A Student-First Model for Working Adults

by Presidents Forum | Apr 15, 2026 | Video, Working Learners

A Student-First Model for Working Adults

What’s happening

Eva Nodine, CEO of Purdue Global, says their designing higher education around working adults—not traditional students.

Why it matters

Most learners today are balancing jobs, families, and school. Traditional models weren’t built for that reality.

What stands out

1M+ credits for prior learning awarded in one year
Flexible pathways that move beyond fixed schedules
AI used to personalize support and progression

The bottom line

Institutions that align learning with how students actually live—and with the demands of the workforce—will define the future of higher education.

The Workforce Is the Classroom: How Colleges Must Redesign Learning for a Learner-First Economy

by Presidents Forum | Apr 13, 2026 | Uncategorized, Working Learners

By Dr. Justin H. Lonon, Dallas College Chancellor

The Traditional Model Is No Longer Enough

The traditional classroom model is no longer enough to meet the demands of today’s workforce.

At Dallas College, gone are the days of the classroom being confined to four walls. Students today need more than lectures and textbooks – they need real-world experience, industry connections, and confidence to lead. That’s why we’ve embedded workforce learning directly into our curriculum, transforming education into a launchpad for career success.

Dallas College sits at the intersection of education and industry, serving as a bridge to economic mobility for students and a workforce pipeline for employers. This guiding principle shapes every initiative we undertake.

A Learner-First Workforce Model

A learner-first workforce model means designing education around real-world application – where students don’t prepare for work, they do the work as part of their learning.

From logistics and automation to entrepreneurship and health care, Dallas College students are solving real business challenges through hands-on projects, apprenticeships, and pitch competitions. By connecting education and industry, we ensure that students don’t just earn credentials; they gain the skills, confidence, and networks to thrive in a competitive job market.

Learning Through Real-World Experience

At the inaugural Global Mission Summit, our students took center stage in the Global Mission Pitch Cup, presenting innovative solutions to real industry challenges while receiving mentorship from national business leaders. Similarly, our Start-Up Bootcamp equips students with the tools to launch and sustain businesses, fostering entrepreneurial thinking and leadership.

These experiences are more than resume builders; they’re transformational. Students who engage in workplace learning are 25% more likely to secure full-time employment within six months of graduation. Paid internships boost first-year salaries by over $3,000 and significantly increase student confidence.

Scaling Workforce-Aligned Learning

Since 2022, Dallas College has engaged 17,333 students in workplace learning, including:

2,754 in clinicals
6,069 in co-ops, internships, and practicums
8,510 in apprenticeships

Through strategic partnerships with Workforce Solutions Greater Dallas and the Dallas Regional Chamber, we’ve launched 10 industry sector partnerships connecting students with employers in high-demand fields.

Our School of Manufacturing and Industrial Technology offers embedded co-op models and fast-track programs like FAME (Federation of Advanced Manufacturing Education) and SACA (Smart Automation Certification Alliance) certification, with 100% job placement. In Health Sciences, more than 4,300 students have participated in experiential learning supported by $5.7 million in federal funding.

In our School of Education, 400 students have earned wages through paid work-based learning, including our K–12 teacher apprenticeship – the first of its kind in Texas.

These efforts have earned national recognition. Dallas College is the only Texas community college honored by the White House for scaling apprenticeships across 42 employer partnerships and 38 occupations.

Building the 22nd Century College

We’re proud of this progress, but we’re just getting started. Through our Outcomes Assessment Lab, we are tracking long-term job placement, wage growth, and employer satisfaction to ensure our graduates are not only hired but retained and thriving.

As we celebrate our 60th anniversary, we remain focused on building a 22nd Century College where every student earns a degree or credential, a network, and a clear path forward.

If we want a workforce that is ready to lead, we must design learning environments where students are already doing the work. At Dallas College, the workforce is the classroom, and that’s exactly the point.

What is Holding Back AI Innovation in Higher Education?

by Presidents Forum | Apr 10, 2026 | Innovation, Video, Working Learners

What is Holding Back AI Innovation in Higher Education?

What is holding back AI innovation in higher education?

Outdated regulations, especially those tied to seat time and “regular and substantive interaction”, are limiting innovation.

These rules were designed to prevent low-quality correspondence programs, but today they:

Regulate how education is delivered (inputs) instead of what students learn (outcomes)
Make it harder to scale self-paced, AI-enabled learning
Reinforce faculty-centric models that don’t reflect modern technology

Why does AI require a new model of learning?

AI changes how people learn in two key ways:

Students will start at different skill levels
They will take different paths to reach mastery

This makes fixed-time, one-size-fits-all education models obsolete.

How much will AI change jobs and skills?

A major takeaway from the Capitol Hill discussion:

70% of the skills in a typical job will change within five years

This means:

Nearly every worker will need to reskill or upskill
Learning will shift from “once and done” to continuous and lifelong

Can the current education system handle this level of reskilling?

No.

Today’s system is not built to:

Retrain the majority of the workforce at scale
Support continuous learning for people who already graduated
Deliver education efficiently enough to match the pace of AI change

What role should AI play in solving the reskilling challenge?

AI must be part of the solution.

According to Rajen Sheth:

We will need to train everyone on AI
And use AI to train everyone

That means:

Personalized learning tailored to specific jobs
Scalable delivery across millions of learners
Education embedded into real work contexts

What did policymakers on Capitol Hill understand about AI and education?

There are encouraging signs:

Federal agencies are already experimenting with scalable models (e.g., AI literacy via text messaging)
There is bipartisan awareness of the need to support innovation
Stakeholders across government, industry, and education are engaging together

However, coordination and speed remain challenges.

