Overview

The Community College Growth Engine (CCGE), led by Dr. Lisa Larson, is a design accelerator that was set up just before the pandemic to help community colleges lean into a future role as regional talent agents in a skills-based economy.

Since 2020, the CCGE team has engaged over 50 community colleges and systems across the country to design over 100 employer-validated micro-pathways leveraging a human-centered design process. (Explore micro-pathways by sector).

In June 2023, the team released a thought paper: Transforming Community Colleges: 5 Design Questions to Shape the Future of Learning.

Year 1 learnings are available in the first Design Insights Brief (January 2022). Watch our Jan. 19, 2022, National Convening on YouTube.

What are micro-pathways? Co-designed with learners and employers, micro-pathways are defined as two or more stackable credentials, including a 21st century skill micro-credential, that are flexibly delivered to be achieved within less than a year and result in a job at or above the local median wage, and start (l)earners on the path to an associate degree.

Each system or college received a startup award through the CCGE, which is supported by over 15 foundations and investors.