College to Career Pathways

Getting From Here to There on the Roadmap for a Stronger California Economy

The Board of Governors Task Force on Workforce, Job Creation and a Strong Economy is charged with establishing a roadmap for California Community Colleges to strengthen the state’s economy by closing the middle-skill gap. Stakeholder meetings around the state identified career pathways as a framework for systemic change. Career pathways provide the structures, systems, and guidance for transitions from high school through college, propelling more youth and adults toward well paying, skilled careers.

Specifically, the 14 Regional College Conversations advanced these ideas:

• Develop strategies and structured industry-informed pathways that are regionally aligned so that high school students can more seamlessly transition to community college career technical education (CTE) certificates and/or transfer degrees.
• Develop and extend CTE model curricula (e.g., SB1440) into high schools to enable dual enrollment and create CTE pathways between high schools and community colleges.
  •  Generate support for interdisciplinary collaborations (not just CTE) to create specific pathways between and among all disciplines.
  • Align the basic skills curriculum, including ESL, with workplace skill requirements.
• Expand the definition of pathways and create structured pathways for non-traditional students such as displaced workers, veterans, and adults.
• Create, fund, and support campus hubs that foster CTE student success by providing a variety of services including career exploration, CTE pathways and education planning, work-based opportunities, and foundational workplace/career skills. Provide tools in support of these campus hubs.