Career-Connected Learning: Bridging Education and Employment in the Carolinas

Building Pathways from Classroom to Career for Underserved Students

The statistics tell a sobering story: over 80% of high school dropouts cite the disconnect between classroom learning and real-world employment as a key reason they left school. Meanwhile, employers across North and South Carolina struggle to fill critical workforce gaps, with 45% of jobs in South Carolina requiring skills that only 29% of workers currently possess.

This gap represents more than just numbers, it represents young people who can’t envision their future, families struggling with economic mobility, and communities unable to reach their full potential. But there’s a powerful solution gaining momentum across the Carolinas: career-connected learning.

What Is Career-Connected Learning?

Career-connected learning (CCL) is a comprehensive education strategy that integrates career awareness, exploration, preparation, and workplace experience throughout a student’s academic journey. Unlike traditional education models that defer career planning to post-graduation, CCL weaves meaningful connections between classroom learning and real-world careers starting as early as elementary school.

The approach encompasses a continuum of experiences:

Career Awareness introduces students to the breadth of career possibilities through guest speakers, workplace tours, and activities that help them understand how their skills and interests align with various professions.

Career Exploration provides structured learning through short-term job experiences, career fairs, and interactions with industry professionals, allowing students to gain firsthand insights into different work environments and required skills.

Career Preparation connects temporary employment positions and structured workplace training, such as internships, fellowships, pre-apprenticeships, and cooperative education, with related learning activities that build essential technical and employability skills.

Career Experience offers sustained paid employment in workplace settings with contextual, career-aligned learning that prepares students for long-term success in their chosen fields.

Why Career-Connected Learning Works

Research from Jobs for the Future, the National Association for Career and Technical Education (ACTE), and state-level studies across the country demonstrates compelling outcomes for students engaged in career-connected learning programs:

Improved Graduation Rates: Students participating in Career and Technical Education (CTE), a core component of many CCL programs, show a 94% high school graduation rate compared to the national average of 85%.

Increased Engagement and Hope: A comprehensive study by Gallup and the New Hampshire Learning Initiative found that 88% of students participate in at least one CCL opportunity, and those who do demonstrate significantly higher levels of school engagement and hope for their futures. Students with mentors supporting their development are 60% more likely to be hopeful about the future.

Better Academic Performance: Students participating in career guidance and career courses exhibit greater knowledge of jobs, higher self-esteem, better grades, and increased engagement in academic and career planning.

Stronger Connection to Graduation: Among middle schoolers with average or poor grades who are engaged through CCL, 86% believe they will graduate from high school, compared to just 67% of non-engaged learners.

Long-term Career Success: Career-connected learning helps students develop essential employability skills, communication, collaboration, problem-solving, self-regulation, that employers consistently identify as critical for workplace success.

Career-Connected Learning in the Carolinas

Both North and South Carolina have made significant investments in career pathways and workforce development infrastructure, creating fertile ground for career-connected learning initiatives.

North Carolina’s Approach

North Carolina has developed a comprehensive ecosystem through several key programs:

NCWorks Certified Career Pathways establishes statewide standards for career pathway development, ensuring training matches present and future business needs. The first certified pathway, healthcare in Northeast North Carolina, launched in 2016 and has since expanded across multiple high-demand industries.

Career and College Promise (CCP) allows eligible high school students to enroll in college courses through their high school, earning both high school and college credit. The program offers three pathways: College Transfer, Career and Technical Education, and Cooperative Innovative High Schools.

NC Career Launch provides registered youth pre-apprenticeships that allow high school students to enter directly into apprenticeships, combining on-the-job learning, mentorship, related instruction, and progressive wages.

Northeast NC Career Pathways exemplifies regional success: spanning 20 counties with partnerships among 27 local education agencies, nine community colleges, three universities, more than 100 employers, and multiple workforce boards, this collaborative identifies high-demand careers and builds pathways connecting students to sustainable-wage jobs in their communities.

South Carolina’s Framework

South Carolina’s Education and Economic Development Act (EEDA), known as “Personal Pathways to Success,” requires students entering 11th grade to declare a career major and develop Individual Graduation Plans (IGPs) outlining their personal education and career strategies.

Career Specialists in grades 6-12 provide career awareness, exploration, and guidance services, helping students understand career clusters and make informed decisions about their futures.

ACT WorkKeys® Assessments are administered to all 11th-grade students, providing an assessment-based National Career Readiness Certificate that more than 1,500 South Carolina employers recognize.

readySC™ and Apprenticeship Carolina™ provide customized training solutions for companies and guide them through the registered apprenticeship process, creating pipelines of skilled talent through paid training opportunities aligned with workforce demand.