What needs to happen next?

To meet the scale of AI-driven change:

Policy must:

Shift from regulating inputs → measuring outcomes
Enable flexible, technology-driven learning models

Institutions must:

Build systems for lifelong learning at scale
Focus on skills, not just degrees

Technology must:

Deliver personalized, accessible learning for every worker

Bottom line: What is the biggest takeaway?

AI is forcing a shift from:

Static education → continuous learning
Standardized pathways → personalized mastery
Inputs → outcomes

The systems that adapt fastest will define the future of both education and the workforce.

Transcript:

00;00;05;13 – 00;00;30;24 Wes Smith As our audience knows, the President’s Forum was created to drive accountable innovation in higher education. The promise of innovation to improve higher ed by lowering costs and improving outcomes has never been more obvious. Our guest today is Rajan Sheth. He’s the CEO and co-founder of Kiran Learning. And last week we had the chance to cross paths in Washington, D.C..

00;00;30;26 – 00;00;33;02 Wes Smith Rajan, great to see you again today.

00;00;33;04 – 00;00;35;09 Rajen Sheth Hey, Wes. Good to see you as well.

00;00;35;11 – 00;01;05;25 Wes Smith Hey, one of the conversations that we had last week when we were together in D.C. with the President’s Forum, it revolved around some of the outdated regulations that are hampering innovation. And I just want to start with your reaction to hearing the president’s thinking around, rules and laws slowing down the adoption of AI and other innovation that could really improve the outcomes for students.

00;01;05;28 – 00;01;33;02 Rajen Sheth Yeah. Well, it was interesting for me as a technologist. It was a really enlightening conversation. I didn’t fully appreciate the barriers that universities run up against when they’re trying to do innovative things. What was interesting about that room is that you had the most innovative universities in the nation that were there, all who are open to innovation and who have been for many, many years.

00;01;33;04 – 00;01;52;12 Rajen Sheth But they’re running into barriers, with this. So, you know, I think one of the things that that really was interesting is when they started to talk about how there’s, how there is a, regulation on seat type, like, you have to be in class for X amount of time in order for it to be accredited.

00;01;52;14 – 00;02;33;28 Rajen Sheth And that is something that is just going to change rapidly in the world of AI. It’s just, you know, everyone’s going to start from a different starting point and they’re going to take a different path to getting to mastery. And that’s something that we’re going to have to plan for. With, with students that are out there. The other interesting thing that was interesting about the discussion is I came to appreciate kind of the coming soon that is coming with how every job is going to change, with, with AI and we’re going to need to make sure the regulatory environment is such that our best universities are most innovative universities able to educate those

00;02;33;28 – 00;02;37;17 Rajen Sheth students. And the scale of this is going to be massive.

00;02;37;19 – 00;03;07;09 Wes Smith Right, right. The conversation that you’re referencing, with the, the seat time, issues that that need to be resolved. It’s something that like insiders on, well, at least at the president’s forum are thinking about all the time. And it’s the regular and substantive interaction, regulation. The Department of Education was essentially trying to prevent, you know, low quality programs, from accessing federal aid.

00;03;07;11 – 00;03;31;03 Wes Smith And those used to be, you know, low program, low quality programs that were essentially, hey, this is this is, a program that you can send in. They’ll send you some material, you send it back, they’ll, you know, decide if you did well or not. And and they’re pulling down federal financial aid for programs that just weren’t very good.

00;03;31;05 – 00;04;05;01 Wes Smith And so it had a great intent as it started. But but it started regulating, the the inputs rather than the outcomes. And when you start regulating inputs, well, when the inputs become, more effective, delivered through technology, well, then your regulations are outdated. It kind of hard codes, faculty centric models and and it really hampers, you know, self-paced learning.

00;04;05;03 – 00;04;06;15 Rajen Sheth Yeah. So yeah.

00;04;06;17 – 00;04;12;16 Wes Smith Yeah, that’s the issue that we have to deal with. It really discourages technology enabled scale is what it does. Yeah.

00;04;12;18 – 00;04;33;06 Rajen Sheth You know I think it’s a really good point that yeah, it’s almost like you need to separate the of the intent from the execution. And, you know, in technology, a lot of times for particularly product management and technology, we try to separate out the what versus the how. So like for example, when we specify a product, we try not to specify the how too much.

00;04;33;08 – 00;05;00;13 Rajen Sheth We try to specify the problem and then let the engineers figure out the how in the most creative way that that that meets that requirement. And I think we got to do the same thing with policy. We need to understand the intent and then the how it’s going to change rapidly over time. But then, you know, as long as we’re going towards that intent, which is a strong good intent, then we’re going to we’re going to be able to meet it in different ways.

00;05;00;16 – 00;05;08;17 Wes Smith Yeah. I mean, in this case, we’re we’re functioning under regulations that were designed for correspondence courses.

00;05;08;22 – 00;05;09;05 Rajen Sheth Right.

00;05;09;06 – 00;05;43;18 Wes Smith Exactly. And we’re so far past that, the idea that you that you’re regulating that the how it’s done, you’re going to be perpetually, you know, behind with technology that’s just the fact unless you can figure out, you know, the, the why, the why is going to be really important. Okay. Exactly. So after our meeting, last week, after the president’s four meetings, you joined an effort to provide, insight to Capitol Hill staffers about the evolving technology, specifically AI.

00;05;43;20 – 00;05;50;01 Wes Smith And, and that was up on the Hill. Can you tell us a little bit about the event and what you observed there?

