April 29, 2026
Disrupt the Divide helps community colleges redesign pathways to quality jobs using labor market data, institutional metrics, and student voice—improving program fit, belonging, and future-ready skills while aligning education with regional opportunities. This blog explores effective evidence-based strategies from the first semester of implementation.
Community colleges are regional talent and opportunity engines that help learners develop the skills and expertise local employers need. Through programs and services that both meet the needs and build on the strengths of individuals facing barriers to advancement, they expand access to quality jobs and economic mobility for people of all backgrounds.
At Jobs for the Future (JFF), we believe community colleges deliver the strongest results when funding, curriculum, advising, scheduling, and support services are aligned so students can focus on learning—even while they’re managing financial pressures, caregiving responsibilities, work, and limited information about their options. With the right approach, these realities become design challenges that education and workforce systems can solve.
In an initiative called Disrupt the Divide, which was made possible through the generous support of Truist Foundation, JFF has been working with community colleges to develop an evidence-based framework that community college leaders everywhere can use to design and implement strategies to expand opportunities and promote success for all learners.
As discussed in earlier JFF blogs and reports, our work in Disrupt the Divide has revealed that designing programs of study that expand pathways to high-wage jobs in high-growth fields requires bold, courageous, and strategic leadership and an iterative, data-informed process in which multi-disciplinary teams of college faculty and staff use labor market information, quantitative program data, and student feedback to identify the right occupational and career pathways to focus on and ensure that learners have the supports they need to succeed.
In this blog, we share further insights based on lessons learned during the first semester of implementation at the four colleges in the initiative: Delaware County Community College in Pennsylvania and three North Carolina institutions—Durham Technical Community College in Durham, Forsyth Technical Community College in Winston-Salem, and Stanly Community College in Albemarle. After a look back at earlier work that laid the foundation for Disrupt the Divide, we offer three examples of how these institutions are using a mixed methods approach to identify and launch new interventions focused on pathway planning and supports, innovative curriculum, and centering student voice in program design.
In 2022, JFF partnered with Northern Virginia Community College (NOVA) to develop and test strategies that improve Black learners’ access to and success in programs of study that lead to high-wage, high-growth careers, with the goal of scaling this work nationally. Grounded in the “curb-cut effect”—the idea that solutions designed to eliminate barriers for members of one group can end up benefitting broader segments of the population—the strategies developed at NOVA also benefit adult learners, students who are parents, learners from low-income backgrounds, and many others.
Drawing on NOVA’s work and additional field research, JFF identified levers for success across three phases of the learner journey:
Students preparing to enter college shortly after high school or as adults after a much longer hiatus benefit from intentional recruitment and outreach, well-structured career navigation, and academic readiness services, as well as supports that help them overcome financial barriers.
Students who must juggle their studies with other responsibilities and may not be able, or need, to complete a full degree program benefit from flexible scheduling, strong academic and social supports, transparent pathways, inclusive teaching, and short-term programs that lead to stackable credentials (certificates and industry-recognized credentials that “stack” to associate’s degrees).
To best position students for success at work after college, innovative institutions offer clear education-to-career pathways, scaffolded work-based learning experiences, mentoring that helps students build social capital, and specialized training or short-term credential programs focused on AI and other technologies that are reshaping work.
Building on insights from the NOVA work, JFF launched Disrupt the Divide to help community colleges increase success for Black learners and others facing barriers to economic advancement in programs leading to high-wage jobs in growing industries. Through research, coaching, and peer learning, JFF is supporting college teams’ efforts to adapt and implement the three levers of success via an iterative process that includes:
This work has produced institution-specific strategies, with colleges developing tailored action plans that detail how they can support their students across all three phases of the learner journey to expand their access to—and success in—pathways that lead to quality jobs, which JFF defines as roles that offer employees financial well-being, safe and respectful workplaces, growth and development opportunities, agency and voice, and structure and autonomy.
The sections that follow offer examples of three innovative approaches colleges in Disrupt the Divide are taking to increase student access to, and retention and engagement in, programs that prepare learners for high-wage, high-growth careers.
