For community college, CTE, workforce and career educators

The ideal route fits a few students. Everyone else needs a way in too.

Most of your students will not have a 3.8 GPA and a competitive internship. They can still reach the career. PlannedQuest shows them the bar, every real way to it, and a next step they can start this month, and it shows your staff who is moving.

See it in action Book a demo Pilots and custom pilots

13%of two-year college students had an internship in the past 12 months (2023 survey), against 41% of four-year seniors.Strada Education Foundation and UW-Madison, Building Better Internships (2024)
7 in 10qualified applications to California RN programs did not end in an enrollment in 2023-24. People often apply to several programs, so this counts applications, not people.California Board of Registered Nursing, 2023-24 school report
78%of first-year students who left four community colleges said no one helped them choose a major (a survey of 480 former students).Community College Research Center, Why Did They Leave? (2025)

Between “what fits me” and “apply here,” there is a gap.

Most college tools cover the two ends. The middle is where students decide whether to stay.

What students get todayMatch your interestsA quiz points to a field.
The gapWhat is the bar? I’m the 3.4 GPA student, not the 3.8. What do I do after a no?The 3.8 GPA student lands the competitive internship and the program seat. Everyone else is here, where students lose their why, and stop out.
What students get todayApply for jobsPipelines and job boards work for the students who already fit.

Without a route they can see, the first rejection reads as a verdict. Among first-year students who left four community colleges, 32% named a change in career goals as one reason, and 73% said no staff member knew their goals. Community College Research Center, Why Did They Leave? (2025)

The jobs are there: Britebound (formerly American Student Assistance) and the Burning Glass Institute found 1.9 million entry-level openings in a year for jobs that lead somewhere without a degree, yet only about 9% of 18-year-old workers held one. Britebound (formerly American Student Assistance) and the Burning Glass Institute, Launchpad Jobs (2024)

Good tools, each with an edge.

Keep them. Each one helps, and each stops short for most students.

Employer pipelines and partnerships

What it does well Employers connected to your college: a real door for your students.

Where it stops Seats are few and competitive. One Chicago electrical apprenticeship averages more than 1,000 applicants for about 200 spots, and only 13% of two-year college students had an internship in the past 12 months (2023 survey).

IBEW, Chicago local expands opportunities for apprentice applicants (2025)Strada Education Foundation and UW-Madison, Building Better Internships (2024)

Job boards that gather every posting in one place

What it does well One place to search, for the students who already fit what employers post.

Where it stops When the tool goes away, the search skill goes with it. And many jobs at this level are never posted: an older Georgetown estimate found only 30 to 40% of openings for associate degree or some college were online, and earlier surveys find a referral plays a part in about half of all hires.

Georgetown Center on Education and the Workforce, online job postings by education level (2015)Lester, Rivers and Topa, Federal Reserve Banks of Philadelphia and New York, job referrals (2023)

Career quizzes and interest matching

What it does well A starting direction. PlannedQuest has the Holland (RIASEC) interest assessment too.

Where it stops A field is not a plan. It does not say what the bar is, or what to do when the first door closes.

Know the bar, and every way to it.

PlannedQuest shows the honest bar for each career, then the routes real people take to reach it, including the ones that start with a job: 3,860 routes across 1,013 careers, with bridge routes like LPN to RN and helper or trainee jobs first.

Start with a job that builds the hours.

An EMT job pays now and builds patient care hours. Physician assistant programs count them, and some nursing programs give admission points for them.

Where: Library · EMT and paramedic path

Graphic: An EMT job is leverage. Earn now, build patient care hours, and use both toward paramedic, firefighter, LVN or LPN, registered nurse, physician assistant or medical school.

Their work counts toward the next program.

Points-based admission rewards experience. At Santa Ana College, about six months of full-time EMT or nursing assistant work (1,000 hours in the last 3 years) earns the full 20 admission points for experience.

Where: Library · Pre-health role chooser

Graphic: how one California nursing program scores your work. Santa Ana College, Spring 2027 grid: up to 20 points for direct patient care, up to 14 for other health work, proof by a signed HR letter.

