The authors analyze all Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) plans submitted by U.S. states and territories for Program Years 2016–2027. They identify strategies across five domains: governance, information provision, connecting education to workforce systems, access to learner supports, and employer engagement. The report offers benchmarks for WIOA planners to strengthen cross-agency postsecondary and workforce policy integration.

How States Align Postsecondary and Workforce Strategies

Examples and Trends from WIOA Plans

Elaine W. Leigh, Jeremy Wright-Kim, Laura Rodriguez Lora, Gopal Trital

ResearchPublished Sep 9, 2026

State policymakers want to align postsecondary education and workforce development systems, yet limited research systematically examines how states do so. This report presents a first-ever analysis of Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) plans submitted by U.S. states and territories to the U.S. Department of Labor for Program Years 2016–2027. The authors organize state strategies across five domains: governance, information provision, connecting education to workforce systems, access to learner supports, and employer engagement.

Findings reveal that states generally comply with WIOA plan requirements: Nearly all WIOA plans emphasize career pathways, apprenticeships, and governance structures, and states broadly agree on using employer subsidies to support engagement and provide information to job seekers. More-distinctive strategies include providing incentives for intermediaries to sustain deeper workforce partnerships, attending to adult learner transitions, and offering novel credential options, such as community college baccalaureates.

These findings offer new evidence on peer-state practices for workforce development staff in federal and state agencies who are responsible for WIOA planning and for other state higher education agency staff who must coordinate with workforce agencies. State WIOA planners can benchmark their WIOA plans against these national patterns and find example strategies from other states in a separate annex that support opportunities to strengthen cross-agency planning as federal postsecondary and workforce policy become increasingly integrated.

Key Takeaways

Federal requirements drive consistency in state planning

  • States almost universally comply with WIOA plan content requirements; nearly all WIOA state plans address career pathways, apprenticeships, and governance structures.

Non-required strategies vary

  • Although most state plans include mention of employer funds and subsidies to offset the costs of providing training services (97 percent), offering job search tools (94 percent), and discussing access to career counseling (92 percent), only some plans emphasize adult basic education (21 percent) or credit for prior learning (54 percent)—approaches critical for adult learner success.

Seven states—Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, New Jersey, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas—demonstrated more-expansive planning approaches

  • These states emphasized not only federally mandated strategies but also non-required and novel approaches in their WIOA plans. They consistently complied with federal guidelines and appear to be proactive in their attempts to align their postsecondary education and workforce development systems in alternative ways.

Plan type and political context shape some strategy emphasis

  • States with Combined Plans emphasized interagency collaboration and access to training provider information more than states with Unified Plans. Democrat-led states emphasized information and access to learner supports more consistently, while Republican-led states were more likely to emphasize skills training and financial aid supports.

Recommendations

  • Treat WIOA planning as a strategic exercise, not just a compliance requirement. States could consider aligning plan development timelines with state strategic planning processes so that workforce priorities inform broader economic development goals.
  • Strengthen collaborative governance regardless of plan type. Workforce policymakers can use plan submission and modification timelines to establish at least one concrete mechanism to formalize cross-agency coordination.
  • Reassess credit articulation strategies to adapt to changing learner needs. States should ensure that shifts toward competency-based or credit for prior learning approaches do not inadvertently reduce pathways for traditional-age populations while considering how to scale such efforts.
  • Move beyond broad career pathways language to specific program designs. Federal guidance should more explicitly help states prioritize two to three priority sectors and provide templates for documenting the specific credentials in the pathway and their labor market value.
  • Document specific mechanisms for addressing nonacademic barriers. States should use their planning process to create an inventory of support services available to WIOA program participants.
  • More explicitly align financial aid strategies with workforce development goals. States should address how states’ need-based and short-term or noncredit financial aid programs can support WIOA goals when outlining their plan strategies.
  • Diversify employer engagement and invest in intermediary capacities. States should use their WIOA planning process to specify who will be responsible to support intermediary capacity-building and how short- and long-term progress will be assessed.

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Leigh, Elaine W., Jeremy Wright-Kim, Laura Rodriguez Lora, and Gopal Trital, How States Align Postsecondary and Workforce Strategies: Examples and Trends from WIOA Plans. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 2026. https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RRA4766-2.html.
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This research was funded by the Strada Education Foundation and conducted by RAND Education, Employment, and Infrastructure.

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