Education and Training

In today’s economy, education and training are essential for workers, job seekers, and employers. The Heldrich Center leads efforts to design and manage educational initiatives, conduct research on education and training, and develop data-driven solutions that shape local, state, and national policy.

Recent Project Highlights

We worked with the New Jersey Council of County Vocational-Technical Schools to analyze the outcomes of students who complete career programs at county vocational-technical schools. This includes postsecondary enrollment and completion rates, employment outcomes, and quarterly wages. We completed the necessary data linkages and presented initial findings and their implications in a data quality memorandum to the Council.

We also support Middlesex County, New Jersey in evaluating the Robert Wood Johnson Health Workforce Partnership Initiative, a collaboration among RWJBarnabas Health, Middlesex College, and Middlesex County Magnet Schools. This initiative builds healthcare education pathways and expands the local workforce. Our work includes labor market analysis, strategic planning, and stakeholder engagement. We’ve assessed healthcare employment trends, aligned county workforce strategies with economic goals, and helped define credentialing and success metrics.

New Jersey, like many states, faces a shortage of qualified teachers. In response, the state launched an annual teacher workforce reporting initiative. Following our 2023 landscape study, we now conduct ongoing analysis of teacher retention and recruitment, disaggregated by demographic groups. The first annual report was released in March 2024, and the second report is slated for release in October 2025.

From 2012 to 2022, the Heldrich Center provided training and technical support to educators using the New Jersey Career Assistance Navigator (NJ CAN), a free college and career planning tool. We worked with schools to improve the platform, train staff, and integrate it into classrooms to support personalized student planning.

To address the growing challenge of underemployment among college graduates, we collaborated with Rutgers University’s office of career services and School of Arts and Sciences to develop a one-credit, 10-week pilot course focused on labor market insights and skills assessment. Aimed at sophomores, the course helped students identify employer needs and improve job readiness. Its success led to permanent adoption in 7- and 15-week formats for sophomores, juniors, and seniors.

Between 2004 and 2007, in partnership with Verizon New Jersey, we managed Career Connections, an industry-education alliance to help students, parents, and educators understand career options and labor market demands. The project provided up-to-date career information, integrated labor market data into school curricula, and produced career exploration videos featuring real workers.

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