Illinois Education and
Career Success Network
Illinois Education and Career Success Network
The Illinois Education and Career Success Network is an ever-growing network of communities in Illinois committed to the goal of ensuring that 60 percent of all adults have a college or career credential by 2025.
The Illinois Education and Career Success Network was launched in 2013 by three network organizers: Advance Illinois, Education Systems Center at Northern Illinois University (EdSystems), and the Illinois Student Assistance Commission (ISAC) to increase post-secondary attainment in Illinois.
Why the Illinois Education and Career Success Network is important:
In Illinois, 8 of 10 employers say they need employees with some post-secondary education.
Currently, only 50 percent of Illinois residents have a high-quality post-secondary college or career credential.
These realities in Illinois have driven communities to look for broader solutions to what are increasingly seen as systemic problems in the education-to-employment continuum.
Network organizers:
Host an annual convening
Provide technical assistance
Share best practices
Connect community efforts to state policy with the intent to reach the 60 by 25 goal
Help network communities develop and scale their efforts through:
Providing mini-grants
Providing a Cradle to Career Dashboard to help communities analyze regional data on education and workforce system characteristics