00;05;50;04 – 00;06;13;17 Rajen Sheth Yeah. Yeah, it was a wonderful event. You know, one, it was just interesting for me to be in the capital. That was the first time I was I was over there. And you know, you are. You’re in a place where so much history has been made and you can see the, the, the kind of, the intent of that is there for so many people to kind of adapt where we are to the new environment.

00;06;13;19 – 00;06;34;20 Rajen Sheth What was interesting about this, though, the forum was basically a set of companies that had been thinking about AI skilling, you know, how do we scale the workforce about AI? There are a variety of NGOs and nonprofits that have analyzed different aspects of this. And then there was, there were government. So there’s the, congressional staffers who were there.

00;06;34;20 – 00;06;59;07 Rajen Sheth There was the Department of Labor, Department of Education, that there were all there. And it’s the right group to bring this together. What was really striking to me is to understand the magnitude of the tsunami we are about to encounter. And like Lincoln was talking about how 70% of the skills of any typical job will change over the next five years because of AI.

00;06;59;09 – 00;07;26;26 Rajen Sheth And the vast majority of workers out there are going to have to be reskill, for this. And we also talked about how the existing environment, whether it be, you know, institutions, you know, learning and development training within corporations, it’s just not scale to deal with that. We’ve never had a situation where that portion of, you know, that giant portion of employees need to be rescaled.

00;07;26;28 – 00;07;52;00 Rajen Sheth And, you know, what was really interesting for me and what I talked about there was, we’re going to need to train every single person about AI and how you use AI for what they do. And we’re going to need to use AI to to train every single person. Like we’re going to need to figure out how do we extend our institution so that it is personalized for that person.

00;07;52;00 – 00;08;06;24 Rajen Sheth That’s an accountant in this particular organization that’s now learning how to use AI or a, you know, a, machinist in a particular organization that’s trying to use AI. You know, those are the things that need to happen if we’re going to, if we’re going to meet that scale.

00;08;06;26 – 00;08;21;03 Wes Smith Well, this is when I hear that, from, presents for perspective, the, the amount of reskilling that we’ll need. Did you say 70% of jobs will need to be updated?

00;08;21;06 – 00;08;46;06 Rajen Sheth What’s the what he said was the 70% of the skills for the typical job will need to be reskill. And what that means is, actually, it may be even more striking than that. It could mean the vast majority of people are going to need to learn how to use AI as part of their job. In some cases, in small ways, in a lot of cases, in very big ways, in order to still do their same job five years from now.

00;08;46;08 – 00;09;20;28 Wes Smith So I mean, when I hear that, what I hear is the current system that we have will never accommodate that kind, that scale of reskilling. So we have to think through how we can reskill individuals in a much, much more efficient way. And we have to I mean, when we’re looking at this lifelong learnings, a tagline that a lot of, in higher ed of have been saying a lot, you know, you hear, oh, yeah, we’re moving towards lifelong learning.

00;09;21;01 – 00;09;43;02 Wes Smith This is truly one of those areas where we’re going to have to incorporate back into systems. People have graduated with what they thought were terminal degrees and. Yeah, yeah, we’re done. And we, and they have to come back and reskill. They have to they have to upskill. They have to learn more about. And we don’t we don’t have the system that can do that right now.

00;09;43;05 – 00;10;03;10 Rajen Sheth Absolutely. And I think what’s interesting is that over the past, you know, ten, 15 years, lifelong learning is, is has gotten more traction. But it isn’t nice to have as a person must have. Upskilling has gotten traction, but it’s a nice to have as the person must have. Now all of a sudden, it’s going to be a must have.

00;10;03;17 – 00;10;19;05 Rajen Sheth Like you cannot replace all those people with people that know it because nobody knows it, and everybody’s going to need to, is going to need to learn. We need to get our systems to the point where, yeah, where they can be able to train that volume of people.

00;10;19;08 – 00;10;44;20 Wes Smith Well, I’m assuming that this was kind of shocking, to, to Hill staffers and government employees to say this is the kind of, of massive change that we have to prepare for. Did you get any sense from them? About their, you know, their preparation for this or how they’re planning to, you know, facilitate innovation through policy?

00;10;44;23 – 00;11;05;14 Rajen Sheth Yeah. Well, I was actually very impressed with how much they are understanding what’s what’s hitting and the kinds of things that they’re thinking about. The Department of Labor, talked about some of the things that they’re doing. They demo, for example, a, an AI literacy, module that they, they put out via text messaging.

00;11;05;14 – 00;11;25;05 Rajen Sheth So you just sign up for a text message and then it takes you through a ten day course, which I’m taking right now. I’m actually going through it right now. And it is, it gives you kind of the basics of how you think about AI. In with my other. Had I told you this before? I teach a class on intro, the AI at Stanford.

00;11;25;08 – 00;11;46;12 Rajen Sheth And it was interesting because a lot of the same principles that that I focus on there things that they were teaching via text messaging. And so their point was you can reach many, many more people via text, and you can, you can get them the right information to make them not afraid of AI. And I think I’m impressed that the people are starting to think about that.

00;11;46;14 – 00;12;09;02 Rajen Sheth However, it’s going to need to be a coordinated, coordinated thing between the government, between institutions, between companies to really actually solve this problem. It’s it’s, you know, one of the biggest things we need to solve. The other interesting thing is that they talked about, particularly LinkedIn, talked about the economic positive impact that could happen because of AI.

00;12;09;05 – 00;12;23;05 Rajen Sheth Like it could be an additional $4 trillion, in terms of adding to our GDP. So it’s a huge amount, but we have to do it in the right way. To actually get there.

00;12;23;08 – 00;12;45;02 Wes Smith Well, I’m impressed just by the idea that the Department of Labor is ahead of the curve on this text messaging, campaign. That’s that’s impressive to me. I mean, if somebody is thinking ahead and saying, hey, this has to be a huge focus for us, we need to start educating and facilitating a transition to an AI world.

