Education Design Lab is partnering with the Technical College System of Georgia to design early pathways that promote access to postsecondary credentials and high-wage, high-demand careers.
WASHINGTON, D.C. (Feb. 19, 2026) — Education Design Lab (the Lab) today announced the launch of Career Ready by Design, a statewide initiative focused on strengthening and aligning dual enrollment pathways that connect high school, college, and workforce opportunities. Georgia will be the state partner in this two-year initiative.
The goals
Career Ready by Design will assist five colleges within the Technical College System of Georgia and up to 15 high schools to expand and strengthen the dual enrollment work they’re already doing statewide. Those colleges include:
- Atlanta Technical College
- Central Georgia Technical College
- Coastal Pines Technical College
- Chattahoochee Technical College
- Wiregrass Georgia Technical College
Through a structured, human-centered design process, the initiative enables partners to intentionally develop pathways that allow students to earn at least 12 transferable college credits before high school graduation, with explicit connections to credentials, degrees, and career pathways aligned with regional workforce needs.
“We applied for this [initiative] because we want dual enrollment to be more than just access. We want it to be designed and career aligned with our high-demand careers,” said Joseph Echols, Executive Director of Secondary Education Initiatives for the Technical College System of Georgia. “Right now, pathway quality and student navigation are our main focus across the entire state.”
Why it matters
This emphasis on navigation and quality reflects a broader challenge within education systems nationwide. Even when opportunities are available, students are often required to interpret unfamiliar terminology, manage institutional transitions, and understand the long-term implications of their decisions without adequate guidance. Career Ready by Design addresses this gap by shifting responsibility from individual students to systems, prioritizing coherence, clarity, and shared ownership among partners.
For Dr. Jessica Lauritsen, a Strategic Impact Director at the Lab, this work is grounded not only in research and systems design, but in lived experience. “I’m a first-generation college student. I grew up poor, raised by a teen mom, and no one expected me to go to college, including me,” she said. “On my first day of college class, I found the door locked and a sign that said, ‘In lieu of class, read chapter one.’ I didn’t know what ‘in lieu of’ meant. I went back to my residence hall, looked it up, and convinced myself I didn’t belong. Not because I wasn’t capable, but because I didn’t understand the sign on the door. That moment changed how I see education. Access is not enough. Language matters. Clear pathways matter. Students should not feel lost simply because the system was not built for them.”
Career Ready by Design addresses these challenges by making pathway expectations explicit, aligning coursework with meaningful outcomes, and reducing the hidden complexity that often influences student persistence.
What’s next
Through the two-year initiative, partners across Georgia will participate in cross-sector design teams, statewide learning sessions, and applied design activities to examine learner experiences and identify opportunities for systems to better support student progress. Together, partners will develop a state implementation roadmap that addresses governance, data sharing, funding, and long-term sustainability. The initiative also prioritizes learner and family perspectives through participation in the design process, recognizing lived experience as essential to developing effective pathways. Career Ready by Design builds on the Lab’s longstanding collaboration with states and community colleges to redesign learn-and-work systems and generate national insights that inform future policy and practice.
Career Ready by Design is supported by funding from the Walton Family Foundation.
About Education Design Lab
Education Design Lab (the Lab) is a national nonprofit and intermediary with a mission to co-design an inclusive, skills-based, learn-and-work system with and for New Majority Learner-Earners that facilitates upward mobility and closes opportunity gaps. Since 2013, the Lab has worked on the ground with over 1,200 colleges + organizations, 1,000 employers, and thousands of learners, who need education programs and pathways that better serve their futures.
