Cradle-to-Career System

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  • “What makes this system so vital to closing equity gaps - particularly those exacerbated by COVID-19 - is its cutting-edge operational tools that directly empower students and families."

    Samantha Tran - Senior Managing Director, Education Policy, Children Now

College Eligibility

Cradle-to-Career System

Gaps Between Systems

Disconnects between California’s K-12, higher education, and workforce systems can create challenges for our students and our state. These challenges may lead students and families to make major college and career decisions without fully understanding their resources and options. College eligibility and course placement information can be lost in the transition between systems, affecting students’ college and career trajectories. When information is disconnected and incomplete, it could reduce the ability of policymakers to address persistent issues.

CCGI works with individual K-12 districts and higher education systems to address these disconnects for students, families, and educators. Addressing these challenges for all students, however, requires a statewide policy solution.

Icon illustrating the California Cradle-to-Career Data System

Cradle-to-Career System

California’s Cradle-to-Career System brings together early education, K-12, higher education, and social service systems to create better futures for California students. It provides data-informed tools to help students reach their college and career goals and delivers information on education and workforce outcomes that can help shape policy and advance educational equity.

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Data-informed Tools

The Cradle-to-Career System’s publicly-available data-informed tools separate it from those in many other states. With a focus on equity, its college and career planning tools help students and families plan their college and career journeys and navigate the transition from K-12 to higher education. Educators can able to access data to inform key decisions about student admissions, placement, financial aid, supportive services, and student guidance. These tools focus on:

  • College and career planning.
  • College eligibility monitoring tools.
  • Electronic transcripts.
  • Option to share data along with college applications that can qualify students for special programs and supportive services.
  • Data cleaning for K-12 districts.
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Scaling CCGI

Since 2013, CCGI has provided innovative, data-driven college, career, and financial aid planning tools and application tools to California students. Today, we partner with more than 175 K-12 districts that serve one in four California 6th-12th grade students.

CCGI forms the core of the Cradle-to-Career System’s college and career planning tools. It will make CCGI’s tools available to every 6th-12th grade student in the state and leverage eTranscript California to facilitate the transfer of electronic community college transcript information to four-year colleges. By doing so, it would help to create a systemic solution that addresses gaps between K-12 and higher education and ensures that every student in California has access to the tools they need to succeed in college and career.