Across the United States, more than 1,000 organizations are implementing a groundbreaking workforce development model: the employment social enterprise (ESE). ESEs are businesses built to do good: they offer jobs, training, and support to people who are getting back on their feet after experiences like incarceration or homelessness. A growing, rigorous evidence base demonstrates that ESEs can make an impressive
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2025
Supporting Effective Postsecondary Navigation: America Forward Recommendations
Students need accurate, responsive, and timely support to identify and assess the overwhelming array of choices they face in their postsecondary journeys, ranging from comparing student loans and grants, to applying to programs and institutions, to ultimately navigating to and through college and achieving a high-quality first post-college job. Last week, America Forward submitted comments to the Senate Health, Education,
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Rebuilding the Institute of Education Sciences: America Forward Recommendations
The federal Institute of Education Sciences (IES), housed under the U.S. Department of Education, has played a critical role in advancing high-quality education research and data for more than twenty years. Earlier this year, the Trump Administration laid off nearly all IES staff and canceled numerous research contracts. Subsequently, the Department of Education published a formal request for information on
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Effective Implementation of Workforce Pell: America Forward Recommendations
This summer, Congress authorized Workforce Pell grants as part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) signed into law on July 4, 2025. Following years of bipartisan efforts, the Workforce Pell provision addressed a long-standing gap in federal law. Prior to OBBBA’s passage, Pell Grants could only be used for programs lasting at least 15 weeks and students could
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New Report Details the Non-Profit Funding Gap, Strategies to Increase Student Success
This week, the National College Attainment Network (NCAN) and America Forward released a report analyzing the landscape of non-profit student success programs and the integral role they play in supporting students to and through education after high school – and increasingly, into careers. Drawing on a national survey of NCAN and America Forward Coalition member organizations, the report is a
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