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Spurred by the new federal Workforce Pell Grant program and changing workforce and higher ed landscapes, MHEC convened cross-sector teams in 10 Midwest states to strengthen connections between higher education, industry, and government. The goal for the teams was to develop faster, more affordable paths for learners to access high-skill, high-wage, in-demand occupations.  

The convening was hosted in partnership with Complete College America (CCA),which facilitated the in-person strategic conversations, and Indigo Wave Consulting, which conducted state landscape analyses in advance of the event. MHEC Commissioners Michael Baumgartner (Nebraska), Samantha Dickey (Missouri), and Emily Goldman (Illinois) participated with their state teams. The Higher Learning Commission presented on accreditation considerations for noncredit-to-credit policy and practice. 

Work began well before the convening, with virtual prep sessions, peer-to-peer collaboration, and state-by-state landscape analyses. Sharmila Basu Mann, who conducted the landscape analyses, emphasized that the focus of the work should be the learner who wants predictability, visibility, and utility in their workforce journeys. “They want to know the value, scope, and application of current and future credentials,” she said. “This does not require uniformity.”  

With non-credit-to-credit pathways, each state has unique challenges, opportunities, and existing capacities across data, policy, finance, governance, quality assurance, and labor market alignment. At the convening, each state defined its own priorities and agenda based on its unique policy landscape, workforce needs, and strategic goals. 

“Bringing people together is the secret sauce,” said Katie Giardello, Transfer Success Project Manager for the Michigan Department of Lifelong Education, Advancement, and Potential. “We have impassioned people coming to the table. We need to move out of problem solving and into problem dissolving.”   

There were many “Aha!” moments at the convening, as well as hard truths. “Sometimes we look different on paper than we do on practice,” said Kristin Brooks, Strategy Director for Complete College America. “Maybe we’re doing a good job with collaboration, but will this live beyond these relationships?” 

Participants noted the many hurdles to noncredit-to-credit pathways in their states, including data sharing, funding environments, infrastructure, business processes, competition between institutions for students, and neglect of relationships between sectors. States addressed these issues in depth, asking such questions as: Where are the silos? What would need to change structurally to reduce these silos? Is there infrastructure that does not exist but should? Who are the key decision-makers? What is the most important policy change we could make this upcoming legislative session? 

Sharing across states helped widen the view to what’s possible with examples from the region. In a panel facilitated by Complete College America’s Nichole Mann, leaders in Michigan, Wisconsin, and Ohio shared their states’ experiences. In Michigan, 14 labor unions and 29 community colleges collaborate to find where work competencies do and do not meet college credits. Ohio is embedding employer partnerships and wage data into the noncredit-to-credit pathway approval process. Wisconsin is building a federated governance model for workforce pathways. 

“We have to get over that learning doesn’t happen exclusively in the classroom,” said Colleen McCabe, Provost and Vice President, Educational Services for the Wisconsin Technical College System. Nikki Wearly, Ohio’s Senior Director of Career-Technical Education Transfer Initiatives, noted, “We must make sure we know what employers want and that our higher education programs are aligned with those needs.”  

As the convening closed, each state left with concrete next steps. “We now have a plan to take workforce programs that are non-credit and move toward credentials in what we’ve identified as in demand careers in Nebraska,” said Mike Baumgartner, the state’s Executive Director of the Coordinating Commission for Postsecondary Education. The time to sit face-to-face and roll up sleeves was essential, he said. “We work together in different capacities, but we don’t normally have this much time to think things through in detail like we were able to here.” 

“We spent these two days really digging into this work together,” said MHEC’s Carrie Wandler, Senior Director of Policy Initiatives. “States are leaving with clear priorities, stronger relationships, and people who are ready to champion this work back home.” MHEC’s role going forward “is to help sustain this momentum as teams move from planning to implementation.” Over the next six months, MHEC will help attending states maintain the cross-section connections built at the convening, share lessons across the region, and advance their states’ priorities.