Preparing Students for College and Careers: Recommendations for Scaling College and Career Pathways in Southwestern Illinois

Authors

Laura Monteagudo

Files

Description

Education Systems Center (EdSystems) at Northern Illinois University provided strategic counsel and support to Southwestern Illinois College (SWIC) for a 12-month period to develop comprehensive college and career pathways. Our support included the development of a unified, regionwide college and career pathway system aligned with Illinois’ College and Career Pathway Endorsement framework, Perkins V, and the State of Illinois Model Programs of Study Guides.

Instead of each district building pathways independently, this regional approach brings together high schools, community college faculty, and local employers to create shared structures that reflect real workforce needs and rural access challenges.

In this report, we outline our process and uplift key recommendations.

Publication Date

12-18-2025

Publisher

Northern Illinois University

Keywords

college, career, pathway, career and technical education, CTE, dual credit, early college, dual enrollment, career-focused coursework, career-connected learning

Disciplines

Curriculum and Instruction | Education | Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research | Education Policy | Higher Education | Secondary Education | Vocational Education

Recommended Citation

Monteagudo, Laura, "Preparing Students for College and Careers: Recommendations for Scaling College and Career Pathways in Southwestern Illinois" (2025). Reports, Analyses, and other Publications. 41.
https://huskiecommons.lib.niu.edu/ctredsystems-reportspubs/41

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License.

Department

Other

Sponsorship

Southwestern Illinois Community College through Taking Back the Trades!, a grant of the Illinois Community College Board