Category: Resources

2025 Report: Employer Leadership in Early Talent Development

Washington’s economy has long been a national leader, driven by innovation, strong private sector growth, and a talented workforce. Last year, research projected more than 1.5 million job openings in our state through 2032, with 75% requiring postsecondary credentials. Washington students are eager to seize this opportunity: 86% aspire to complete a credential beyond high school.

However, without systemic change to scale up enrollment and credential production, Washington will experience a shortfall of nearly 600,000 credentialed workers needed by 2032.

To safeguard Washington’s economic vitality and expand opportunity for its residents, our state must build a stronger, more aligned talent pipeline that empowers and compels more students and adults to earn credentials necessary for living-wage jobs and long-term economic mobility. High-quality, career connected learning that intentionally integrates education with career and credential pathways is one critical solution for both employers and students.

Learn more about employers who are leading on this early talent development strategy in the 2025 Employer Leadership Report for Career Connect Washington.

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Jefferson Healthcare Develops High-Demand Career Pathways

Jefferson Healthcare in Port Townsend is addressing rural healthcare workforce shortages by building a local talent pipeline through career connected learning. By partnering with local schools and colleges, they’ve developed a three-phase pathway that introduces students to healthcare careers as early as 8th grade and supports them through training, post-high school credentialing, and direct employment.

 

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Skill Up For Our Future: Priority Occupation Cluster, Advanced Computing & Tech

REPORT: Washington’s advanced computing and technology sector is growing fast—already making up 21.8% of the state’s GDP, the highest in the country. Over the next decade, demand for software developers, computer support specialists, and systems analysts will surge, with 128,000 job openings expected by 2032. Despite this demand, there’s a critical skills gap: 84% of these jobs require a bachelor’s degree or higher, and the state is on track to produce 35,000 fewer qualified workers than needed.

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Path to 70% Update: Postsecondary Enrollment Recovery Falling Short of Workforce Needs (February 2025)

REPORT: Recent postsecondary enrollment trends reveal the challenge of meeting projected demand for workers with degrees, apprenticeships, and high-value industry certifications. After years of stagnation, enrollment at Washington’s colleges and universities plummeted during the pandemic. Community and technical colleges (CTCs) lost over 53,000 students—a 24% decline—from fall 2019 and fall 2022, while public baccalaureate institutions lost 10,000 resident undergraduates (an 11% drop).

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New Report: 1.5 Million+ Job Openings by 2032 – Can Washington Meet the Challenge?

REPORT: Washington Roundtable, Partnership for Learning, and Kinetic West released a new report, Skill Up for Our Future, taking a deep dive into what Washington’s economy will look like through 2032 and where the opportunities and challenges lie for our workforce.

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Fred Hutch LabLaunch: Hands-on learning for students + talent for life sciences sector

 

Spotlight: Fred Hutch’s LabLaunch program is redefining career preparation in the life sciences. This partnership between Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, Washington Alliance for Better Schools, and Shoreline Community College equips students with the skills needed for high-demand lab technician roles. The program combines hands-on lab experience with academic training, ensuring students are job-ready and offering them a guaranteed interview at Fred Hutch upon program completion.

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Postsecondary enrollment plateaus – 51,000+ Fewer Students Enrolled Since Pandemic

A chart showing postsecondary enrollment trends in WA state.

 

After three years of steep declines, postsecondary enrollment in Washington is showing signs of recovery. According to data shared with Washington Roundtable by the state’s public postsecondary institutions, 51,000+ fewer students enrolled in our public institutions in fall 2023 than in fall 2019 – representing a 17% enrollment decline since the pandemic’s onset. This comes when postsecondary education is increasingly the only pathway to middle-class jobs.

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Path to 70 Update: Projected decline in credential attainment demands bold action

In 2016, the Washington Roundtable set a goal: 70% of Washington students—overall and within each racial and ethnic community—will complete a postsecondary credential by age 26. This goal reflects the workforce needs of Washington employers and national and state data projecting that at least 70% of jobs in our state will be filled by workers who complete a postsecondary credential, such as a degree, apprenticeship, or industry-aligned certificate or license.

Bar graph showing the credential attainment rate trajectory over the last 15 years for Washington students.

New data analysis indicates that nearly a third of the progress made toward the goal since the class of 2006 was wiped out during the pandemic. The estimated credential attainment rate for the high school class of 2021 is 40%—three percentage points lower than the class of 2019 and 30 points below the goal.

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New laws will support post-HS credential attainment

 

The 2023 legislative session resulted in several policy changes and investments that support Partnership for Learning’s goal that 70% of Washington students complete a credential after high school, such as a degree, apprenticeship, or industry-aligned certificate or license. New policies the legislature passed include:

  • Earning College Credit in High School:
    1. All costs will be covered for high school students taking College in the High School courses, for which they earn both college and high school credit. Students who earn college credit in high school are much more likely to go on to postsecondary education. This new law is a significant win for students and advancing progress toward increasing the post-high school education enrollment rate (SB 5048).
    2.  Students can now earn up to 10 college credits cost-free via Running Start courses during the summer (HB 1316).
  • Tuition Timing: Students will know the cost of tuition at Washington’s public colleges and universities for the upcoming academic year, allowing them to make better-informed enrollment decisions (SB 5079).
  • Student-level Data Sharing: Washington colleges and universities will be better able to support students’ transition from high school because of improved data sharing between OSPI and postsecondary institutions (SB 5593).
  • Improved Education and Career Planning: The state will adopt a universal digital platform for the High School and Beyond Plan to improve students’ access to tools and resources that enable career exploration, course planning, and preparation for post-high school education (SB 5243).
  • WSAC Regional Challenge Grants: The new state budget includes funding to continue grants that support regional partnerships aimed at increasing postsecondary enrollment and credential attainment.

Partnership for Learning worked closely with many important partners to support these policies, and we are grateful for the collaboration. As we seek to raise the rate at which Washington students enroll in and complete post-high school education, these new laws and investments can ease students’ experiences in the critical transition from high school to college and career training.

 

Learn more about our work and join us at www.credentialessential.com.

New report: Postsecondary enrollment declined for 3rd straight year

The crisis of stagnant or declining postsecondary enrollment – a concern even before the pandemic – is deepening at Washington’s public two- and four-year colleges and universities. According to data shared with the Washington Roundtable by the state’s public postsecondary institutions:

  • Fall 2022 enrollment of resident undergraduate students at Washington’s public four-year colleges and universities is down by nearly 10,000 students (11.3%) compared to pre-pandemic figures (fall 2019).
  • Preliminary data also indicate that enrollment across the state’s 34 community and technical colleges is down by could be down upwards of 60,000 students (an estimated decline of 26% or more).

The decline in postsecondary enrollment contrasts with the increasing economic need for credentialed workers in Washington state. From Nov. 2021 to Nov. 2022, employers added more than 130,000 jobs in Washington. That follows a decade of economic growth when a credential—such as a degree, apprenticeship, or certificate—had become essential for jobs that offer a good salary and advancement opportunities.

Read more about the picture of postsecondary enrollment in Washington in fall 2022 in our latest report. Meeting students where they are and improving the postsecondary credential attainment rate is critical to our state’s future. Join us.

Read the report