In an era marked by political polarization, one area of bipartisan agreement stands out: the urgent need to help workers advance their careers and achieve higher incomes without a four-year degree. From Washington to state capitals, policymakers across the political spectrum recognize that non-degree training offers a more inclusive and realistic route to economic mobility. This consensus is timely, as industries from healthcare to infrastructure to cybersecurity are in critical need of skilled workers, and millions of Americans are seeking pathways to stable, family-supporting careers.
Enthusiasm alone isn’t enough. If we’re to make the most of this rare political alignment, we must pair this momentum with a clear-eyed focus on implementation. That means investing in what works, holding programs accountable for results, and building funding systems that reward outcomes, not inputs.
That’s the central message of “Workforce Realigned, Volume II: New Incentives for Improving Workforce Outcomes,” a collection of case studies published by the Social Finance Institute in collaboration with four regional Federal Reserve Banks. The volume showcases 21 real-world examples of state and local governments, employers, training providers and philanthropic investors shifting their focus from seat time to earnings gains and reengineering workforce programs to deliver measurable, meaningful success for workers and employers.
This evolution in approach couldn’t be timelier. For too long, individuals have borrowed funds for occupational skills programs that are not accountable for connecting them to a job. Employers struggle to find talent with the right competencies. Government funding is often distributed based on enrollment, not effect.
The good news is that the tide is turning.
In Virginia, the FastForward program ties public funding and student payments for short-term credentialing programs to learning outcomes. Students who complete the program and earn an industry-recognized credential pay a fraction of the cost; the state picks up the rest, creating shared accountability and real-time signals of value.
The New Jersey Pay It Forward Program provides zero-interest loans as well as grants for living stipends and other supports to help students prepare for high-demand fields like nursing and clean energy. Participants repay these loans only as an affordable share of their income, anchoring program design to real-world success in the job market.
In Texas, 100 percent of the state’s funding formula for the Texas State Technical College is based on the wages that students earn, not enrollment, creating a powerful incentive to offer programs that lead to good jobs and eliminate courses that do not.
Through outcome-based loans that finance tuition and living expenses, the Google Career Certificate Fund is expanding training for well-paid, in-demand careers in fields like information technology and data analytics, with the learners’ repayments linked to their post-training earnings. The program pairs skills development with wraparound supports like living stipends, coaching and job-search assistance.
Employers also play a vital role in innovative workforce development financing models that share risk to protect firms and workers. By serving as the employer of record and supporting workers with training and other services, First Step Staffing’s social enterprise staffing model and Hire-Train-Deploy firms help workers gain a foothold in entry-level roles, meeting employers’ needs while reducing their risk. In Philadelphia’s Employer Pay-for-Success initiative and the ReNEW Fund for nursing education, employers are paying back worker training costs only after they realize economic benefits from retaining skilled workers and avoiding turnover costs.
What unites these models is their commitment to accountability. Not how many people enroll, but how many succeed. Each recognizes that funding should follow results and aligning financing incentives can drive stronger outcomes.
That’s especially important as federal dollars flow through initiatives under the CHIPS and Science Act, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, and the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which seek to expand apprenticeships, accelerate credentialing programs and incentivize employer-led training. Each of these initiatives emphasizes workforce development. If we aren’t measuring whether these programs lead to stable, well-paying jobs, we risk squandering a once-in-a-generation opportunity to rebuild America’s talent pipeline.
So, what comes next?
First, we need to build data infrastructure to track outcomes, not just for program administrators but for policymakers, employers and the public. Metrics like job placement, wage growth, credential attainment and employment retention must be tracked and shared transparently, building on the efforts in many states to create integrated education-to-employment data systems.
Second, we should scale what works. With the right policy frameworks and funding mechanisms, we could expand high-impact pilots to serve millions more Americans.
Third, we must embrace shared accountability. Employers, educators, governments and philanthropy have a role to play and a stake in the results. We should incentivize partnerships that align around common goals: real skills, real jobs, real upward mobility.
There is no silver bullet, but there is a clear path forward. To deliver on the promise of quality non-degree credentials, we must move from funding potential to funding hard results. That means building the infrastructure to measure outcomes, scaling models that demonstrably work, and forging partnerships rooted in shared accountability. If we do this right, we won’t just help workers land jobs, we’ll help them build careers, strengthen families and grow the talent pipeline our economy urgently needs.