00;12;45;05 – 00;13;12;02 Rajen Sheth Yeah, absolutely. They have a guy named Taylor Stockton that, is their chief innovation officer and been thinking about things the right way. And, you know, he comes from the startup world. He was a Google before as well. And, I’m impressed that they’re they’re thinking in a very agile way. And, you know, obviously it’s hard to get things done in, in, in the political world, but I think we’re all going to need to work together to figure out how to how to move quickly here.

00;13;12;06 – 00;13;46;14 Wes Smith Yeah, absolutely. And the meetings that we had on the Hill with presidents last week, I thought it was pretty remarkable how consistent the responses were from, Democrat leadership and Republican leadership with regard to, facilitating innovation. I think both sides, they understand the issue and they want to solve the problem. The next step is actually, you know, putting some of the solutions into legislation.

00;13;46;14 – 00;14;01;12 Wes Smith That’s the hard part in DC, right, is getting something through and signed and, and, it’s just inherently political. But, on this particular issue, it seemed fairly bipartisan to me. I don’t know if that was your experience with Hill staffers.

00;14;01;14 – 00;14;02;10 Rajen Sheth Yeah.

00;14;02;12 – 00;14;04;06 Wes Smith We saw something different.

00;14;04;09 – 00;14;23;18 Rajen Sheth No, I saw the same thing. I think everyone is realizing that this is going to be an issue, and that is not polarizing. Everyone knows this is coming. And so, you know, we know we will have a big problem with the job market if we don’t do something about this. And so, there was a lot of unity out there.

00;14;23;18 – 00;14;39;25 Rajen Sheth And I think now we got to see what kind of policy can we put in place, what kind of innovation can be put in place, how that can be rolled out, and how you involve the institutions, and, and the other companies into this to, to make it a reality.

00;14;39;27 – 00;15;09;29 Wes Smith Right. Okay. Well, I want to wrap this with your takeaways. So based on your experience and what you saw, at the Capitol last week, what would your takeaways be for specifically for higher ed innovators who are looking to incorporate, AI and other solutions into their work so they can lower costs and so they can, you know, increase the outcomes, the quality of outcomes that students experience.

00;15;10;02 – 00;15;12;27 Wes Smith What are your takeaways based on what you learned?

00;15;12;29 – 00;15;37;09 Rajen Sheth Well, I think that a lot of what we talked about in the president’s form about bringing down the cost of education, reaching more people, it’s going to become vital over the course of the next few years. And I think that we’re going to have to move quickly. We’re going to have to adopt AI in our teaching practices and make it such that we can really, truly personalize for every situation, every learner that’s out there.

00;15;37;11 – 00;15;50;25 Rajen Sheth And we’re going to have to remove the barriers from a policy perspective such that we can all move faster. There’s a lot of intent to move faster, but it’s really hard to do that right now. And so if we can do that, we can actually meet this challenge. It’s about faces.

00;15;50;27 – 00;15;57;05 Wes Smith Yeah. Well Rajan, thanks for joining us today. Thanks for the debrief on the time in DC. It’s been a pleasure.

00;15;57;07 – 00;15;58;24 Rajen Sheth Yeah. Thank you. I really appreciate.

Comments on AHEAD

by Presidents Forum | Apr 9, 2026 | Press Release

Re: Comments on Accountability in Higher Education and Access Through Demand-Driven Workforce Pell: Pell Grant Exclusion Relating to Other Grant Aid; and Workforce Pell Grants

Dear Under Secretary Nicholas Kent,

The Presidents Forum appreciates the Department’s engagement through these directed questions and the opportunity to contribute to the development of Workforce Pell. As a nonprofit organization composed of innovative college and university leaders, we are committed to advancing student-centered policies that expand access and improve outcomes for working learners and other nontraditional students.

We recognize that successful implementation will be critical to realizing the full potential of Workforce Pell. As the Department finalizes its approach, we encourage a framework that is clear, consistent, and practical for institutions to implement, and that supports expanded access and strong outcomes for students.

Where relevant, we also encourage alignment with existing regulatory approaches to promote consistency and avoid unnecessary complexity for institutions serving students across state lines, including in how student location is determined.

Directed Questions

Written Arrangements To Provide Educational Programs (§ 668.5(c))

The Presidents Forum appreciates the Department’s recognition of the role partnerships can play in strengthening eligible workforce programs. High-quality workforce programs are closely aligned with employer and industry needs, and that alignment often depends on collaboration with external partners who bring specialized expertise, training environments, and real-world application into the educational experience.

In many cases, effective workforce programs integrate instruction delivered in partnership with employers or other industry-aligned organizations. These partnerships help ensure programs remain responsive to labor market demand and that students acquire skills that translate into employment and earnings outcomes. The depth of these partnerships is often central to program quality and student success.

The proposed 25 percent limitation may unintentionally constrain the development of high-quality workforce programs by limiting institutions’ ability to fully leverage these partnerships. In some cases, institutions may be required to replicate training components that are more effectively delivered in collaboration with industry, reducing program effectiveness and increasing costs without clear benefit to students.

While we recognize the Department’s interest in ensuring appropriate oversight, we believe this can be achieved while allowing greater flexibility. The proposal is more restrictive than the framework that has historically governed written arrangements in Title IV programs, and we encourage the Department to consider a similarly flexible approach here.

Accordingly, we recommend that the Department allow written arrangements that exceed 25 percent where appropriate institutional control and oversight are maintained. This flexibility will better support innovative, employer-aligned programs that deliver strong outcomes for students.

