Today, tight labor markets and new workforce needs—often resulting from technological disruption—are forcing employers to rethink job requirements. Hiring practices are slowly shifting toward selecting workers based on skills and work experience, rather than educational pedigree. This means that a four-year degree is no longer the only path to meaningful employment and economic stability. But, capitalizing on this opportunity is not always straightforward because it can be difficult to identify the high-quality, skill building programs that directly lead to good jobs.
altPath
Skills based credentials are the most efficient path to the workforce, yet only 1 in 2 adults in the US has a credential beyond a high school diploma.
We want to change that.
With the path to meaningful employment in flux, high school graduates today face a dizzying array of options. In addition to traditional two and four-year colleges, many other educational options—technical colleges, training programs, hybrid colleges, boot camps, and apprenticeships—are rapidly expanding. Despite this, only one in two adults in the US has a credential beyond a high school diploma.
The need for thoughtful, personalized matchmaking between young talent and pathways to careers has never been greater. The stakes are high to select the right institution or program and develop the necessary skills to engage in today’s workforce. Every young person should have the opportunity, guidance, and tools to create an individualized path to their optimal career. An abundance of information, advice and data is available, but it is uncurated and difficult to organize. altPath is purpose built to solve this.
altPath is a free online platform that guides users through three phases:
- Setting a career goal
- Choosing an educational pathway to the goal
- Building a customized action list to get there
Targeted at youth ages 17–25, altPath provides individualized information and allows users to compare a wide range of educational pathways—both college and noncollege. The member interface uses a system of badges, nudging and rewards to keep members on track to their career goal. Income-qualified members can even turn rewards into financial support for their education and job training costs.
altPath will be available for youth to start making their career path a reality starting Winter 2024 with more features rolling out later in 2024.
