Using Labor Market Information to Improve Program and Credential Quality

If attending college creates a pathway for graduates to enter the workforce, educational institutions need to ensure that their students learn the necessary skills for the available jobs in the market. That is why community colleges and universities rely on labor market information to adjust their programs and credentials.

Yet the presence of labor market data does not guarantee that colleges will use it, because staff may have varying degrees of experience and experience working with this information. Institutions also use the data in different ways, including whether it becomes part of ongoing organizational learning processes to align programs with labor market trends.

This project will develop case studies with a range of institutions, including community colleges, four-year universities and schools with a mix of liberal arts and workforce-oriented programs, to determine how and why they are using labor market data. The case studies will be followed by a national survey of colleges and universities in the project, which is supported by the Lumina Foundation.