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Evaluating the Consortium for Bioscience Credentials


Highlights

  • cᶟbc designed and expanded courses, programs and credentials in biosciences courses.
  • cᶟbc developed core skill standards for bioscience technicians.
  • Abt’s team evaluated the outcomes and impacts of cᶟbc.
The Challenge

The U.S. biosciences industry continues to create family-sustaining jobs with average wages that are significantly higher than the overall private sector. Among the critical factors to sustaining growth in the biosciences industry is the availability of education and workforce development programs that can provide the industry with a skilled workforce. The Community College Consortium for Biosciences Credential, a Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training (TAACCCT) grantee, involved 12 community colleges in developing bioscience programs and credentials to prepare adults for employment in the bioscience industry and created core skill standards for biosciences to guide training programs. 

The Approach

The Abt team conducted a third-party evaluation of the Community College Consortium for Bioscience Credentials (cᶟbc), a U.S. Department of Labor of Round 2 TAACCCT grantee, which involved:

  • An impact study of the effects of one college’s redesigned biology and chemistry courses on participants’ course grades and completion;
  • Outcome studies of seven colleges’ redesigned bioscience courses and credentials on students’ credential attainment and employment;  and
  • An implementation study of nine colleges’ cᶟbc grant activities based on site visits, document review, and telephone interviews.
The Results