Ineligibility Due to Grant or Scholarship Assistance (§ 690.5)

This provision effectively shifts the Pell Grant from a first-dollar to a last-dollar benefit in certain circumstances. For decades, Pell has served as the foundational source of financial aid for low-income students, with state, employer, institutional, and philanthropic support layered on top. Many of these aid programs have been designed with the expectation that Pell funding will be applied first in a student’s financial aid package.

Altering this structure, even in limited situations, may have unintended consequences for students. State and local aid programs, employer tuition benefits, and private scholarships may not be structured to adjust seamlessly to a last-dollar Pell model. As a result, students may face reduced total aid or increased complexity in calculating or determining financing for their education, particularly for working learners who rely on multiple sources of support.

Policy should encourage employer investment in education. This change may affect employer participation in workforce education programs. If employer-provided assistance reduces or eliminates Pell eligibility, it may create disincentives for employers to invest in their employees’ education or for students to utilize available employer benefits, which could undermine the goal of expanding access to demand-driven workforce programs.

The proposed requirement to recalculate aid and potentially return Pell funds when additional non-Federal assistance is identified and exceeds the student’s cost of attendance may further increase complexity and uncertainty for both students and institutions. Changes in financial aid eligibility throughout an award year may be difficult for students to navigate and could introduce administrative challenges for institutions attempting to manage multiple funding sources in real time and provide students with as much aid as possible.

Given these considerations, we encourage the Department to carefully assess the broader impacts of this provision on students and existing aid ecosystems. Any additional reporting, oversight, or enforcement mechanisms should be designed to minimize disruption to these systems, reduce unnecessary administrative burden, and avoid discouraging employer, state, or philanthropic investment in student success.

Components Determined by Governors (§ 690.93)

The Presidents Forum supports the Department’s goal of ensuring that eligible workforce programs are aligned with labor market demand.

As the Department implements this requirement, it will be important that the process for state approval is clear, efficient, and capable of operating at the scale required to meet workforce needs. Workforce demand is often regional or national in nature, particularly in high-demand sectors where employers operate across state lines and where remote work is increasingly common. Many workforce programs are designed to prepare students for employment opportunities that extend beyond a single state.

Given these realities, the structure and execution of the approval process will be critical. If the process is overly complex or time-intensive, it may limit institutions’ ability to expand access to high-quality programs through distance education in a timely manner. This could reduce opportunities for students, particularly working learners, who depend on flexible access to programs aligned with in-demand careers.

We encourage the Department to prioritize the development of a streamlined and scalable approach for state approval that enables coordination across multiple states where appropriate. A clear and efficient framework will better support the expansion of high-quality workforce programs while maintaining alignment with labor market needs and preserving appropriate state involvement.

Value-Added Earnings: Interim Value-Added Earnings Metric (§ 690.95(a))

The Presidents Forum encourages the Department to prioritize clarity, stability, and effective implementation as it develops the value-added earnings framework for eligible workforce programs.

As the Department considers whether to introduce interim measures or additional layers of accountability, it is important to avoid creating a system that is overly complex or difficult for institutions to implement. Workforce Pell has the potential to expand access to high-quality, demand-driven programs, but that potential depends on a regulatory framework that institutions can navigate efficiently and consistently.

An overly complex or rapidly evolving accountability structure may create uncertainty for institutions, limit their willingness to develop new programs, and ultimately reduce the availability of opportunities for students. This is particularly important for programs designed to serve working learners, where flexibility, speed to market, and alignment with employer needs are critical.

We encourage the Department to focus on developing a clear and sustainable long-term approach to measuring student outcomes, rather than introducing additional interim requirements that may complicate implementation. A streamlined and well-understood framework will better support institutional participation, program innovation, and improved outcomes for students.

Value-Added Earnings: Exclusion of Certain Students in the Completer Cohort (§ 690.95(a))

The Presidents Forum supports the Department’s commitment to developing a value-added earnings metric that meaningfully reflects program outcomes while maintaining fairness across diverse student populations. As the Department considers the composition of the completer cohort, we believe it is both appropriate and necessary to exclude students who are actively enrolled in postsecondary education at the time earnings are measured.

This consideration is particularly important for nontraditional students, including working adults and military-connected learners, who often pursue education through incremental, stackable pathways. Workforce Pell programs are designed not only to support immediate employment outcomes, but also to enable continued educational progression through credentials that are transferable and build toward higher levels of degree attainment. As a result, many students will intentionally re-enroll in subsequent programs shortly after completion as part of a planned pathway to career advancement.

For these students, short-term earnings may not accurately reflect the value of the initial program, as they may be balancing employment with continued education or temporarily deferring full labor market participation to complete additional credentials. Including actively enrolled students in the value-added earnings calculation could therefore understate program effectiveness, particularly for programs intentionally designed to support upward mobility through continued learning.

Excluding currently enrolled students is also consistent with the Department’s longstanding approach in other accountability frameworks, including the 2023 Gainful Employment regulations and earnings metrics reported through the College Scorecard. Maintaining this consistency will support clearer interpretation of outcomes and provide a more accurate comparison across programs and institutions.

We recognize the Department’s concern that exclusions may introduce unintended incentives. However, in this context, the risk of distortion is greater if actively enrolled students are included, as doing so may discourage institutions from designing programs that promote continued education and credential progression. Such an outcome would run counter to the goals of Workforce Pell, which emphasizes alignment with workforce needs while supporting long-term economic mobility.

From an administrative perspective, excluding students who are actively enrolled should not create a significantly additional burden. The Department already has access to enrollment data through its existing systems, and applying a consistent exclusion across accountability measures may reduce complexity for institutions by aligning expectations across frameworks.

