Community College Growth Engine
We design the step-ladders our skills-based economy needs, linking immediate employment with micro-pathways that can stack toward degrees.
How might we design equitable and accessible micro-pathways toward high-growth careers endorsed by employers and visible to learners moving from post-secondary education into the workforce?
OVERVIEW
Community College Growth Engine (Growth Engine) is Education Design Lab’s flagship program for scaling short-term, stackable, employer-validated pathways that connect New Majority Learners to in-demand jobs, next-step credentials, and upward economic mobility.
The Community College Growth Engine partners with institutions, state systems, employers, and learners to co-design high-quality, short-term, stackable, skills-based pathways using a human-centered design process. The result is not only new employer-validated pathways, but also stronger systems, policies, and practices that help colleges move from one-off innovation to lasting transformation.
MICRO-PATHWAYS
In this new time, we need a new class of credential that is more aligned to the market, designed for learner needs, and faster than traditional offerings.
Micro-pathway: High-quality, stackable credentials that can be completed in under a year and lead to employment in high-demand fields and progress toward a degree.
MICRO-PATHWAY DESIGN CRITERIA
In order to meet the needs of New Majority Learners and employers, micro-pathways include these criteria:
We have designed over 300 micro-pathways across 11 sectors.
BY SECTOR
Advanced manufacturing in central North Carolina needed a workforce solution that matched the scale of the challenge, so 12 community colleges, 3 universities, and 7 workforce boards built one together. AdvanceNC’s Industrial Machinery Mechanic micro-pathway is designed to move 1,000+ learners across the region into roles that keep modern manufacturing floors running.
A 90% completion rate is rare in any workforce program, and it’s what Bunker Hill Community College’s IT Support Specialist micro-pathway delivers. Graduates step into IT roles across healthcare, finance, education, and technology, proving that foundational IT skills open doors in every industry.
Most micro-pathways live at the community college level. This one bridges to a four-year university. Mountain West Community College’s Patient Care Tech micro-pathway was co-designed with Marshall University, creating a direct ladder from a short-term healthcare credential all the way to a bachelor’s degree. It’s a model for how 2-year and 4-year institutions can work together to keep learners moving forward.
Colorado didn’t build one Behavioral Health Specialist pathway — it designed a statewide system. The Colorado Community College System designed five stackable micro-credentials that ladder all the way to a bachelor’s degree, available at all 13 CCCS colleges and in high schools through concurrent enrollment across the state.
Central Lakes College built their Business Assistant micro-pathway around the specific employers in Brainerd, Minn. It’s a model of hyper-local design: The credential was shaped by the employers who will actually hire graduates, which means learners enter with skills those employers specifically asked for.
Roxbury Community College’s Fundamentals of Energy Efficient Building Operations (FEEBO) micro-pathway gives learners a fast, practical entry point into the growing clean energy workforce. In just four weeks, students build the skills to spot energy-saving opportunities in commercial buildings and prepare to pursue the nationally recognized Building Operator Certification (BOC) program, with a clear ladder from Building Fundamentals through BOC I and BOC II and into roles like Building Operator and Building Maintenance Technician.
Seattle’s housing market is one of the tightest in the country — and Seattle Colleges’ Residential Construction micro-pathway is one direct answer. Designed with local construction firms, the credential moves learners into residential building trades in a city that desperately needs them.
Today’s vehicles run on over 1 million lines of code — and Pima Community College’s Automotive Technology FastTrack teaches learners to work on all of it, from turning a wrench to diagnosing software. In just 2 to 3 months, learners earn industry certifications and connect with local dealerships and auto groups ready to hire. Completing the FastTrack also earns a 9-credit head start toward Pima’s full automotive degree, so the micro-pathway is a beginning, not a ceiling.
BY PROGRAM
Most workforce training programs stop at the facility gates. Community College of Rhode Island’s CNC Operator micro-pathway doesn’t. The same credential that trains community members for precision manufacturing jobs is offered in partnership with Rhode Island’s Department of Corrections.
Borough of Manhattan Community College’s EMT Basic Certificate was built as a dual enrollment experience from day one — connecting high school students to a real emergency medicine credential before they graduate.
St. Paul College’s IT Help Desk micro-pathway wasn’t designed for the general job market — it was designed with Ramsey County, specifically to fill IT support roles within county government. That partnership is the work-based learning: Ramsey County co-shaped the credential and is the destination employer, meaning learners are training for real jobs that exist right now. It’s what it looks like when an employer and a college build something together from scratch.
