s found success in a construction careers program.

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Video: After a rough start, he turned things around with training for a high-demand industry.

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The stories in this issue of Focus were reported and written by Susan Headden, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and communications professional with many years of experience covering education issues. Headden, a former staff writer at The Indianapolis Star, also worked for nearly 16 years at U.S. News & World Report, ultimately serving as a managing editor. She later held senior positions at the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. She now works as an independent communications consultant based in Washington, D.C.