Indiana’s New Career Pathway

Preparing More Hoosiers For Success After High School

Hoosiers need more options when deciding what comes next after high school, and a group of Indiana leaders has a plan for creating a new pathway to opportunity.

The new professional education and training pathway combines classroom education with on-the-job training to prepare high school students for careers and develop a new talent pipeline for employers seeking to address workforce needs. As an alternative learning route for students, the professional pathway will complement the existing high school-to-college pathway and provide new opportunities to tens of thousands of Hoosiers, including many who otherwise may not have opted to attend college or pursue training after high school.

The Vision

By 2034, Indiana’s education-to-workforce system will ensure every student and adult learner has access to high-quality education and training options, enabling all Hoosiers to discover their passions, reach their fullest potential, and meaningfully contribute to the economic and civic vitality of their communities. As a result, Indiana will become a Top 10 destination for employers seeking to expand existing businesses and entrepreneurs working to launch new businesses.

INDIANA’S EDUCATION AND SKILLS MISMATCH

By 2031, 72% of U.S. jobs will require an education beyond high school, but Indiana is not on track to meet that need.¹

39%

of Indiana adults 25 or older have an associate degree, bachelor’s degree, or other advanced degree.²

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Impact of Smoking on Indiana Employers

Smoking Breaks Cost

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Smokers Are

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LESS PRODUCTIVE THAN NON-SMOKERS

Smokers are absent more days than  non-smokers, costing Indiana employers

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53%

of Indiana’s 2022 high school graduates enrolled in college within one year.³

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Impact of Smoking on Employer Healthcare Costs

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in extra healthcare costs each year for every employee who smokes.

See The Impact

47%

of Indiana’s college students graduate on time, and 67% graduate within six years.⁴

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Benefits of a $2/Pack Tax Increase

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Decrease in youth smoking

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Youth prevented from becoming adult smokers

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Learn About The Benefits

<40%

of each high school cohort graduates from high school and earns a college degree.⁵

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Percentage of Adults Using e-Cigarettes

2016

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2021

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United States

Indiana

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Seeking A New Path For Hoosiers

To address talent demands, Indiana is building a new professional education and training pathway. This path is inspired by Switzerland’s acclaimed professional and vocational education and training system, where employers and educators collaborate to develop skilled talent starting in high school.

A group of leaders from Indiana studied the Swiss system with the help of experts from the Center on the Economics and Management of Education and Training Systems (CEMETS) at the Chair of Education Systems, ETH Zurich.

The key learning is
Employers must lead this new pathway by:

Identifying in-demand occupations and the related knowledge, skills, and competencies.

Collaborating with educators to develop the education and training content.

Delivering a significant portion of the education and training through on-the-job learning.

A successful pathway also requires:

Education and training opportunities to be available statewide.

The creation of formal credentials for students recognized by higher education and employers.

With these pieces in place, the traditional college pathway and this new professional pathway can merge into a comprehensive system, offering Indiana students diverse opportunities for preparing for rewarding, well-paying careers.

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“There are a lot of talented students who don’t know about our industry or who think you need a college degree to work in it. By bringing students to work in banks during high school when they’re still mapping out their futures, the industry will give young people the chance to experience the workplace and learn about their opportunities.”

– Mike Ash, Region President, Fifth Third Bank

Testing a potential solution and identifying barriers

Using learnings from the Swiss system, the first pilot program in Indiana launched in Goshen in 2019. In 2020, with funding from the Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation, Ascend Indiana launched a youth apprenticeship pilot program in Marion County as well as a statewide Community of Practice to ensure lessons learned were shared across all Indiana communities working to design and implement pilot programs.

Indiana’s existing apprenticeship model is a three-year, paid program that begins in the 11th grade and leads to a high school diploma, college credit, and an industry credential. There are seven youth apprenticeship pilot sites in operation across the state, serving 100 employers, 40 schools, and 450 students across 13 counties.

While Indiana’s pilot programs created new opportunities for students, several challenges also emerged:

Lack of standardized, industry-created occupations and curriculum. Because industry doesn’t speak with one voice, apprenticeship programs are currently customized to meet individual employer needs. This makes it difficult to scale the system because there is no uniform set of knowledge, skill, and competency requirements for each occupation at the industry level.
Inflexible high school schedules. High school diploma credit hour requirements limit the amount of time apprentices can spend on-site at an employer. This impacts their ability to learn workplace skills and become productive employees, which reduces the return on investment for employers.
Few transportation options. Because of limited time out of the high school building combined with customized apprenticeship programs, it is difficult for schools and employers to identify cost-effective transportation.
Lack of labor market-aligned career advising for students. School counselors lack the time to provide comprehensive career guidance to every student. Further, they lack access to real-time, statewide labor market projections, making it challenging for students to select the best education and training pathway for their desired career.
No formally recognized credential that accounts for skills learned at the workplace. Today, an apprentice’s only option for a credential recognized by employers and the higher education system is to earn an associate degree or higher. This has led some apprentices to leave their programs early to pursue college degrees, limiting the return on investment for employers.
A fragmented work-based learning landscape. Indiana’s current work-based learning landscape is fragmented and involves multiple education, intermediary and government actors. This makes it challenging for employers to navigate work-based learning program options and can result in multiple entities trying to engage separately with the same employer, which is burdensome for businesses.

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Building A New Career Pathway

In December 2023, the Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation invited leaders from existing Indiana pilot programs as well as participants from the September 2023 Indy Chamber Leadership Exchange trip to Zurich, Switzerland, to form CEMETS iLab Indiana, a coalition of nearly 200 leaders from a variety of sectors interested in building a new education and training pathway rooted in a youth apprenticeship experience starting in high school.

