For today’s young people, a good job after graduation is no sure thing. As of July 2025, the youth unemployment rate in the US was more than double the overall unemployment rate—even as employers struggle to fill critical roles. The disconnect is stark: According to ManpowerGroup, 71% of US employers say they can’t find the talent they need.

The future will bring greater challenges. Transformative technology, including generative AI, isn’t just reshuffling the job market—it’s changing the very nature of work. In the next five years, nearly 40% of job skills will need to evolve, according to research from the World Economic Forum.

For students, that means uncertainty. For employers and educators, it’s a clarion call: The traditional talent pipeline isn’t working.

The stakes? Nothing less than today’s economic health and the long-term prospects of the next generation.

But new research and on-the-ground examples point to a clear way forward: a robust, career-connected learning model that blends academic rigor with practical, real-world preparation. It involves starting early, building partnerships, and prioritizing outcomes that matter.

Educating future-ready students: The power of career-connected learning

High schools track student test scores, graduation rates, and sometimes college enrollment. Beyond those milestones, most lose sight of their students’ journeys. Do their alumni earn a living wage? Are they thriving in their careers? Did their school experience help—or hinder—their ability to launch?

Groundbreaking research conducted by Bain in partnership with a coalition of public school organizations sought to answer these questions by surveying over 2,600 high school graduates aged 23 to 25, 90% of whom are people of color, 70% of whom come from low-income backgrounds. The results are sobering:

• Fewer than half of alumni report earning a living wage or feeling financially stable.
• Four in ten are “career undermatched,” working in jobs that do not require the degree they earned.
• Only about 40% are in a strong early job—one that pays a living wage, offers future advancement, and is in a growing field and at limited risk of automation.
• Just over half of graduates felt their high school meaningfully exposed them to available career paths.

Degrees help—but they don’t guarantee success

On average, those with a bachelor’s degree earn about $55,000 per year, while those with only a high school diploma earn $46,000 per year. But averages mask harsh realities:

• Income, job stability, and well-being vary widely even among those with similar educational backgrounds (see Figure 1).
• Nearly half of bachelor’s degree holders still earn less than a living wage, and the average student debt of those in our sample was $13,000.
• More than one in three Americans who begin a bachelor’s program do not complete their degree. In our research, these respondents fare the worst—often earning less than peers who entered the workforce directly.

The research makes it clear that degrees alone are not destiny. Academic success matters, but it isn’t enough to ensure a strong start.

Figure 1

Career-connected experiences: The game changer

So what does set up graduates for success? The answer is clear: meaningful, career-connected experiences. These opportunities are transformative for students, school districts, and employers.

Key research findings include:

• Alumni who had more career preparation, such as networking experience or dual credit classes, go on to outearn their peers. They are also more likely to land a strong job early—one that can pay a family-sustaining wage and is resilient to automation. They are also more likely to report a positive current and future outlook.
• Certain experiences, such as career-aligned internships, have especially high impact, boosting income approximately 10%.
• Professional certificates, which equip students with targeted skills for specific roles and certify their preparedness, boost annual earnings by $7,000 compared with those with no such training and no degree. These certificates in things like IT support, certified nurse assistant, and electrician provide a meaningful boost to income even for people with associate’s, bachelor’s, or advanced degrees (see Figure 2).
• Students who combined academic achievement with robust career preparation enjoy the strongest outcomes.

Crucially, the positive effects of career-connected learning combined with academic achievement were even greater for students from historically disadvantaged backgrounds. 

The most effective schools find ways to weave a continuous stream of career experiences—career exploration and skills-based courses, résumé workshops, career days, and targeted internships—directly into their academic programs. The more exposure students get, the greater the impact.

Career-connected learning in action 

Forward-looking school districts, in partnership with employers and government leaders, are already weaving real-world career preparation into the fabric of K–12 education. From Washington state to Delaware, and from Texas to California, districts are embracing career-connected learning at scale with the goal of graduating students ready not just for college, but for careers and life.

While there are many ways to infuse career prep into K–12, the gold standard is transforming the high school experience to embrace career-connected learning in a robust, systematic way made possible through partnerships between employers, educators, and governments.

New York City’s FutureReadyNYC program offers a view of what’s possible at scale, but its true lesson is not size, but rather its model of partnership and focus.

With its 1.1 million public school students facing low post-graduation wages, New York launched FutureReadyNYC in 2022 to align education with local economic opportunity. Its core elements include personalized college and career advising for every student; career-connected course sequences in high-growth industries; early college credit and industry credentials aligned with career pathways; paid internships and relevant work experiences; and financial literacy for all.

The program started with 35 schools, quickly expanded to 179, and now serves 75,000 students. Major employers like Google and Northwell Health came to the table early, helping design pathways, offering internships, and ensuring skill building relevant to the real world. Early results include the fact that participants are more than twice as likely to earn early college credit and have earned over $18 million in wages through internships. Importantly, FutureReadyNYC schools have higher-than-average economic need, a factor typically associated with greater absenteeism. Yet these schools report statistically significant improvements in attendance and chronic absenteeism—for the entire school, not just the FutureReady students.

Christopher Grant graduated from University Heights High School, a FutureReadyNYC school, with credentials in a series of software tools and an apprenticeship at Mastercard under his belt. “High school apprenticeship turned my passion for design into a career. Early work experience led to a full-time role—before and during college,” says Grant, who is studying business at Baruch College while continuing to work at Mastercard. “Opportunity and the right support can change everything.”

Now is the moment to lead

As New York’s experience shows, educators, business leaders, and local government leaders can close the career readiness gap and transform how young people prepare for careers when they work together.

Here's how to get started.

Government Leaders

• Prioritize with data: Use labor market data to identify critical sectors and jobs to focus on, and to track progress for ongoing accountability.
• Convene partners: Bring education, business, and philanthropic leaders to the table to build pathways together.
• Fund scale: Establish policies and funding mechanisms that help promising programs and partnerships reach system-wide scale.
• Champion career-connected learning: Make career-connected learning pathways a visible priority and long-term commitment.

Employers

• Map hiring needs: Identify critical roles, today and in the future, and map the skills needed to succeed in them.
• Partner with educators: Develop programs to cultivate those skills in your community; engage with schools to shape curricula and hire students for paid apprenticeships and internships, for example.
• Commit resources: Dedicate resources and empower employees to participate in efforts such as mentoring local students and leading a career-focused workshop.
• Hire for skills: Adjust hiring criteria and processes to prioritize demonstrated skills over traditional credentials.

Educators

• Focus on good jobs: Use regional data to designate a handful of careers that are in demand, aligned with the job market, well paid, and offer room to grow.
• Build pathways: Create career-connected learning pathways that incorporate real-world learning and culminate in an industry-valued credential.
• Provide market-informed advising: Offer all students data-driven career and college advising so that they can make informed choices as they launch into their next chapter.
• Set goals and measure outcomes: Alongside other stakeholders, build mechanisms of accountability that track implementation progress and outcomes, and ensure funding is being allocated productively.

The future belongs to regions that transform high school into a launchpad for life. With stakes this high—economic growth, thriving communities, and young people’s opportunities—waiting is not an option. Programs like FutureReadyNYC show what’s possible when ambition meets action.