We enlisted the Lab to help us design a process to collaborate authentically with local employers, regional industries, and state agencies. The collaboration has already led to the launch of two significant new healthcare programs that will go a long way toward meeting the tremendous community demand for nurses and behavioral health specialists.
Bobby Pace and Jennifer Dale
Community College of Aurora (Colorado)
Read the OP-ED →
Read more about stackable pathways →
IMPACT
We don’t just design programs — we design for system-level impact.
We change systems by centering New Majority Learners in a collaborative process that results in a ripple effect of transformation across multiple levels, from individual programs and colleges, to regions and state systems.
We measure progress through four elements of change that signal system transformation:
DESIGN TOOL SPOTLIGHT
Making skills visible with the T-Profile
The T-Profile is a tool and visual construct that gets employers to be precise about the mix of skills needed for hard-to-fill job roles. By prioritizing the top durable skills, and noting the requirements and importance of each credential and technical skills, we shift employer mindsets to focus on priority skills and rethink what might be important for that particular role.
Engaging employers from the start has transformed the curriculum. All the tools and resources from the Lab, especially the T-profile, have been so helpful, and we continue to use the T-profile for other programs. How we speak to industry partners has changed — how we talk about the programs, the structure of the micro-pathway, and students being able to come in based on their skills, experience and interest. It resonates more with employer partners.
Chandana Mahadeswaraswam
Senior Director, Career + Professional Programs, LaGuardia Community College
GROWTH ENGINE FELLOWS
The Lab’s Community College Growth Engine Fellows program is a community of practice bringing together higher education leaders across the U.S. to scale skills-based pathways through the Lab’s human-centered design process. Our first two cohorts have included college and state system leaders from eight states, including Arkansas, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, and Washington.
LEARN MORE ABOUT THE FELLOWS NETWORK →
OUR FUNDERS
Arizona Community Foundation
Jeffrey H. and Shari L. Aronson Family Foundation
Ascendium Education Group
Autodesk
Bloomberg Philanthropies
Carnegie Corporation of New York
*Invested directly in CUNY
Citizens
deLaski Family Foundation
Garcia Foundation
Gianforte Family Foundation
Charles Koch Foundation
Patrick J. McGovern Foundation
The Carroll and Milton Petrie Foundation*
Robin Hood Foundation*
Walmart.org
Walton Family Foundation
ZOMA Foundation
OUR COLLEGES
Grouped in systems where applicable, and listed alphabetically.
Alamo Colleges District (Texas)
- Northeast Lakeview College
- Northwest Vista College
- Palo Alto College
- San Antonio College
- St. Philip’s College
Arkansas Colleges
- Arkansas State University, Newport
- Arkansas State University, Three Rivers
- Arkansas Tech University, Ozark Campus
- East Arkansas Community College (University of Arkansas)
- North Arkansas College (University of Arkansas)
- Northwest Arkansas Community College
- South Arkansas College
- University of Arkansas, Rich Mountain
Austin Community College District (Texas)
Bunker Hill Community College (Massachusetts)
California Colleges
- City College of San Francisco
- College of San Mateo
The City University of New York (CUNY)
- Borough of Manhattan Community College
- Kingsborough Community College
- LaGuardia Community College
- Queensborough Community College
College of Eastern Idaho
Colorado Community College System (CCCS)
- Arapahoe Community College
- Colorado Northwestern Community College
- Community College of Aurora
- Community College of Denver
- Front Range Community College
- Lamar Community College
- Morgan Community College
- Northeastern Junior College
- Otero College
- Pikes Peak State College
- Pueblo Community College
- Red Rocks Community College
- Trinidad State College
Community College of Allegheny County (Pennsylvania)
Community College of Philadelphia (Pennsylvania)
Community College of Rhode Island
CT State Community College (Connecticut)
- Asnuntuck Campus
- Capital Campus
- Gateway Campus
- Housatonic Campus
- Manchester Campus
- Middlesex Campus
- Naugatuck Valley Campus
- Northwestern Campus
- Norwalk Campus
- Quinebaug Valley Campus
- Three Rivers Campus
- Tunxis Campus
Edmonds College (Washington)
Illinois Colleges
- Illinois Central College
- Richland Community College
Ivy Tech Community College (Indiana)
Maricopa County Community College District (Arizona)
- Chandler-Gilbert Community College
- Mesa Community College
- Paradise Valley Community College
