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2025 State Opportunity Index

Measuring state progress in connecting education with opportunity

Two young adults with backpacks, one wearing a plaid shirt smiling and the other in a yellow floral top looking forward.

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A college degree usually delivers on the promise of economic security and mobility. But too many learners invest substantial time and money without achieving strong career and earnings outcomes.

Meanwhile, many employers struggle to find the skilled talent they need to fill high-wage jobs.

The State Opportunity Index offers a framework to help policymakers, higher education system leaders, and institutions strengthen the link between education and opportunity.

How to use the State Opportunity Index

The Index centers on five research-backed keys to improve employment outcomes for learners and employers alike: Clear Outcomes, Quality Coaching, Affordability, Work-Based Learning, and Employer Alignment.
Understanding return on investment
For each state, the State Opportunity Index identifies the percentage of public college graduates likely to experience a positive return on investment within 10 years of completing their degree.
Understanding progress levels
For each of the five focus areas, and for every state and nationally, the Index categorizes progress at one of four levels:
Leading
State is at the forefront and has made the most progress toward creating equitable pathways to opportunity.
Advanced
State has made substantial progress toward creating more equitable pathways to opportunity.
Developing
State is in the early stages of creating more equitable pathways to opportunity.
Foundational
State is just beginning to create more equitable pathways to opportunity.

Clear Outcomes

Anyone considering a postsecondary program deserves a clear understanding of where it may lead, including the kinds of jobs graduates secure and what those jobs pay. While many states still lack robust systems to track and report such outcomes, progress is occurring across the country.

What we measured

The Clear Outcomes framework includes 10 elements that serve as a roadmap for developing the capacity and activating partnerships that will increase the utility of state education-to-employment data systems. State progress on each of these 10 elements is categorized from Foundational to Leading, and the average across all 10 elements provides each state's overall Clear Outcomes rating.

What we found

These ratings are developed through self-reported responses by state agency staff and review of publicly available information. Each state was invited to review, comment, and provide any additional information before the categorizations were finalized.
- With substantial improvement since last year, most states are now Leading (20) or Advanced (17) for Clear Outcomes overall.
- Nationally, states improved in eight of the 10 elements of Clear Outcomes, representing broad-based progress across the country.
- Many states are now actively working to enhance their wage records in order to have more actionable information about employment outcomes. This year’s report includes a third-party validated measure to more accurately compare progress across states.
- Many opportunities for improvement remain, especially in implementation of enhanced wage records, verified data for learning mobility, and dedicated insights capacity
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Quality Coaching

When learners receive timely labor market information, personalized guidance, and support in overcoming obstacles, they are more likely to secure a college-level job and feel satisfied with their early career progress. Yet too few learners have all of these experiences, limiting outcomes for both graduates and the workforce.

What we measured

The Quality Coaching metric is based on more than 56,000 responses from a nationally representative survey of currently enrolled postsecondary students. Students reported whether they received each of the three components of quality coaching.

What we found

No state is currently Leading or Advanced for Quality Coaching for its four-year institutions. In contrast, more than half of the states with available data (15 of 25) are Advanced for Quality Coaching at their two-year institutions.
- Students at four-year institutions are most likely to receive support setting goals (70 percent) and overcoming obstacles (73 percent), while they are least likely to receive timely information about labor market opportunities (21 percent).
- Similarly, students at two-year institutions are most likely to receive support setting goals (74 percent) and overcoming obstacles (74 percent), while they are least likely to receive timely information about labor market opportunities (33 percent)

Affordability

Anyone considering a postsecondary program — whether a high school student, working adult, or someone changing careers — deserves a clear understanding of where it may lead. Prospective students need to see the range of jobs graduates land and what those jobs pay. While that information is unavailable in many states because they don’t yet track occupational outcomes, some state leaders have begun making improvements to their data systems to change that.

What we measured

The Affordability metric is based on three elements:

The number of hours the average state resident student would need to work to cover the annual cost of their education at a public institution in each state.
The number of hours a student from the lowest income group would need to work to cover the annual cost of their education at a public institution in each state.
The percentage of students completing their degree on time.

What we found

Florida is the only state Leading in Affordability of four-year institutions.
In contrast, 35 states are Leading and 10 are Advanced in Affordability of two-year institutions.
On-time completion (a major factor in the cost of a degree) is a challenge in every state. There are only 13 states in which the majority of students at public four-year institutions complete a degree in four years.

