WIOA State Plan Common Elements

Indiana’s strategies (as detailed in Section II.c.1 and II.c.2). require the engagement of education and training partners throughout the State. The talent developed by these partners is critical in preparing individuals with the knowledge and skills needed for success in the economy and for fulfilling personal goals. 

Higher Education: Indiana’s Commission for Higher Education (CHE) 2023 Hoosier Opportunities & Possibilities through Education (HOPE) agenda establishes a foundation whereby all Hoosiers have opportunities for access to higher education, employers have access to a better-prepared workforce, and communities will be stronger (https://www.in.gov/che/strategic-plan/reaching-higher-in-a-state-of-change/). The HOPE Agenda targets three key pillars (enrollment, completion, and graduate retention) and calls for Indiana to be a top 10 state in the nation by 2030 in the following areas: 

• Post-high school training and education going rates for youth and adults, across all demographics by leveraging tools such as the Frank O’Bannon Grant, 21st Century Scholars program, the Indiana College Core, FAFSA completions, the Workforce Ready Grant, our low tuition and fees, and our continuous focus on high quality 

• Postsecondary attainment for veterans, individuals with disabilities, and the justice-involved 

• Utilization of credit for prior learning to honor the work, training, and education already achieved by adult learners 

• The rate at which Hoosiers successfully complete their chosen areas of study 

• Retaining talent once someone has graduated from a postsecondary training or education program 

• Measurable distinction in economic and social mobility and prosperity outcomes 

• The state for growing or starting a business based upon the strength of human capital 

CHE has spearheaded efforts to increase transparency around transferable credits. They have led a Credit for Prior Learning Taskforce over the past year to catalogue the credits that various state institutions, both public and private, offer for prior learning experiences and non-credit credentials (such as industry certifications). These efforts will aid the State in the transparency needed to motivate students and jobseekers alike to stack credentials and continue along a career path. Adult learners are more apt to continue along their career paths and to extend their education if they are awarded appropriate credit for industry certifications. Full transparency regarding credit for prior learning will lead to higher educational attainment for Hoosiers. 

Higher education partners are critical to Indiana’s talent development system and are key stakeholders in carrying out the goals and strategies in this Plan. The need to engage with all institutions of higher education – including Indiana’s community college system, training providers, and four-year colleges and universities – stems from the recognition that higher education is no longer episodic for Hoosiers, but rather it is continual. In today’s economy, workers must engage in continual learning to adapt to innovations in every employment sector. The result is a higher learning system where completion is comprehensive – including everything from micro-credentials and short-term certificates to associate, bachelor, and graduate degrees – allowing learners to build, expand, stack, and show what they know throughout their careers. To attain personal and economic success requires Hoosiers to embrace lifelong learning as they navigate and advance in their careers. Higher education remains a powerful force to address income disparities, close equity gaps, provide personal prosperity, drive economic growth, promote civic engagement in our society, and enhance the quality of life in our Indiana communities.  

Career and Technical Education (CTE): Indiana fully launched new secondary career and technical education courses in the 2022-2023 school year. This initiative, called Next Level Programs of Study (NLPS), aims to improve the consistency, quality, and intentionality of CTE instruction across Indiana. The CTE team, now part of CHE, developed the NLPS to align with Indiana’s high wage/high demand sectors and to increase the attainment of dual credits and the conferring of technical certifications which transfer directly into associate degrees. The design, structure, and dollars associated with the NLPS are intended to directly incentivize and monetize schools to enroll more students in CTE courses and to support them through completion so that they can graduate high school with significant credits toward a degree.  

Eligible Training Providers: While Indiana’s institutions of higher education offer a wide-variety of credit-bearing opportunities, the State also offers numerous non-credit options for individuals looking to upskill and/or earn credentials through a different route than college. Rising college costs have led many students and adult jobseekers to pursue alternatives to a four-year degree, but it is important that any alternative still leads to a quality credential that holds currency in the workforce. To promote credentials of value for shorter-term training programs, steps have been taken to ensure that programs on the ETPL lead to an approved credential, including degrees, Registered Apprenticeships, licensures, and industry recognized certifications which appear on Indiana’s Promoted Industry Certification List, a list that is validated by Indiana employers. Training providers can only maintain their presence on the ETPL by meeting performance measures based on one of three criteria: completion, job placement, and median wages. One way Indiana has merged other types of education and training programs is through partnerships between apprenticeships and our community colleges. Ivy Tech Community College (ITCC) partners with registered apprenticeships to provide comparable college credits and confer degrees. Vincennes University works with non-unionized organizations to provide college credits and degrees for their registered apprenticeship programs. Based on the ETPL, our LWDBs spearhead the work and partnerships with local postsecondary trainers and partners to ensure Hoosiers are gaining the skills and knowledge necessary for career advancement. 