A first tech job without the competitive internship.

Proof they can describe from a home lab or a help desk, the one credential postings name, and people skills a hiring manager can see.

Where: Library · IT support path

Graphic: what gets you a first help desk job. Proof you can describe, the credential postings name (often CompTIA A+), and people skills, leading to help desk, desktop support or field tech.

Every real way in, union and non-union.

Four ways into one California electrician certification, each ending in hours on the job and the state exam, so a student turned down by one has three left.

Where: Library · Electrician path

Graphic: four ways in to one California electrician certification: union apprenticeship, non-union apprenticeship, trainee, school first.

California law lets community college nursing programs with more applicants than seats rank them with points, and work or volunteer experience must count (Education Code 78261.5). Mt. San Antonio College nursing multicriteria screening

A credential is a signal when it is the one employers ask for.

There are more than 1.85 million credentials in the United States. Credential Engine, Counting Credentials 2025 Collecting unrelated ones does not pay: a first job-relevant credential carries about a 3.8% wage premium, against 1.8% for one that is not, and stacking irrelevant ones adds nothing. Brookings, The market value of non-degree credentials (2025)

Experience still breaks ties. In NACE’s Job Outlook 2026 survey of 183 employers, an internship with the employer or in its industry was the top tiebreaker between equally qualified candidates. NACE Job Outlook 2026, internship experience often the deciding factor So the routes and guides name the credential postings in a field ask for, and pair it with ways to build experience around it.

Built to keep their why.

Each step comes from the career research on our homepage.

Confidence gets built from finishable steps, not from a pep talk.Albert Bandura
Changing your mind should be an edit, not a restart.Mark Savickas
The barrier belongs in the plan, next to the step it blocks.Lent, Brown and Hackett

The research behind it

Built for the numbers you answer to.

Where it fits in the year, what students and staff get, and the measure it supports.

When	What PlannedQuest gives	The measure it supports
Orientation or intake for a short-term program	The route and the bar before day one, and a saved plan	Workforce Pell completion (70% within 150% of normal time); Perkins 2P1 credentials
After a selective program says no	Other routes into the same career and ways to earn admission points	Perkins 1P1 retention and placement
Noncredit, ESL or adult education to credit	A plan that names the credit or CTE program next	Adult education transition to postsecondary or CTE; the Strong Workforce noncredit workforce milestone
Before and after exit	Caseload, notes and plan reviews, so staff can follow up	Employment in the 2nd quarter after exit (WIOA, Workforce Pell)
Reporting season	Strong Workforce, Perkins, Adult Education (CAEP), WIOA and Workforce Development packs	The planning evidence beside your wage-record outcomes

Employment, wages and credentials come from your college and state records. PlannedQuest supplies the exploration, planning and follow-through evidence that leads to them. Workforce Pell rules: U.S. Department of Education Workforce Pell final rule fact sheet (May 2026), copy hosted by New Mexico HED

Sample staff caseload: every learner's milestones, checklist and last sign-in. — Sample caseload: every learner at a glance.

Sample Strong Workforce reporting statements: students served, career exploration with wage data, plans and programs of study. — Sample Strong Workforce statements, ready to copy.

Start small and see what changes.

A pilot is a real test with real students. We adjust as we learn together.

Pilot

One counselor, instructor or program lead and their students, for a year. Pick Coach for a CTE program or a workforce cohort. Need room for more students? Ask, and we can add seats.

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Organization license

Every counselor, instructor and program lead at your college or program, with funding reports, two training webinars and support through launch.

See license pricing

Custom pilot or demo

A department, a grant-funded cohort, a noncredit program or a whole college? Tell us your students, your timeline and what you need to show, and we will build the pilot around it.

Book a demo

Built by an educator, for the students who are not the top few.

The best platforms bring opportunities to the top students. PlannedQuest does that too, and gives everyone else real, meaningful next steps to stay in the game.

See it in action Book a demo