Within this new pathway, students will be paid for the duration of the year-round, three-year experience, which begins in 11th grade, and they will receive a degree recognizing both their academic and workplace learning.

iLab members have identified essential criteria for the new pathway to address previous barriers and meet the needs of students, employers, colleges, and K-12 schools:

Occupations should align with projected labor market needs and be identified by employers speaking as one voice for their industry.
The pathway should begin in high school, combining on-the-job experience with related academic instruction.
Work-based learning must be a paid, year-round experience, with the apprentices as both students and employees.
To maximize value for both the apprentice and employer, at least 50% (ideally 65%) of training should occur at the employer site.
Academic instruction should vary by occupation. For example, a healthcare apprentice should study biology and anatomy, while a banking apprentice should study math and economics.
High school classroom time requirements should be reduced to give students more time for on-the-job learning while also allowing flexibility to participate in extracurricular activities.

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“I’m all-in because I see what’s happening around the state in those school districts that are empowering kids and offering these types of experiences. The schools that are most impactful on students tend to be those that allow personalization and allow kids to go after their dreams, and that includes having experiences outside of the classroom walls that pique their interest.”

– Katie Jenner, Indiana Secretary of Education

Priorities To Make The Path A Reality

The strategic plan identifies four immediate priorities, with the most critical being for industry to unify its voice on talent needs. Once organized, K-12, higher education, and government partners can develop systems to scale youth apprenticeship programs.

PRIORITY ONE:

ESTABLISH TALENT ASSOCIATIONS

To help industry organize as one voice regarding its talent needs, form industry talent associations to select priority occupations, identify required knowledge and skills, and develop curricula in partnership with educators. The first talent associations planned as part of the system are in industry sectors facing increasing talent shortages – banking, healthcare, life sciences, and advanced manufacturing and logistics.

PRIORITY TWO:

ESTABLISH MECHANISMS TO PROGRESS UP, ACROSS PATHWAYS

Create structured mechanisms for students to progress up the professional pathway or transition across the college and professional pathways. This will require the development of degrees that acknowledge skills gained via work-based learning that are recognized by employers and higher education.

PRIORITY THREE:

DESIGN A LABOR MARKET-ALIGNED CAREER ADVISING SYSTEM

Ensure students receive career guidance and can engage in career exploration activities starting in middle school, so they are equipped to enter the professional pathway if that’s what they and their families choose.

PRIORITY FOUR:

DEFINE CLEAR ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Define roles and responsibilities for employers, educators, government, and other stakeholders to transition Indiana to a coordinated, output-oriented governance structure for the professional pathway. Define funding mechanisms based on these roles.

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FOCUS INDUSTRIES + THE DEMAND FOR SKILLED TALENT

The first step is the establishment of industry “talent associations,” organizations that enable employers within their industry to speak with one voice when it comes to their talent needs. Talent associations will select occupations, identify the required knowledge, skills, and competencies, and collaborate with educators to develop education and training content.

The first set of talent associations are within industries facing projected talent shortfalls that also have the strong support of industry executives:

Advanced
Manufacturing

Banking

Healthcare

Life Sciences

To fund the creation of talent associations, the Fairbanks Foundation awarded two-year grants of up to $250,000 to organizations identified by the iLab’s Industry Committee as best positioned to readily assume the talent association function:

BioCrossroads: Healthcare talent association – $200,000
BioCrossroads: Life sciences talent association – $200,000
Conexus Indiana: Advanced manufacturing and logistics talent association – $250,000

Plans are also underway for a talent association in the banking industry to be operated by the Indiana Bankers Association. The Fairbanks Foundation expects to award a similar grant to IBA’s Foundation in early 2025.

All talent association grants are contingent upon each organization’s ability to secure matching funds for the talent associations from employers within their industries.

“We talked with a number of kids [Swiss apprentices] who started on one track, didn’t like it, and then switched. It’s structured for people to on-ramp and off-ramp.”

– Dennis Murphy, President and CEO, Indiana University Health

CEMETS iLab Indiana is a coalition of nearly 200 Hoosier leaders representing a variety of sectors including business, K-12 education, higher education, and government. The coalition’s members joined forces in 2023 to design a new statewide professional education and training system rooted in a youth apprenticeship experience starting in high school.

The iLab’s members are divided into committees that focus on the roles of relevant stakeholder groups.

Governing Committee

Co-Chairs

David Becker, Chairman & CEO, First Internet Bank
Claire Fiddian-Green, President & CEO, Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation

Members

Mike Ash, Regional President, Fifth Third Bank
Senator Rod Bray, President Pro Tempore of the Indiana Senate
Fred Cartwright, President & CEO, Conexus Indiana
Jeff Harrison, President & CEO, Citizens Energy Group
Representative Todd Huston, Speaker of the Indiana House of Representatives
Dr. Katie Jenner, Indiana Secretary of Education
Melina Kennedy, CEO, Central Indiana Corporate Partnership
Chris Lowery, Commissioner of Indiana Commissioner for Higher Education
Matt Mindrum, President & CEO, Indy Chamber
Dennis Murphy, President & CEO, IU Health
Mario Rodriguez, Executive Director, Indianapolis Airport Authority
Vanessa Green Sinders, President & CEO, Indiana Chamber of Commerce
Amber Van Til, President & CEO, Indiana Bankers Association
Pamela Whitten, President, Indiana University
Vince Wong, President & CEO, BioCrossroads

Committee Staffing

Erica Viar, Vice President of Consulting, Ascend Indiana

Industry Committee

Co-Chairs

Mike Ash, Region President, Fifth Third Bank
Dennis Murphy, President and CEO, Indiana University Health