At Durham Technical Community College, Al Leaston, assistant dean of business, entrepreneurship, and information technology pathways, saw that many IT students were in programs that didn’t match their interests—even after a semester or two. Students were taking unnecessary courses, disengaging, and missing better-aligned options. JFF conducted quantitative and qualitative research, discussed the findings with college stakeholders, and together they determined that students whose experiences followed those patterns often had higher stop‑out rates than their peers.
The Durham Tech team also identified lower levels of engagement among fully online students, who met with their assigned student success coach far less often than students enrolled in face-to-face or hybrid courses. Many online learners were unaware of academic supports, retention resources, and other services offered by the college.
In the spring of 2026, Durham Tech’s IT department launched a two-part model that includes an orientation program and embedded coaching services to improve students’ access to IT programs and ensure that the courses they enroll in match their interests:
In addition to the increase in appointments with the success coach—especially among online learners—Leaston said there’s greater student awareness and use of academic advising and other support services following this two-part approach. The IT team plans to analyze the data and share findings with their colleagues in other departments that are considering adopting similar models.
At Forsyth Technical Community College, faculty and staff in the Mechatronics Engineering Technology program used insights from JFF’s initial research to set a clear goal: Increase recruitment and retention of Black students and women of all backgrounds by the fall of 2026.
In JFF-facilitated focus groups, students from those demographic groups reported that they feel isolated, want to see more people in the field who share their lived experiences, and need stronger social and financial supports to balance school, work, and family responsibilities.
In response, the mechatronics program coordinator and other Forsyth Tech leaders are exploring strategies such as these:
Before finalizing these interventions, the team conducted a student survey in early 2026 to better understand learner needs, gauge interest in proposed supports, and invite students to participate in future focus groups. A guiding principle is to center students’ perspectives and insights in program design to ensure that every new offering expands access, fosters a stronger sense of belonging, and promotes success in mechatronics so that all learners benefit.
Generative AI is rapidly changing paralegal work by increasingly supporting routine tasks like document review, legal research, and contract analysis, giving paralegals more room to apply their expertise in other areas. As these tools take on more of the administrative lift, the paralegal role is evolving to place greater emphasis on responsibilities such as client engagement and relationship management, quality control and verification, management of legal technologies and AI workflows, and data analysis.
Professional standards are shifting as well: NALA, a professional association for paralegals, now includes the ability to use AI tools and manage AI‑enabled legal workflows as core paralegal competencies. Moreover, JFF’s AI‑Ready Workforce report shows that changes such as these in many lines of work are elevating the importance of uniquely human capabilities—communication, critical thinking, leadership, creativity, adaptability, and problem‑solving. Paralegals who build strong AI literacy and are able to use these tools responsibly are already in higher demand, and those with AI and legal technology skills are earning significantly more than their peers, according to an analysis of industry data by LeanLaw, a legal billing software vendor.
To prepare students for this shift—and building on coaching from JFF—Precious Vines Harris, director of the Paralegal Technology program at Durham Technical Community College, is designing a new course called AI and the Law: Legal, Ethical, and Practical Applications. She said the course will launch as a continuing education offering, with the goal of integrating it into the paralegal program as a credit-bearing course. The objective is for graduates to be skilled in the ethical and responsible use of AI in legal settings and to be competitive in an evolving job market. Vines Harris is using professional development funds from the college’s Perkins grant program to attend two conferences on technology in the legal profession. She plans to apply the information she gains from these experiences to the design of the course and the creation of additional resources to help students build AI literacy that will benefit them in legal careers.
The Disrupt the Divide framework has helped college teams use local labor market information, student data, and a multistep process to design and implement strategies that boost entry into and completion of programs that lead to high-wage, high-growth careers. For example, Leaston said that the framework and JFF coaching provided the process he needed to turn long-standing ideas into an actionable plan.
