Price of Persistence:
A Conversation on Financing Student
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SkillUp Washington
Seattle, Washington
Thursday, August 11, 2011
Overview
 Courses
to Employment Demonstration’s
investigation of Community CollegeNonprofit partnerships
 Findings
on partnerships’ funding
structures and funding sources
 Examples
of how funding sources “blend”
 Implications
for policy and practice
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Courses to Employment

3-year investigation of competitively selected partnerships
–
Automobile Career Pathways Project- Seattle, WA
–
Allied Health-Capital IDEA and Austin Community College- Austin, TX
–
Carreras en Salud- Chicago, IL
–
Flint Healthcare Career Pathways Project- Flint, MI
–
Logistics/Transportation Academy- Los Angeles, CA
–
Training Futures at Northern Virginia Family Service and Northern
Virginia Community College- Fairfax County, VA

Investigating range of questions about how partnerships work and
what they accomplish

Funded by the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation
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Why Collaboration?:
The “Model”
College Education
Scale
Education
Strategies
Supportive
Services
Industry
Strategy
Community Nonprofit Organizations
Tailored Services
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Academic and Non-Academic Services
Provided by CTE Partnerships

Pre-College “Bridging” (ESOL, ABE, GED, alternate Developmental Ed,
Career Counseling)

Academic Support (tuition, books, materials, specialized tutoring)

Case Management / Coaching (examples: attendance monitoring, mentoring,
tutoring, peer support groups, financial planning)

College Navigation (information/ counseling, financial aid, registration, act as
student advocate)

Non-Academic Supports (transportation, childcare, food and clothing,
housing and utilities, health, domestic violence)

Employment Navigation (networking, career advising, job placement/ job
leads along education pathway, information and counseling)
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Each CTE program has unique support
model determined by…

Participant Characteristics

Target Industry Sector
–
Structure of Employment Opportunities and Job
Requirements

Educational and Employment Goals

Opportunities
–
funding, partners, existing programs, etc.
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Funding Structures
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Types of Funding
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Changes in Funding Over Time
Example: Capital IDEA, Austin TX
$2,000,000
$1,500,000
City/County
$1,000,000
State
Federal
Private
$500,000
Employers
Off-Budget
$0
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
-$500,000
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Funding is typically restricted by at least
one of the following…

Client characteristics (youth, adult, formerly incarcerated,
public assistance receipt)

Geography (political jurisdiction, special neighborhood focus)

Allowable uses (for ABE, for job training, for support services
various)

Time period in which it must be spent

Number of people who must be served with funds
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“Michelle” – LVN
 Took
six years
 Started
at pre-college level
 Needs
to suspend studies at times
because of personal issues
 Struggle
with academic performance
 Ultimately
successful, supporting self and
children
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Michelle’s On-budget, direct expense at
Capital IDEA
Total expense of $15,692 over 6 years and spread across 9 funding
streams—nearly half for tuition
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“Kenneth”– Automotive Tech
 Support
through 9-month certificate
program; 1st year of advanced program
 Addressed
basic skills and technical skills
need
 Coached
in job search (limited previous
work history)
 Connected
to employment and employersupported training to advance
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Support provided to Kenneth during
certificate program
Total support of $14,436 provided over 2-year period
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Funding Reality #1
There are many pots of funding.
This is unlikely to change.
Implications:
 Programs
have opportunities to offer customized and flexible
services by blending resources.
 Fundraising
from multiple sources is an ongoing programmatic
activity and bears costs.
 Programs
must invest in personnel and information
management technologies to support fiscal management of
complex multi-source budgets and conduct data collection and
tracking on service delivery and program outcomes.
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Funding Reality #2
Most funding is slated for particular
uses or targeted to specific groups of
people.
Implications:
 Program
managers need to be alert to how different sources fit
within an overall funding structure.
 It
helps to separate ‘qualifying for service’ under funding
guidelines from service provision.
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Funding Reality #3
Various organizations in a region
may have resources and capacity to
provide particular services.
Implications:
 Working
relationships among a variety of organizations are
often necessary to provide participants with needed
services.
 Facilitating
access to services provided by external
organizations requires staff time/costs.
 Programs
must engage in strategic relationship building and
allocate staff time towards related activities.
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Funding Reality #4
The funding landscape is constantly
changing. Funding pools can come
and go over time.
Implications:
 Programs
must invest time in staying abreast of changes and
be able to adapt programs accordingly.
 Fundraising
activities must be ongoing.
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Funding Reality #5
The funding landscape differs by
state/region.
Implications:
 Program
design typically reflects local context and resources.
 State
and local policy/funding can create important
opportunities.
 Advocacy
at the state and local level can be an important
activity for the partnerships.
 National
program models need adaptation from place to place.
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Reflections for Policy


Combined services appears a good investment
–
Resources needed to provide social supports modest relative to cost of
education
–
Social supports appear to improve likelihood of persistence and
success
Organizational infrastructure (i.e. ‘administrative’ expenses)
needs better funding
–
Knitting together services/funding requires time of program
management
–
Since funding streams come and go, fund raising remains a critical ongoing activity
–
Adequate IT infrastructure is critical
–
Staff time to develop strategic relationships and effectively leverage
existing community capacity is essential
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Contact Information
Maureen Conway
Executive Director, Economic Opportunities Program
Director, Workforce Strategies Initiative
The Aspen Institute
maureen.conway@aspeninst.org
www.aspenwsi.org
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