Programs like the Pickens County Scholar Technician® and the Upstate’s iMAGINE festival showcase how regional partnerships between education, industry, and community organizations create hands-on learning experiences that connect students directly to career opportunities in high-growth sectors.

The Role of Employer Partnerships

Effective career-connected learning requires deep collaboration between education systems and employers. Businesses provide more than just job opportunities, they offer crucial insights into skill requirements, workplace culture, and industry trends that inform curriculum development and student experiences.

Successful models across the Carolinas demonstrate what’s possible when employers engage authentically:

• Aldine ISD in Houston partnered with Memorial Hermann Health System to redesign a local high school, exposing and preparing students for opportunities in the medical field while addressing healthcare workforce shortages.
• Real World Learning in Kansas City fostered regional collaboration supporting experiential learning, with more than 20,000 high school students annually earning client projects, internships, college credits, or industry credentials.
• Charlotte’s healthcare and advanced manufacturing sectors regularly engage with technical colleges and high schools to provide internships, apprenticeships, and direct hiring pipelines.

These partnerships ensure that students graduate not just with diplomas, but with credentials, experience, and connections that employers value.

Addressing Equity Through Career-Connected Learning

Career-connected learning holds particular promise for underserved students who often lack exposure to professional networks and career opportunities. When implemented equitably, CCL can level the playing field by:

Expanding Networks: Work-based learning experiences connect students from low-income families to professional mentors and contacts they might not otherwise access.

Providing Real-World Context: For students questioning the relevance of their education, CCL demonstrates direct connections between coursework and careers, increasing motivation and engagement.

Building Economic Mobility: Early career exploration and skill-building create pathways to family-sustaining wages, particularly in high-demand fields like healthcare, advanced manufacturing, and technology.

Reducing Barriers: When programs provide transportation, stipends, and support services, they ensure all students can participate regardless of their family’s financial circumstances.

Investment Opportunities in Career-Connected Learning

For foundations and impact investors focused on education and workforce development, career-connected learning represents a strategic opportunity to create measurable, lasting impact. Investment needs include:

Infrastructure and Coordination: Regional partnerships require facilitators, technology platforms, and coordinating staff to connect education institutions, employers, and students effectively.

Work-Based Learning Programs: Internships, apprenticeships, and on-the-job training require financial support for student stipends, employer coordination, and program administration.

Career Specialist Training: Schools need resources to hire and train career specialists who can guide students through exploration and pathway development.

Technology and Tools: Career assessment platforms, digital portfolios, and data systems that track student progress and outcomes require ongoing investment and maintenance.

Employer Engagement: Businesses need support to develop work-based learning opportunities, train workplace mentors, and create meaningful experiences for students.

The Future of Career-Connected Learning

As the economy evolves and workforce needs shift, career-connected learning will become increasingly essential for ensuring all young people can access economic opportunity. Emerging technologies like artificial intelligence can extend access and personalize career exploration, while growing awareness of skills-based hiring creates new pathways that don’t require traditional four-year degrees.

The Carolinas are well-positioned to lead in this space. With strong technical college systems, growing employer engagement, state policy support, and philanthropic investment, the region has the infrastructure to scale career-connected learning dramatically over the next decade.

Success will require continued collaboration across sectors: education leaders designing innovative programs, employers committing to meaningful student experiences, policymakers creating supportive frameworks, and investors providing flexible capital to test and scale what works.

A Call to Action

Career-connected learning isn’t just about preparing students for jobs, it’s about empowering young people to envision and pursue meaningful careers that provide economic security and personal fulfillment. For underserved students across the Carolinas, these programs can be transformative, opening doors that might otherwise remain closed.

As we work toward a future where every student graduates with a clear pathway to economic self-sufficiency, career-connected learning must be a cornerstone of our education system. The question isn’t whether we can afford to invest in these programs, it’s whether we can afford not to.

About The Leon Levine Foundation

The Leon Levine Foundation empowers underserved Carolinians to be self-sufficient and strengthens our Jewish community through strategic grantmaking and impact investing in education, healthcare, human services, and Jewish values.

Sources:

• Jobs for the Future, Work-Based Learning Framework
• Association for Career and Technical Education (ACTE), CTE Impact Studies
• Advance CTE Research Round-Up: Impact of Career-Connected Learning on Learner Engagement and Hope
• North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, Career and College Promise
• South Carolina Department of Education, Education and Economic Development Act
• South Carolina Chamber of Commerce, Workforce Development