Colorado Learners Featured in Roadtrip Nation Documentary

Good afternoon!

🎬 Colorado learners are hitting prime time this month! I am so excited to announce that the team at Whiteboard Advisors has been working alongside the Emmy-award winning mission-driven non-profit Roadtrip Nation to bring Colorado learners’ stories to life. 

🏔 “Peak Possible,” is the story of three Colorado learners who have stepped into the career exploration journey – and have learned how Colorado employers are reshaping existing industries, helping young people to jumpstart career trajectories and challenge outdated notions of what is possible in the Centennial State.

Click here for a sneak peak of the documentary. 

“As I traveled around Colorado, I realized that there are so many different industries, jobs, and careers,” said Yailenne, a Denver native and a first-generation student studying at Metropolitan State University in Denver. “It’s important to connect with people in the field you want to explore in order to learn more about these opportunities.”

“My advice to young learners is to always imagine yourself in the field you are looking at,” said Zane, a Colorado Mountain College student hailing from Snowmass Village, Colorado. “Ask yourself what you love to do in your personal life, and apply that to your career search. There will be times that you will feel burnt out, but just keep on pushing and remind yourself of why you picked that career that at one time excited you.”

“Since the road trip, it's been easier to make decisions. I learned that it’s okay to be scared or nervous, but it’s important to not let that anxiousness get in the way of exploration,” Yailenne said.

If you are attending The Attainment Network’s L/Earner Voice Symposium today – you will hear directly from these remarkable Colorado learners.

🎥 “Peak Possible” was made possible by our friends at The Daniels Fund, the Wend Collective and Strada Education Foundation. The documentary will premiere online this Friday and will be broadcast on Rocky Mountain PBS starting March 14.

📆 Mark your calendar: AdAstra and Front Range Community College will host the Rocky Mountain Scheduling Summit on April 3-4. A statewide convening intended for campus leaders who are curious about how to improve scheduling processes to drive student success, the event will take place on the FRCC Westminster Campus. AdAstra partners with over 500 colleges and universities to implement data-informed planning and course scheduling to create seamless pathways to timely completion. Registration details can be found here.

🗣 Finally, if you will be in Austin next week at SXSW EDU, please stop by one (or both!) of the sessions I am moderating – sit and listen and say hello! We will be talking about we will be talking about skills-based hiring policies in Alabama and The Navajo Nation and we will bring out our ‘crystal ball’ on Election 2024 and what it means for higher education. Two topics you will not want to miss!

Spotlight on Colorado Education and Workforce

🎓 New state-by-state analysis from the National College Attainment Network (NCAN) shows the economic impact of college completion. For each state, NCAN has analyzed the economic contributions by postsecondary education graduate (earning an associate or bachelor’s degree), including:

• Contribution to a state’s GDP, both annually and over the graduate’s lifetime
• The creation of supportive jobs as a result of the employment of each postsecondary graduate
• Increased spending on housing, and higher home values for residents and taxpayers
• Expansion of the state tax base
• Increased spending on auto and transportation costs, compared to those without a postsecondary credential

🛠 In addition, NCAN recently published state toolkits, which provide advocates and policy leaders with data including:

• The Growing Gap report: an annual analysis of the gap between the full cost of attendance and the resources available to the student holding an average Pell award at each postsecondary education institution.
• The FAFSA Tracker: a database of FAFSA completion progress by state, high school and subgroup – and it is updated weekly!
• Pell Grants Left on the Table: a state-by-state analysis of the amount of money by state that students are not capturing by not completing the FAFSA.
• Issue Briefs on Financial Aid: new reports highlighting researchon the features of effective state financial aid programs and other key financial aid topics.

Both resources are incredible compilations of data and messaging resources for those tracking the issues that impact our state’s most vulnerable learners and communities.

What We’re Reading (and Listening To…)

Early Childhood Education

• Private Equity Has Its Eyes on the Child-Care Industry, by Adam Harris of The Atlantic
• Universal Preschool Enrollment for 2024-25 School Year Begins Thursday, by Angela Case of 9News

K-12 Education

• School Superintendents' Big Concerns: Guns, Culture Wars and AI, by Jennifer Kingson of Axios

Postsecondary Education

• Podcast: Voices of Student Success: Supporting Adult Learnerswith Mike Krause and Ashley Flood, Inside Higher Ed’s ‘Voices of Student Success’
• Most Colorado Community College Students Don’t Get a Four-Year Degree, New Data Shows, by Jason Gonzales of Chalkbeat Colorado
• Is Running a Top University America’s Hardest Job?, in The Economist (subscription required)
• More Than Half Of College Grads Are ‘Underemployed’ As Debate Grows Over Higher Ed’s Value, by Emmy Lucas of Forbes (subscription required)
• A College Double Major Could Be A Ticket To Career Security, by Emma Whitford & Rina Torchinsky of Forbes (subscription required)
• Distinctive Funding Challenges for Rural Regional Colleges, by Jessica Blake of Inside Higher Ed

Future of Work

• What’s Working: Techstars Alumni, Mentors Consider What’s Next for the Boulder/Denver Startup Community, by Tamara Chuang of The Colorado Sun
• Caregivers Value Child Care Benefits Over 401(k), National Study Shows, by Christine Michel Carter in Forbes (subscription required)
• Walmart Plans To Fill 100,000 Jobs By Doubling Certificate Programs—And Slashing Degree Options, by Jena McGregor of Forbes (subscription required)
• Some Employers Are Wary of Gen Z Workers. What Can Colleges Do?, by Kate Rix in Higher Ed Dive

Upcoming Events and Opportunities

• TODAY! Whiteboard Advisors: Talent Disrupted: Exploring Underemployment in a Changing World of Work, February 29, 12pm MT (Virtual)
• NEW! New America: Launching the Good Jobs Collaborative: Centering Workers in Workforce Development Policy and Practice, March 12, 8:30-10:30am MT, Hybrid-Washington, D.C.
• NEW! American Student Assistance and Jobs for the Future: Success Redefined: How Gen Z Is Redefining Success Through Nondegree Paths, March 14, 11am-12pm MT (Virtual)
• NEW! Association for the Study of Higher Education (ASHE): 2024 Graduate Student Policy Seminar, March 21, 9am-3pm MT (Virtual)
• Mainstay + Shift: “Student Support: Powered by Artificial + Human Intelligence” Webinar Series, March 27, April 24

Colleagues on the Move

• NEW! Associate Education Designer of The Community College Growth Engine with Education Design Lab, Remote
• NEW! Education Design Intern with Education Design Lab, Remote
• NEW! Senior Manager of Foundation Partnerships with Education Design Lab, Remote