- Rio Salado Community College
- Scottsdale Community College
- Alexandria Technical and Community College
- Central Lakes College
- Hennepin Technical College
- Normandale Community College
- Riverland Community College
- Saint Paul College
Montana Colleges
- City College at Montana State University Billings
- Dawson Community College
- Flathead Valley Community College
- Gallatin College MSU
- Great Falls College MSU
- Helena College University of Montana
- Highlands College of Montana Tech
- Miles Community College
- Missoula College UM
- Montana State University–Northern
- Salish Kootenai College
- University of Montana Western
- UM Bitterroot College
Mountwest Community and Technical College (West Virginia)
New Jersey Colleges
- Hudson County Community College
- Union College of Union County
- (16 additional New Jersey colleges joining via statewide partnership — add when announced)
North Carolina Colleges
- Alamance Community College
- Central Carolina Community College
- Davidson-Davie Community College
- Durham Technical Community College
- Fayetteville Technical Community College
- Forsyth Technical Community College
- Guilford Technical Community College
- Johnston Community College
- Montgomery Community College
- Piedmont Community College
- Randolph Community College
- Sandhills Community College
- Surry Community College
- Vance-Granville Community College
- Wake Technical Community College
- Wayne Community College
- Western Piedmont Community College
Northeast Mississippi Community College
Northern Virginia Community College
Pima Community College (Arizona)
Prince George’s Community College (Maryland)
Roxbury Community College (Massachusetts)
Seattle Colleges (Washington)
- North Seattle College
- Seattle Central College
- South Seattle College
State University of New York (SUNY)
- SUNY Dutchess Community College
- SUNY Orange (Orange County Community College)
- SUNY Rockland Community College
- SUNY Sullivan
- SUNY Ulster
- SUNY Westchester Community College
Tarrant County College (Texas)
Tulsa Community College (Oklahoma)
Victoria College (Texas)
Whatcom Community College (Washington)
IMPACT REPORTS
The Impact by Design publication series is part of an ongoing effort to share Education Design Lab’s impact across the learn + work ecosystem.
JULY 2025
Micro-Pathways, Macro Impact
This report offers a meta-analysis of four independent evaluations of the Lab’s Community College Growth Engine program between 2021 to 2024, showing how the design process is leading to a ripple effect of institutional changes.
NOVEMBER 2025
Colorado’s Community College Innovation
The Colorado Community College System (CCCS) partnered with Education Design Lab to design a statewide, stackable, skills-based education model in behavioral health.
NOVEMBER 2025
Building Capacity for Innovation Across Montana’s Community College System
Montana’s Year-to-Career (Y2C) initiative represents a significant undertaking to address the state’s evolving workforce needs.
RESOURCES
Project publications and tools, featuring “must-read” materials alongside the latest related resources.
JUNE 2023
Transforming Community Colleges: 5 Design Questions to Shape the Future of Learning
MaRCH 2024
A Community College’s Guide to Engaging Employers: Design + Delivery of Micro-pathways
January 2022
Community College Growth Engine Micro-pathways: A Gateway to Community College Transformation
MEDIA
Press coverage, op-eds, and external stories highlighting this project and its impact.
JULY 2025
Workforce Pell is finally here. What will it take to get it to work?
In this CCDaily op-ed, Education Design Lab CEO Lisa Larson outlines the path forward with Workforce Pell and shares an inspiring example of collaborative work already underway with the Colorado Community College System.
CCDaily
May 2026
Why community colleges should embrace depth over breadth
Community colleges are under pressure to do more with less, and a May 2026 op-ed from our partners in Colorado shows what it looks like to go deeper instead of broader as a strategy for boosting economic mobility.
Higher Ed Dive
NOVEMBER 2021
Have we found the gateway to transform community colleges?
This 2021 op-ed argues that micro-pathways can serve as a gateway to transform community colleges into regional talent hubs by aligning skills-based hiring needs with faster, flexible learning that leads to living-wage jobs and lifelong education.
CCDaily
LATEST NEWS + EVENTS
The latest updates, blog posts, and webinars connected to this project.
SEPTEMBER 2026
Impact Snapshot: How N.C. community colleges are making durable skills visible
AUGUST 2026
Impact Snapshot: From auto detailing to banking: How a micro-pathway opened a door
AUGUST 2026
Impact Snapshot: IT micro-pathway at Bunker Hill Community College is making the American Dream possible
