Strengthening Louisiana's Education-to-Employment Pipeline - Year 6 Review

Oct 15, 2026

Strengthening Louisiana's Education-to-Employment Pipeline presents Louisiana’s education-to-employment strategy under the Master Plan for Higher Education. It outlines progress toward the 2030 goal of 60% credential attainment for working-age adults, reporting increased participation, attainment gains, and strong graduate outcomes. The review links credential growth to urgent workforce demand, employer needs, and economic benefits, describing policy levers such as revised funding, employer-informed academic planning, work-based learning, career coaching, and affordability to expand talent in priority sectors.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages12

Reading Time30 min

AccessFree to download

Since Launch: The Master Plan Goal and Progress

Attainment Growth and Student Success

Matching Workforce Demand to Credentials

Year 6 Outcomes: Completers, Records, and Economic Benefits

350,000+ Completers Since 2019

80,000 Graduates and Earnings Impacts

The Quest to Meet Talent Demand

High-Demand Fields and Credential Gaps

Policy Actions and Employer Engagement

Strengthening Louisiana's Education-to-Employment Pipeline Since launching our Master Plan for Higher Education, Louisiana Prospers, in 2019, the state’s economic landscape is leaping forward. Game-changing projects from Richland Parish’s massive metadata center to the $5.8 billion Hyundai steel plant in Ascension Parishand the $160 million FUEL project are seeding an industrial boom throughout the state. This frames the next five years of our work. Higher education is called to lead in this pivotal moment, producing the highly skilled workforce necessary to drive Louisiana to unprecedented heights. Through the past six years, Louisiana’s postsecondary education community has united around our Master Plan goal: 60% of workingage adults holding a credential of value by 2030. Together, we have boosted attainment, broadened education and training at all levels, supported student success, and aligned institutions’ offerings with workforce demands. As a result, the latest data show that institutions have raised the state’s attainment level to an all-time high of 52. 5%, growing 3.0% from 2023 and 4. 5% since 2019. This work is urgent. The anticipated workforce demand that informed our 2030 target is needed now. Last year, more than two-thirds of job postings in Louisiana that specified education level required the candidate to hold a degree, diploma, or an industry-based certification (Lightcast) . In fact, at every credential level, the number of qualified working-age residents in our state struggled to keep pace with industry demands. Achieving 60% attainment will close these talent gaps and support our expanding economy. Our vision is clear: educating, innovating, and collaborating at scale to meet this moment. Despite gains in attainment, Louisiana still lacks a sufficiently skilled workforce in almost every priority sector of its economy. We must continue to produce more graduates at all levels with the skills to meet current and future demand. As a result, workforce alignment drives our most important policies — a revised funding formula that rewards institutions producing graduates in high-priority fields, a new academic planning process emphasizing employers’ needs, and a focus on efficient programs that support our highest priorities. These policies, combined with strengthening business engagement, adding work-based learning opportunities, expanding career coaching, and increasing affordability, are critical elements of our ongoing work. We want every Louisianian to find a meaningful career and have the opportunity to build a life right here at home, because this work is about both investing in our people and growing statewide success. Moody’s Investment Services recognizes that reaching 60% attainment in Louisiana drives our economic health, a “credit positive” that will foster “greater economic competitiveness” across the state. Recent economic wins bear this out. Employers have unleashed a flood of new opportunities. Now is the time to capitalize on them. Join us in our work to strengthen our state, meet rapidly expanding workforce needs, and retain our best and brightest. Accelerating meauxmentum and investing in our people’s success: this is Louisiana’s path to prosperity. 2 REGENTS MASTER PLAN YEAR 6 REVIEW 350,000+ COMPLETERS SINCE 2019 Since the 2019 launch of our Master Plan, more than 350,000 adults have graduated – enough graduates to fill three Tiger Stadiums. Our relentless focus on the Louisiana Prospers goal has driven Louisiana’s educational attainment level for 25-to 64-year-olds to its current all-time high of 52.5% in 2025, a full 4.5 percentage points higher than in 2019. This translates to a six-year increase of 350,000 more people holding a credential, enough new graduates to fill LSU's Tiger Stadium three times. A WIN FOR OUR STATE AND OUR PEOPLE This year, a new record of 80,000 graduates earned credentials in Louisiana, just 5,000 annual completers short of our 2

FAQs

What is Louisiana’s Master Plan 2030 goal mentioned in the review?

The review states a goal of 60% of working-age adults holding a credential of value by 2030.

What attainment level has Louisiana reached according to the latest data?

It reports an all-time high of 52.5% attainment, with growth noted from 2023 and since 2019.

How does the document connect credential attainment to economic impact?

It describes stronger graduate earnings and estimates additional state and local income, sales, and property tax revenues from increased credential holders.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Aria Callaghan