Job training programs are playing an increasingly vital role in a rapidly changing economy. Workers need to learn new skills to take advantage of emerging opportunities, and employers need qualified job applicants. The stakes are high: the nation’s future competitiveness and the well-being of millions of families depend on the ability of workforce training programs to respond to massive, technology-driven shifts in the nature of work.

Much job training across the country occurs in community and technical colleges. These colleges offer two-year associate’s degrees and shorter-term certificates, and train students for industry-recognized credentials that can open the door to well-paying jobs.

But job training programs are only successful if they teach students the skills that employers need. Achieving that alignment is easier said than done because technologies and job requirements are constantly changing, and it is hard for colleges to engage employers efficiently.

Many colleges have established industry advisory groups that review training curricula.  These groups are useful, but their involvement often involves “rubber stamping” what colleges share with them, rather than actively engaging with colleges to meaningfully inform the development of curricula. Many colleges are seeking better ways to engage employers to ensure that their training programs prepare students for real jobs.

MDRC recently launched a study of a promising model for employer engagement called BILT (Business and Industry Leadership Team), developed by the Center for Occupational Research and Development (CORD). CORD is a national nonprofit organization that has worked with school districts, community colleges and college systems, state departments of education, and workforce development agencies since 1979. Supported by the National Science Foundation for more than a decade, the BILT model has been implemented at more than 150 colleges. It makes businesses coleaders of community college technical programs, giving them greater ownership in a bid to elicit more meaningful engagement from them. The model’s developers believe that the frequency, specificity, and depth of business involvement in a BILT, coupled with an industry-led governance structure, sets the BILT model apart from others. When a college implements the model, CORD’s BILT Academy provides technical assistance to teams of college personnel and employers to foster sustainable partnerships and lead the BILT. Each year, the BILT then analyzes and ranks “KSAs” (for knowledge, skills, and abilities), cross-references them to existing curricula, provides recommendations on how to update those curricula, and discusses current and emerging industry trends.

A recent article in Work Shift describes how Miami-Dade College transformed its AI training programs using the BILT model. Instead of sending a faculty-developed curriculum to an industry advisory group for review, college officials created a list of KSAs needed for a career in AI, and the BILT met to rate the importance of each, looking forward one to three years. Under the model, faculty members then use the rankings—alongside discussion and professional judgment—to review how well existing curricula cover employer‑identified competencies and where updates may be needed.

MDRC’s new study, funded by Ascendium Education Group, will assess how the BILT model is implemented across different college contexts and industries, explore the experiences of employers and colleges that participate in the BILT model, and document how curricula are adapted as a result of the BILT process. The study will further assess whether data are available to measure enrollment patterns, program completion rates, and employment outcomes for BILT-guided programs. Finally, the project will produce a longer-term evaluation plan, including options for a rigorous impact evaluation that would test the model’s effects on outcomes for students, employers, and colleges, if feasible. Three colleges currently implementing BILT have agreed to participate in the study: Central Carolina Community College and Forsyth Technical Community College in North Carolina, and Waubonsee Community College in Illinois.

This study aims to build clear evidence about how the BILT approach operates in practice and what changes it produces in curricula, employer engagement, and student experiences. The results will inform future decisions about whether this model should be expanded or tested more rigorously, and if so, how.