Based on what we’ve learned, we recommend that colleges seeking to address similar challenges embrace these key principles:
Mixed-methods analyses that blend quantitative metrics with qualitative insights gleaned from surveys and focus groups of students, faculty, and staff can identify areas of misalignment between course offerings and students’ interests and goals. This approach also can reveal gaps in access to and successful completion of courses and factors that drive students to stop their educational progress.
Colleges can increase student engagement and improve program completion rates when they offer structured orientations that help students see the connections between educational programs and careers, clarify transfer options, explore work-based learning opportunities, and introduce learners to services and supports that can help them choose pathways aligned with their interests and goals.
Required follow‑up meetings with career navigation coaches—offered in person and online—turn orientation into individualized planning and drive higher rates of student engagement with advising services.
Targeted outreach via multiple channels—including informational messages delivered via YouTube videos and online versions of key meetings and activities—close awareness and access gaps for fully online students and those who must juggle class with work and other responsibilities, like caregiving.
Focus groups and surveys with learners facing barriers limiting access to programs that lead to quality jobs highlight the important role that community, role models, and wraparound supports play in student success. Colleges should use this type of feedback to design new interventions.
Colleges can help reduce barriers that limit students’ ability to participate in and complete courses of study by scheduling classes and activities in the evening and on weekends and by partnering with local organizations that can provide assistance to students who need access to transportation, housing, and technology.
Prepare students to succeed in jobs that have been and will continue to be transformed by AI by embedding topics like AI literacy and ethical use of AI into curriculum and by including opportunities to explicitly develop high‑value, and uniquely human, durable skills—communication, critical thinking, leadership, creativity, adaptability, and problem‑solving—that are in demand in all occupations and sectors. (See the list of additional resources at the end of this blog for access to reports and tools outlining effective approaches to integrating AI into educational systems and structures, including teaching and learning.)
Early lessons from Disrupt the Divide show that when colleges pair labor market and institutional data with student insights and a clear framework for action, they can redesign pathways so more learners—including Black learners and others facing barriers to advancement—can access and complete programs that lead to quality jobs that offer good pay, advancement opportunities, and voice and agency. These efforts are not one-off projects; they are building blocks of more accessible institutional systems that benefit students of all backgrounds.
Durham Tech’s IT orientation and coaching model, Forsyth Tech’s student-centered redesign of its mechatronics programs, and Durham Tech’s AI-informed paralegal curriculum are all examples of what’s possible when college teams work across silos, make an effort to design programs that adapt to and reflect students’ lived experiences, and plan intentionally to prepare learners for the future of work. Together, they illustrate how evidence-based interventions can reduce stop-outs, strengthen belonging, and prepare learners for rapidly evolving occupations.
As Disrupt the Divide moves into its final phase, JFF will continue to document what works and translate these lessons into a practical playbook for the field. Community college leaders, faculty, staff, and partners can use these insights to accelerate their own efforts—building pathways that not only open doors to high-wage, high-growth careers, but also ensure that learners can thrive in those roles over the long term.
Community colleges can offer pathways to high-wage, high-demand careers and accelerate economic advancement for students facing systemic barriers, by examining their experiences and outcomes, addressing barriers, and strengthening momentum. With organizations like JFF leading data-driven…
Community colleges can use real-time labor market data, program data, and learner voice to align programs with high-wage, high-growth jobs and advance equitable economic mobility, as demonstrated in North Carolina. For many learners, including Black…
NOVA by the Numbers NOVA is one of the largest community colleges in the United States, serving more than 70,000 students annually across six campuses. It’s the largest supplier of talent in the Northern Virginia…
Community colleges can offer pathways to high-wage, high-demand careers and accelerate economic advancement for students facing systemic barriers, by examining their experiences and outcomes, addressing barriers, and strengthening momentum. With organizations like JFF leading data-driven…
Community colleges can use real-time labor market data, program data, and learner voice to align programs with high-wage, high-growth jobs and advance equitable economic mobility, as demonstrated in North Carolina. For many learners, including Black…
NOVA by the Numbers NOVA is one of the largest community colleges in the United States, serving more than 70,000 students annually across six campuses. It’s the largest supplier of talent in the Northern Virginia…