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As states decide which credentials to fund and scale, earnings data alone can’t distinguish low value from low pay. A program with weak wage outcomes because of low-quality training or misaligned competencies looks the same as one preparing certified nursing assistants, home health aides or early childhood educators: high-quality training for essential work the labor market undervalues.

We’ll share clear criteria for assessing credentials’ value to learners and communities, grounded in more than 100 interviews with certificate earners, employers and college staff. We’ll also discuss what those criteria mean for states, regions and colleges deciding when to:

Focus on stackable pathways
Target financial aid and earn-and-learn models
Redesign or restructure programs
Look to community colleges for delivery

Leaders from California, North Carolina and Colorado will share how their states, regions and colleges are putting these ideas into practice, building the workforce for essential roles without community benefit coming at workers’ expense.

State, regional and college leaders, intermediaries and accreditors will leave with defensible criteria and practical levers for prioritizing credentials based on a fuller definition of value.

Can't attend the webinar? You should still register—all registrants will receive a recording of the webinar and a copy of the presentation slides.

Tuesday, December 8, 2026 | 11am PT / 2pm ET

Low Pay or Low Value? Rethinking Credentials of Value

MODERATOR

Amanda DeLaRosa
Director of Program and Strategy at College Futures Foundation

Amanda DeLaRosa is director of program and strategy at College Futures Foundation, where she leads the foundation’s work to redefine the value of postsecondary education for equitable economic mobility and the foundation's policy portfolio. She brings nearly two decades of experience advancing higher education policy and student success across the philanthropic, public, nonprofit and advocacy sectors. Previously, Amanda served nearly six years as strategy officer for state policy at Lumina Foundation, where she led multi-state efforts to advance the foundation’s state policy agenda, and she has held leadership roles with the Colorado Department of Higher Education, National Conference of State Legislatures, Scholarship America and the University of California Student Association. A first-generation college graduate who relied on Cal Grants and Pell, Amanda holds a master of public administration from the University of Colorado Denver, and a B.A. in politics and sociology from the University of California, Santa Cruz.