Work-Based Learning and Apprenticeship: DWD’s OWBLA is creating alignment of CTE, DOE, and ITCC training programs to U.S. Department of Labor skill standards creating universal alignment and training plans. OWBLA is actively expanding pre-apprenticeship and SEAL workforce solutions with Adult Education and CTE, to provide access to high-growth career pathways. In Indiana, all certified or registered WBL programs are encouraged to collaborate with INTraining/ETPL in demonstrating quality and consistency of comprehensive programs.  

Adult Education: DWD meets regularly with ITCC to discuss adult service delivery including strategies to connect jobseekers into emerging industries. One area of focus involves workforce needs for infrastructure projects. Agency conversations include adult education, CTE, community college partners, as well as agencies receiving funding for infrastructure development. A priority has been ensuring entry level training, such as adult education Integrated Education and Training (IET), becomes credit for prior learning at post-secondary institutions. This is a priority area for CHE as well, and DWD participated in a taskforce to develop policy and procedures for Prior Learning Assessments. To encourage transition to post-secondary after completion of the secondary diploma, DWD is incentivizing adult education providers to have students complete FAFSA applications prior to graduation. 

Other Education and Training Providers: The State’s priorities and strategies for advancing partnerships with other education and training providers include: 

• Ensuring the transferability of learning and certifications where there are gaps among training providers, institutions of higher education, and employers, as well as in career-technical education courses in the K-12 space; and between the K-12 and higher education sectors, particularly for CTE courses. Efforts by CTE to create the Next Level Programs of Study, aligned with community college curriculums at ITCC and Vincennes University, are aimed to increase dual credit attainment by high schoolers in the CTE space. 

• Developing a digital, easily sharable student-owned Learning Employment Record (LER) to track education and career achievements paired with Credential Engine’s credential directory and encouraging widespread use of LERs to help match jobseekers to employers. 

• Continuing to build upon CHE’s work with institutions of higher education to develop a system for recognizing non-credit credentials and other types of prior learning as college credit that can transfer and count towards postsecondary programs. CHE currently leads a Credit for Prior Learning taskforce to assist in these efforts.  

• Redesigning career and employment services offered by training providers to support learners throughout their educational experience and connect them to relevant career opportunities. 

• Using predictive analytics to identify student needs and tailor individualized support to ensure student success. 

• Increasing the number of employers partnering with education and training providers to develop “grow your own” programs for their employees. 

Leveraging Resources: As noted in Section II.c.1, Indiana has developed strategies that the State will implement to support in-demand industry sectors, occupations, and career pathways. These strategies leverage Federal, State, and local investments to enhance access to education and training partner programs.  

Federal investments beyond WIOA, such as the CHIPS and Science Act, Inflation Reduction Act, and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (also known as the Infrastructure Investment Act), are bringing the State’s education and training partners to the table to not only re-examine existing training curriculum but also develop new training based on industry demand, especially in new and emerging sectors like semiconductor technologies. Indiana’s robust partnerships allow for collaboration on leveraging federal investments. For example: 

• Purdue University is the leading university partner for Indiana’s Silicon Crossroads Hub and will leverage relationships with consortium partners to support industry’s increased production of semiconductor technologies.  

• Under the Tech Hub program, education, and training partners – including Purdue University, the University of Notre Dame, Ivy Tech Community College, and Indiana University – are leveraging strengths to drive innovation and production of bioproducts invented domestically.  

• Purdue University is playing a major role in the cross-state Midwest Hub (i.e., MachH2) to accelerate the State’s clean energy efforts around hydrogen.  

• Indiana University’s Indiana Resilience Funding Hub will be leveraged to provide communities across the State with access to federal investment funding for sustainability and climate-change mitigation focused projects.  

State and local investment supported the increased awareness and access to training programs to support key populations in their career journeys. Under the Regional Economic and Acceleration and Development Initiative (READI), communities leveraged existing resources via match funding to secure READI grants from the State to support regional talent development and attraction. The workforce needs varied across the State whether it was Stellantis announcing the expansion of manufacturing operations in Kokomo to build a second battery plant, or Eli Lilly breaking ground to support its manufacturing operations in Lebanon.  

VR continues to facilitate a Transition Advisory Council in close partnership with the Indiana Department of Education (IDOE), DWD, CTE, local schools, and a wide range of other State agencies, advocacy groups and stakeholders. This council serves in an advisory capacity for statewide pre-employment transition services; however, the group also focuses heavily on sharing of resources, information, and best practices on transition from school to work services across partners. Additionally, VR maintains MOUs with IDOE and DWD to support collaboration in serving students.