Today’s students are working adults, parents, and online learners. Higher education’s career support systems need to catch up.
For most college students today, education is a pathway to economic mobility. According to one survey, 90% of prospective learners say they are pursuing higher education to increase their earnings, and 89% are motivated by the prospect of better job opportunities. Yet access to quality career advising and work experiences like internships and apprenticeships is still limited, especially for adult learners, working students, and those studying online.
A new paper from the Center for Higher Education Policy and Practice (CHEPP), Online by Design: Improving Career Connection for Today’s Learners, explores how postsecondary institutions and policymakers can strengthen the connections between education and the labor market, particularly in online and hybrid environments where many students now study.
The Gap Between Student Goals and Institutional Support
While learners are clear about what they want from college, the systems designed to support them have not kept pace. Just 25% of seniors at four-year institutions report completing a paid internship, and career services often fall short, with only 16% of undergraduates finding them helpful.
These gaps widen among students who are not attending college full-time or in person. One-third of students are adults, more than half take online courses, and two-thirds work while enrolled. These factors make it difficult to access traditional, on-campus supports.
Making Career Strategies Work for All Learners
CHEPP’s paper emphasizes the importance of integrating career connection strategies into all learning formats—online, hybrid, and in-person.
It highlights a continuum of career connection strategies—from curriculum design and career exposure to advising and work-based learning—and examines the structural supports needed to scale them. It also calls attention to the need for transfer-friendly practices, competency-based education, credit for prior learning, and better data systems to track and improve outcomes.
Evidence and Equity in Work-Based Learning
Among the strategies examined in the paper, work-based learning stands out for its positive impact on learner outcomes. Students who participate in these experiences are more likely to be employed and earn more than their peers just one year after graduation. However, access remains inequitable: a study at one community college found that 70% of students had conflicts with paid work as a barrier to participating in internships, underscoring the need for more flexible and compensated options.
Other career connection strategies, such as skills mapping or virtual career exploration, are promising but less studied. The report highlights the need for more research to understand their effectiveness, especially for online and hybrid learners.
Implications for Policy and Practice
As student demographics, job market demands, and digital learning continue to change the landscape of higher education, institutions and policymakers face important decisions about how to support career readiness. The Online by Design series offers a framework for building more intentional, equitable, and workforce-connected pathways for today’s learners.
Read the full report: Online by Design: Improving Career Connection for Today’s Learners