Building Portable Pathways for Post-Secondary Opportunity
At Third Sector, our post-secondary opportunity work keeps coming back to the same challenge: too many learners do what we ask of them and still run into unclear, disconnected pathways to opportunity.
They complete training, earn credentials, and build skills through work and short-term programs. But when it is time to translate that progress into a new job, a higher wage, or the next step in their education, the system does not always meet them halfway.
That gap shows up in how skills and credentials get documented, shared, and understood. It is one reason digital wallets and stronger credential signals are getting more attention. They can help make learning more visible and more portable. But they only work if the broader post-secondary ecosystem supports real movement.
In The Future Is Portable, a report co-authored by Education Strategy Group and Third Sector, we heard from learners, employers, institutions, and other leaders working across education and workforce systems. Their perspectives surfaced several lessons that feel especially relevant to the larger work of strengthening post-secondary pathways.
Clear pathways matter
Post-secondary opportunity is not just about access. It is also about whether people can make sense of the path in front of them. Right now, that is not always the case.
Credentials can mean very different things depending on where they come from. Language shifts across institutions, industries, and regions. Learners are placed in a position to justify and explain credentials they have earned. Employers are then left interpreting signals that are not always consistent.
More options do not solve that problem on their own. Without clarity, choice can actually add friction.
Disconnected systems shift the burden to learners
Most people do not move through education and work in a straight line. They pick up skills in different places over time. Training, work experience, certifications, and additional education all play a role.
Our systems still struggle to reflect that reality.
Records live in different places. Some are easy to verify, while others are not. Instead of creating continuity, the system asks learners to piece everything together each time they take a next step.
Digital wallets can help, but only if they connect across systems. Storing records is not the hard part. Making them usable across institutions, employers, and public systems is where the work really is.
Better signals support better decisions
Degrees still carry weight, but they do not capture everything.
Many people build real, relevant skills outside of traditional degree pathways. When those skills are not clearly reflected in hiring or admissions processes, strong candidates get overlooked.
At the same time, employers are trying to make decisions with incomplete information.
Improving how skills are documented and shared benefits both parties. But it also requires shifts in how those signals are used. Technology alone will not change outcomes if hiring practices stay the same.
Employer alignment is where this either works or breaks down
Credentials only matter if they are recognized.
Institutions and training providers can design strong programs, but if employers do not understand or trust the signal, the value does not carry through. That is where many systems stall.
Employer alignment is not a final step. It is part of the design from the beginning. It shapes which skills get prioritized, how credentials are communicated, and whether they translate into real opportunities.
Promising models are already emerging
There are places where this is starting to come together.
Western Governors University has issued credentials tied to specific competencies and published them in open registries. Indiana’s Achievement Wallet allows jobseekers to share verified records, including OSHA cards and training completions, through a secure link. Alabama’s Talent Triad has helped connect credentials to employer-validated competencies. The Dallas Regional Chamber’s Talent Labs has supported employers in building roles and pathways around skills rather than relying only on degrees.
These efforts show what is possible. They also highlight how inconsistent the landscape still is.
Access to stronger systems often depends on where someone lives or which program they happen to enter.
The goal is movement
This is the bigger point I keep coming back to.
In post-secondary opportunity work, the goal is not simply to create more credentials or digitize more records. It is to help people move. Move between learning and work. Move between institutions and employers. Move into roles with better wages, a stronger fit, and more stability. Move forward without losing momentum every time they cross into a new system.
That is what makes portability so important. When learning can travel with someone in a way others understand and trust, it becomes easier to build on progress rather than start over.
Where the work goes next
Digital wallets are getting more attention, and that attention is well placed. But they are only one piece of a much larger post-secondary opportunity agenda.
The bigger task is building systems that make learning easier to navigate, progress easier to recognize, and opportunity easier to reach. That means clearer credential language, stronger interoperability, better employer alignment, and more intentional pathway design. It also means keeping learners at the center and asking whether the system works from their perspective, not just from the perspective of institutions or platforms.
There is real opportunity here to create post-secondary pathways that are more connected to how people actually learn, work, and advance. But that will take more than better tools. It will take shared effort across education, workforce, and employer systems to ensure learning is not only documented but also recognized in ways that open real doors.
That is the work ahead, and it sits at the heart of post-secondary opportunity.