Accordingly, we recommend that the Department exclude students who are actively enrolled in postsecondary education at the time earnings are measured from the value-added earnings cohort. This approach will better reflect the realities of nontraditional student pathways, support the design of stackable and transferable workforce programs, and ensure that accountability metrics accurately capture both immediate and long-term value for students.

Value-Added Earnings: Process for Combining Multiple Cohorts (§ 690.95(h))

The Presidents Forum recognizes the Department’s goal of ensuring that value-added earnings metrics can be calculated for a broad set of programs, including those with smaller enrollment levels, by combining multiple cohorts to meet minimum sample size thresholds. We support the objective of increasing transparency and consistency in accountability measures while reducing the need for data suppression.

At the same time, as the Department considers the appropriate structure for cohort aggregation, it is important to ensure that the resulting metric remains timely, accurate, and reflective of current program outcomes, particularly for workforce programs that primarily serve nontraditional students, including working adults and military-affiliated learners.

These student populations often engage in education through flexible, iterative pathways that are responsive to changing workforce demands. Programs designed for working learners are frequently updated to reflect employer needs, incorporate new technologies, or align with evolving industry standards. Additionally, many Workforce Pell-eligible programs are intentionally structured as stackable and transferable credentials that encourage re-enrollment and continued skill development over time.

In this context, aggregating earnings outcomes across multiple years may unintentionally blend results from materially different program structures, labor market conditions, and student experiences. Older cohorts may reflect prior versions of a program or different economic environments, which could limit the ability of the metric to accurately capture the value of current program offerings. This may be particularly pronounced for programs serving military-connected students, where mobility, deployment cycles, and transition periods can also influence both enrollment patterns and early earnings outcomes.

We also note that nontraditional students often experience more gradual earnings progression as they balance employment, education, and other responsibilities. As a result, the timing of earnings measurement and the cohorts included can significantly influence how program value is reflected in accountability metrics.

While cohort aggregation can improve statistical reliability, extending the aggregation window too far may reduce the responsiveness of the metric and create misalignment with the pace at which workforce programs evolve. This could, in turn, discourage innovation or delay program improvements if institutions perceive that outcomes will not be reflected in accountability measures for several years.

From an administrative perspective, a clearly defined and limited aggregation approach can help balance the need for sufficient sample size with the importance of maintaining a metric that is understandable and actionable for institutions, students, and policymakers.

Accordingly, we recommend that the Department maintain a reasonable and limited cohort aggregation window of no more than the three most recent award years, avoiding the inclusion of older cohorts that may not reflect current program design or labor market conditions. This approach will support the calculation of stable earnings metrics while preserving their relevance for workforce programs serving nontraditional learners.

We further encourage the Department to consider safeguards or contextual indicators where programs have undergone significant changes, to ensure that accountability measures accurately reflect current performance. A balanced approach to cohort aggregation will better support transparency, program innovation, and the continued development of high-quality, workforce-aligned educational opportunities for working adults and military-affiliated students.

Value-Added Earnings: Programs Serving Out-Of-State Students (§ 690.95(k))

As the Department finalizes its approach to adjusting earnings for geographic differences, it is important that the methodology does not disadvantage programs that serve students across state lines, particularly through distance education.

Many workforce programs are designed to reach students beyond a single state, including working learners who rely on online and hybrid models to access education. These programs play a critical role in expanding access to training aligned with in-demand careers. An approach that applies different earnings adjustments based on the geographic distribution of students may unintentionally penalize these models, even when they produce strong outcomes.

Programs serving a broader, multi-state population should not be evaluated under a framework that places them at a disadvantage relative to programs serving primarily in-state students. Differences in methodology should not result in unequal treatment based on delivery model or student geography.

We encourage the Department to adopt an approach that ensures consistent and equitable evaluation of programs, regardless of whether they serve students locally or across state lines. Maintaining neutrality across delivery models will be important to preserving access, innovation, and student opportunity within Workforce Pell.

Sincerely,

Wesley Smith

Executive Director

Presidents Forum

What Does a Learner-First Workforce Model Look Like in Practice?

by Presidents Forum | Apr 8, 2026 | Innovation, Outcomes and Accountability, Video, Working Learners

What Does a Learner-First Workforce Model Look Like in Practice?

What does a “learner-first workforce model” actually mean in practice?

A learner-first workforce model starts with who today’s students are and designs education around their realities, not institutional convenience.

At Purdue Global, this means recognizing that:

Over 60% of students are age 30+
78% have family responsibilities
Most are working while enrolled

Instead of treating these as constraints, the model treats them as design inputs.

Example:

Purdue Global awarded over 1 million prior learning credits in 2024–2025, translating real-world experience into academic progress.

Why it matters:

This approach aligns directly with the Presidents Forum mission to “reinvent higher education around learner success” and expand opportunity for nontraditional students.

How are programs designed to align with workforce needs?

Programs are built starting from labor market demand, not academic tradition.

At Purdue Global, program design integrates three inputs:

Employer partnerships (real-time workforce needs)
Faculty practitioners (active in their industries)
Strategic foresight teams (future skill demand)

Example:

In advanced manufacturing, Purdue Global partnered with an industry employer to co-design curriculum tailored to specific workforce gaps, then validated that design directly with the employer before launch .

Why it matters:

This reflects a broader Presidents Forum priority: connecting education directly to opportunity and employer demand through collaborative innovation.

What role do employer partnerships play in shaping programs?

Employer partnerships are not advisory. They are co-design partners.

