How Governors’ Signature Investments Drive Workforce Transformation: A report from the Project on Workforce at Harvard University examines major workforce investments enacted by governors across five states, including MassReconnect in Massachusetts, Student LAUNCH in Idaho and the Regional Workforce Impact Program in North Dakota. Drawing on these programs and interviews with relevant stakeholders, the researchers identified five cross-state insights that reflect common challenges and opportunities: 

• Programs navigated tradeoffs between broad eligibility and strategic targeting. States that adopted broader eligibility criteria were able to scale programs faster, but states that focused on specific industries and populations were able to ensure labor market alignment and hold grantees accountable for outcomes. 

• States engaged with and drew from the WIOA system while developing their own workforce frameworks and infrastructure. 

• Despite operational challenges, programs were able to track short-term metrics and build toward longer-term data tracking. 

• As programs evolved after launch, states adapted to implementation realities as they addressed gaps, responded to stakeholder needs and refined program design. 

In addition to these insights, the researchers highlight policy opportunities for governors and provide examples from case studies.  

Postsecondary Persistence & Retention: New data from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center examines the rates of persistence (i.e., remain enrolled at any institution) and retention (i.e., remain enrolled at their starting institution) for postsecondary students who entered college in fall 2024. Major takeaways from the data include the following: 

• Among students who entered college in fall 2024, the national persistence rate for fall 2025 was 77% and the national retention rate was 69%. These rates were virtually unchanged compared to the fall 2023 cohort. 

• CTE-related certificate and associate degree programs, such as construction trades and health professions, had some of the highest persistence and retention rates in fall 2025. 

• Although part-time student persistence falls far behind full-time students, their fall 2025 persistence rate of 54% is the highest in over a decade.  

• Black, Native American and Native Hawaiian students had the lowest persistence and retention rates.  

• Younger students (aged 20 or below) were more likely to persist and be retained than older students.   

Scaling Pre-apprenticeship Programs: Britebound and the American Institutes for Research recently released a report on the state of pre-apprenticeship programs across the nation. The report defines pre-apprenticeship programs as “generally short programs, typically lasting a few weeks to a few months, designed to prepare individuals to enter and succeed in Registered Apprenticeship programs or other employment opportunities.”  

Surveying 41 state apprenticeship offices, the researchers found the following: 

• The 41 states reported a total of 2,209 pre-apprenticeship programs, an average of 54 programs per state. 

• The most common industry sectors for pre-apprenticeship programs across states include construction/building trades (88% of states), advanced manufacturing (59%), health care (59%) and education (51%).  

• The most common pre-apprenticeship program providers across states are secondary schools (71% of states), nonprofits (71%), employers (66%) and industry associations (63%). 

• The most common pre-apprenticeship program elements that denote quality identified by states are connection to Registered Apprenticeships, hands-on experience and industry-aligned curriculum.  

Noncredit Workforce Training & Labor Market Outcomes: A study by Di Xu, Kelli A. Bird, Michael Cooper and Benjamin L. Castleman in the Journal of Public Economics analyzes the outcomes of industry credentials earned through noncredit community college programs. Using 2016-21 program data from Virginia’s FastForward program, the researchers found that students in the program who earned an industry credential experienced a 10% increase, on average, in their quarterly earnings compared to their pre-enrollment earnings. These earnings gains also exceeded program costs in about half a year, outperforming many credit-based workforce programs. 

While credentials in most fields produced quarterly wage gains, earning a transportation credential yielded an average earnings premium of 17%, the highest gain among fields. Furthermore, the researchers found that earning a credential in any field is associated with a six-percentage point increase in the likelihood of being employed in an industry with above average earnings. Earning a credential in a specific field also increased the likelihood of working in that field—for example, transportation credential earners were 11.4 percentage points more likely to work in transportation careers, and mechanics credential earners were 24 percentage points more likely to work in manufacturing careers.