The From Programs to System Change series highlights community college programs and innovations that were initially funded through the U.S. Department of Labor's TAACCCT program, but sustained beyond the life of the grant and scaled for greater reach, through changes to systems within colleges, between colleges and partnering organizations, and across colleges within a state.

This case study illustrates the power of the relationships with CBOs that were built by the colleges that were part of Credentials to Careers (C2C), a TAACCCT consortium of seven colleges across five states. C2C colleges sought to increase credential attainment through curriculum redesign and technologies, to successfully prepare adult learners for fast-growing STEM occupational clusters. It outlines the specific steps that the colleges of the C2C consortium and their CBO partners undertook to sustain and scale the programs they built. Together, these organizations created enduring partnerships and growing programs that will continue to support more people like Erica to attain industry-recognized credentials and build their careers. C2C’s steps included:

  1. Serving high-need learners through CBO partnerships;
  2. Building sustainable on-ramps;
  3. Demonstrating the impact of new program designs; and
  4. Leveraging alternative resources.