A college education can be a critical step toward achieving economic mobility, but there are differences in the benefits that accrue to Black, Hispanic, and White college graduates. At every level of educational attainment, including bachelor’s degrees, White workers are more likely than Black or Hispanic workers with the same qualifications to have better-quality jobs and higher median wages. Although many of the causes of racial wage and income gaps are large, structural issues, connecting workers to jobs with wages that match their skills and experiences may help start to close those gaps.

Career preparation programs, particularly those that combine work experience, professional coaching, and social-capital-development efforts (including help building career networks), can help college students to secure good jobs that match their salary expectations and fully com­pensate them for their skills and experiences.

Management Leadership for Tomorrow (MLT) is a nonprofit organization with a mission to pro­vide career services and access to networks that traditionally have been unavailable to Black students and Hispanic students. In 2022, MLT launched the Turn Pro program to expand the organization’s offerings and reach more students. Turn Pro partners with three colleges to help recruit juniors and seniors in college. Turn Pro offers these students personalized and professional career coaching, access to group webinars on a variety of career service topics, help building networking skills, and connections to employers for internships and jobs at no cost.

MDRC is conducting a study of the Turn Pro program to evaluate its effects on students’ out­comes over time. This report focuses on implementation findings based on an initial round of interviews with students and staff members, observations of the program, program participation data, and student surveys.

Key Findings

• The college partnerships were helpful in reaching prospective Turn Pro students.
   
• Students highlighted one-on-one career coaching as the most common reason they applied to Turn Pro as well as the most valuable service they received.
   
• Students reported having strong relationships with their coaches and that their coaches encouraged them to continue engaging in coaching sessions.
   
•  Students’ circumstances, goals, and proximity to graduation influenced their level of engage­ment in Turn Pro services. However, participation rates in coaching sessions were higher than any other service.

Turn Pro services continue up to six months after a student graduates. However, the data and findings for this report focus on students several months before their expected graduation date. Future reports will include comprehensive implementation analysis findings including Turn Pro’s effectiveness at helping students find high-quality, high-wage jobs.