They influence:

Curriculum structure
Skill prioritization
Credential pathways
Delivery formats

Example:

Employer input shaped a manufacturing pathway that includes:

A 2-credit entry course
A flexible 3-course micro-credential
Direct pathways into bachelor’s degrees

Why it matters:

This ensures programs are “true, relevant, and legitimate” in the labor market, reducing the gap between education and employment.

How do stackable credentials improve student outcomes?

Stackable credentials turn education into incremental, career-relevant progress rather than a single high-stakes degree.

At Purdue Global:

Micro-credentials are embedded inside degrees
Each step delivers immediate labor market value
Students can stop and start without losing progress

Example pathway:

Introductory course → entry into field
Micro-credential → targeted skill building
Bachelor’s degree → long-term advancement

Even partial completion delivers value.

Why it matters:

This aligns with the Presidents Forum’s focus on “credentials at scale” and stackable pathways that connect learners to opportunity faster.

How are programs designed specifically for working adults?

Programs are designed to remove friction, not add it.

Key design principles include:

1. Predictable learning experience

Every course follows the same structure, so students don’t waste time relearning systems.

2. Continuous start dates

Students don’t wait for semesters. They start when ready.

3. Policies built for real life

Flexible options account for:

Work disruptions
Family responsibilities
Military deployment

4. 24/7 support ecosystem

Includes advisors, coaches, and AI-enabled assistance.

Example:

Military learners can continue coursework during deployment with faculty trained to support their context.

Why it matters:

This reflects a core Presidents Forum principle: education should adapt to students, not the other way around.

What is the role of innovation leadership in driving these models?

Innovation is not a department. It is a cross-functional capability.

The “innovation catalyst” role at Purdue Global:

Connects academic teams, employers, and system partners
Challenges existing models
Identifies new delivery and credential approaches

Example:

Innovation leadership enables rapid program iteration based on industry shifts (e.g., technology changes in nursing or accounting).

Why it matters:

This mirrors how Presidents Forum institutions operate collectively, using shared insight and collaboration to drive system-level change beyond any single institution.

What does this model signal about the future of higher education?

The learner-first workforce model signals a shift from:

Degrees as endpoints → degrees as pathways
Time-based learning → skills-based progression
Institutional control → student-centered design

Presidents Forum institutions are leading this shift by:

Serving working adults, military learners, and underserved populations
Embedding skills and workforce alignment into program design
Partnering across institutions and industries to scale innovation

Bottom line:

Higher education’s future belongs to institutions that design for real lives, real jobs, and real outcomes.

Transcript:

00;00;05;14 – 00;00;29;03 Shalise Obray Welcome to the President’s Forum podcast. As part of our April Focus on the Learner First workforce. We’re highlighting how member institutions are designing programs that connect directly to opportunity. Today, I’m joined by Marcelle Lawrence, who serves as innovation catalyst at Purdue Global, an institution that has been deeply intentional about aligning programs to high demand industries while supporting working learners.

00;00;29;08 – 00;00;45;07 Shalise Obray Marcelle, thank you for being here. We’re excited to dig into how you’re building these pathways. Let’s start at a high level. When you think about the learner first workforce model, what does that mean at Purdue Global and how does that shape the way you design programs.

00;00;45;10 – 00;01;10;29 Maricel Lawrence Next slide. Thank you so much for having me today. I would like to start by sharing that Purdue Global is Purdue’s online university for working adults. We serve as a vital component of the Purdue University system, leveraging 150 year legacy of excellence to make it an accessible tool, a diverse audience, and to support Purdue’s main brand mission.

00;01;11;01 – 00;01;47;23 Maricel Lawrence So for us, learner first means recognizing that over 60% of our students are over age 30 and 78% have family responsibilities. We value the life and work experience they bring. We are exceptionally good at recognizing this experience through prior learning. So for example, in 2024, 2025, we approved more than 1 million credits through this process. So with that in mind, our program design starts with the workforce needs of today.

00;01;47;26 – 00;02;17;04 Maricel Lawrence We build offerings with a skills first mindset that lead to degrees that employers respect in what we need immediate industry demands. Our strategic foresight team that was launched in 2021 also evaluates possible future needs. This allows us to build a future oriented curriculum that ensures our learners are not just prepared for the next job, but for the long term evolution of their industries.

00;02;17;06 – 00;02;31;18 Shalise Obray That’s really wise. I did want to ask you an innovation catalyst is a really unique title and not something we hear all of the time. How does that how does that work in practice? What does that mean to you to to have that title?

00;02;31;25 – 00;03;01;00 Maricel Lawrence Yeah. Thank you. Thank you for that question. So, what my role does is works across the institution. And so we’re talking about new program development today. And that’s one of the areas that I have been supporting in. And what that means is being able to collaborate with the academic teams, connect with industry partnerships, connect with other stakeholders in the system to be able to support the needs of our students.

00;03;01;01 – 00;03;15;26 Maricel Lawrence And my role is to be able to say, it’s great that we’re doing the work that we’re doing this way. Is there any other models? Is there anything else that we can do to be able to innovate and and support the industry and our students as the world keeps evolving?

00;03;15;28 – 00;03;36;13 Shalise Obray I love that that’s a great that’s a great title and a great, portfolio to have. One of the things Purdue Global does particularly well is aligning programs to high demand industries. Can you walk us through how you identify those needs and how employer partnerships are shaping your program design and delivery?

00;03;36;15 – 00;04;09;08 Maricel Lawrence Yeah. So, Purdue Global, the new program development process can start in a variety of ways. So we rely on school advisory boards for new offering ideas. And I mentioned our strategic foresight team or year to year and emerging trends with academic teams. Now we also leverage our full time and adjunct instructors with deep field expertise. They are active in their fields, understanding real time evolutions.

