In the Lab’s 2025 Annual Impact Report, we highlight the design insights and partners who are helping us build an inclusive, skills-based, learn-and-work system.
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Education Design Lab: 2025 Impact
In 2025, Education Design Lab continued its work to build a more inclusive, skills-based, education-to-employement system — one designed for today’s New Majority Learner-Earners.
Working alongside community colleges, employers, and state systems across the country, the Lab used human-centered design to create practical models that help learners access education faster, gain in-demand skills, and connect to meaningful careers.
From micro-credentials and employer-designed training pathways to statewide workforce initiatives, the Lab’s partnerships are proving that a more flexible learn-and-work system is possible — and scalable.
The Lab’s 2025 work surfaced seven key insights, including:
- Combining the Lab’s human-centered design approach with traditional strategic planning is showing the way for how leaders can facilitate whole college transformation that better aligns education toward the future of work.
- State systems that facilitate collaborative design in target industry sectors are better leveraging the networked nature of community colleges.
- The passage of Workforce Pell has accelerated a field-wide movement to design and scale skills-based pathways — and is forcing the much-needed data + impact structure.