00;04;09;10 – 00;04;40;13 Maricel Lawrence Think about the shift in technology, in nursing, or how, the current state of accounting is. And so they bring those needs directly to our teams to think about in mapping and evaluate. We also work closely with Purdue online. We collaborated as a system to offer content. This involves deep research with our joint R&D team to identify and explore ideas before bringing them to the academic teams to build.

00;04;40;15 – 00;05;17;13 Maricel Lawrence And, you know, we work directly with employers to support their specific needs. There is an example that we have, in advanced manufacturing sector, where we have partnered with a major industry leader to figure it out exactly how to support their unique workforce requirements through customized curriculum. And I’m happy to share more about that experience once we receive those ideas and we explore them, then we confirm back with industry to build a personal education that is true, relevant and legitimate.

00;05;17;16 – 00;05;30;15 Shalise Obray You’ve also taken a strong approach to stackable credentials. Can you share an example of how learners can start with a short term credential and build toward a degree, while staying connected to workforce outcomes along the way?

00;05;30;18 – 00;05;55;13 Maricel Lawrence Yeah, that’s a that’s a great question. So I would say there are several industry is bad. Because this has worked really, really well. I’ll share that at Purdue Global. We build micro-credentials that are typically embedded within a degree. And this ensures that every step a student take has immediate market value. Now, we don’t usually do this in a vacuum.

00;05;55;13 – 00;06;26;26 Maricel Lawrence Right. So we work hand in hand with employers to figure it out. The best way for, sort of the best pathway for a specific workforce. And so I mentioned the manufacturing, experience earlier in. So I’ll share that example in more detail and how we have done that step ability approach. So with that, that partner we design two credit introductory course to give us students fast, accessible entry point into the field.

00;06;26;28 – 00;06;51;10 Maricel Lawrence Then we build a three course micro credential that students can navigate in any order based on their immediate job needs. So students will start in the two credit courses to understand the foundations of manufacturing. And then they move through the micro credential in any order that makes the most sense for them. Now, if they complete the micro credential, that’s a win.

00;06;51;13 – 00;07;16;18 Maricel Lawrence But even if they don’t finish the whole sequence, they have gained the specific content that they need for that moment in their career. And now for those ready to move farther, we have a direct path into a bachelor’s in applied manufacturing. Or if they want to go into management, we say they can go into the bachelor’s in business administration and other types of of degrees.

00;07;16;20 – 00;07;42;13 Maricel Lawrence So there, you know, when it comes to industry partnerships, I would say manufacturing is one of those examples that we have seen a lot of a lot of value in in the conversation about stack ability in general as an Indiana based institution. We work very closely with Ivy Tech community colleges to create a seamless, strong pathway from an associate’s degree to a bachelor’s degree.

00;07;42;16 – 00;08;07;21 Maricel Lawrence And so we also provide scholarships for Ivy tech graduates to ensure that they have the support to to keep moving. And so this stackable approach turns education into a series of stable stepping stones that provide real opportunities for more and allows our students to build this experience that fits forward for their lives.

00;08;07;23 – 00;08;33;12 Shalise Obray That’s really smart design. Allowing students to to to have that value at every step of the process. We know that many, if not all of your students are balancing jobs and families, and other life things with their education. What are some of the design decisions that you’ve made? To make sure that these programs are working for working learners.

00;08;33;15 – 00;09;05;27 Maricel Lawrence Yeah. Thank you so much for that question. From our very origins, Purdue Global has been, built specifically for the busy adult learner. We, of course, offer online classes, and we have engineering ecosystem risk critical components. But we consider the minimum standard for adult learner success. One of our most impactful decisions or design decisions in our, work is the standardized course design.

00;09;05;29 – 00;09;38;07 Maricel Lawrence Every course follows the same structure so that students don’t have to waste time learning where content is located every time they start a new term, they can dive straight into their learning because they know where the content is located in our platform, and we don’t make the students wait months for a traditional semester to begin with. Classes starting constantly or learners can begin their program when they are ready.

00;09;38;09 – 00;10;08;13 Maricel Lawrence And I would say another component that I think is critical is that our policies are designed for life’s interruptions. Life happens. Right. And offering list of options when they are most needed is is critical. I always speak about, the unique challenges of our military students. For example, when a student is deployed, they need a university that understands that experience.

00;10;08;16 – 00;10;43;08 Maricel Lawrence Our faculty are specifically trained to work with the students, ensuring their education stays on track regardless of where they are stationed. And, we also provide a series of types of support for our learners, including academic advisors and coaches. And of course, now we’re leveraging AI and technology to ensure we are available 24 over seven media students exactly when they have a question, right, whether it is a noon or a two in the morning.

00;10;43;11 – 00;11;16;25 Maricel Lawrence We need to be there and support them. So we are we we are very critical about how we support different types of learners and the type of needs. So they have, I think about the needs of one adult learner with prior college experience, are vastly different from someone starting fresh. So we develop targeted interventions to meet each learner where they are ensuring all of the different type of audiences have the specific resources they need to reach their goals.

00;11;16;28 – 00;11;38;05 Shalise Obray Well, Marcel, what stands out here is the intentionality in designing programs that don’t just deliver content, but are worked around how learners live and how they need to learn and work. So thank you so much for sharing the work you’re doing. And, for, for talking with us today.

00;11;38;07 – 00;11;40;08 Maricel Lawrence Absolutely. In this match for the opportunity.

00;11;40;10 – 00;11;49;14 Shalise Obray And thank you to everyone listening. These are the kinds of ideas and approaches that are shaping what a learner first workforce can look like. We’ll continue the conversation soon.

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