Work-Based Learning

Quality work-based learning experiences are instrumental in improving employment outcomes. In particular, paid work-based learning experiences are associated with higher post-completion earnings and increased probability of securing a college-level job. Participation is growing, but uneven, and data tracking participation in work-based learning remains spotty.

What we measured

The Work-Based Learning metric is based on more than 56,000 responses from a nationally representative survey of currently enrolled postsecondary students.

What we found

About 43 percent of seniors at four-year institutions had at least one paid work-based learning experience, including an internship, co-op, practicum/clinical/student teaching, undergraduate research, and/or apprenticeship.
Participation in paid internships among seniors at four-year institutions in 2025 increased to 37 percent nationally, up from 26 percent of graduates from 2020-2023. (Some of this increase may reflect a return to more typical levels after reduced activity during the pandemic.)
At the two-year level nationally, 17 percent of students reported having at least one paid work-based learning experience. (Note that many community college students are likely to already have a job, so many are unable to complete a separate work-based learning experience tied to their postsecondary program of study.)

Employer Alignment

For postsecondary education to consistently deliver economic opportunity, learners must have access to programs that prepare them to secure high-wage, high-demand jobs. Employers also need reliable pipelines of qualified graduates. Employer Alignment remains a major challenge nationwide.

What we measured

The Employer Alignment metric for each state, and the nation, is an average score made up of the percentage of bachelor’s degree holders and associate degree holders employed in jobs that typically require a college degree, and the supply/demand ratio for a key set of high-demand, high-wage entry-level jobs (opportunity jobs) in each state.

What we found

Consistent with 2024, no states are Leading in Employer Alignment overall. Only three states (California, Rhode Island, and Utah) are Advanced. This outcome underscores the high underemployment rates of college graduates in every state, even as employers struggle to fill more high-wage, high-demand entry-level jobs than there are graduates with the skills to take them.
College-level employment rates of early-career graduates are highest in the District of Columbia (72 percent) and Utah (63 percent), as well as in Maryland, Massachusetts, and Washington (62 percent each), reflecting that even in the top states, many early-career graduates struggle to secure a college-level job.
The top states for meeting the demand for talent in opportunity jobs (i.e., selected roles in higher-wage, high-demand occupations) are California, Mississippi, Rhode Island, and Utah.
Compared to last year, many more states are developing an adequate supply of talent in software development, data analytics, and information technology/cybersecurity to fill available openings.
States are most likely to have gaps in finance and accounting (both professionals and support roles), health care technicians and technologists, manufacturing/trades technicians and technologists, and nursing.‍

State-by-state data

As leaders in the education and employment systems work to prepare individuals for success in work and in life, they rely on different presentations of data to help them map their paths.

The State Opportunity Index is presented in three different ways here. “Complete state data” provides one-click access to comprehensive state reports. The “state comparison tool” accommodates high-level comparisons among up to four select states. “Focus areas by state” provides a state-by-state breakdown of progress in five focus areas.

Complete state data

Select a state to download its comprehensive report.

State-by-state data

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State comparison tool

To review state data, pick one to four states and click “view data.”

To review state data, pick one to two states and click “view data.”

Focus areas by state

Choose a focus area to review states’ progress in each one.

States in Action

Across the nation, several states are making notable progress in their efforts to better connect education with economic opportunity. Their paths vary, but these detailed examples provide insights into the commitments different states have made and some tools and resources they use in their work.

Florida

Affordability

Indiana

Work-Based Learning

Kentucky

Employer Alignment

Louisiana

Work-Based Learning

Maryland

Work-Based Learning

Minnesota

Clear Outcomes

Mississippi

Quality Coaching

Montana

Clear Outcomes

Virginia

Employer Alignment

Washington

Affordability

State Opportunity Index Convening: Leading From the States

The symposium featured engaging and interactive sessions showcasing state innovation in bridging the worlds of learning and work, as well as a lively discussion of “what’s next” for advancing the national dialogue around post-college outcomes.

Opening Remarks and Sessions

State Showcase

Virginia and Minnesota

State Showcase

Mississippi and Washington

Town Hall and Closing Remarks

Continue exploring

Learn more about the State Opportunity Index and the approach and methodology used to develop it.

Key findings

State-by-state data

Download report

2025 State Opportunity Index

A college degree usually delivers on the promise of economic security and mobility. But too many learners invest substantial time and money without achieving strong career and earnings outcomes.

How to use the State Opportunity Index

Understanding return on investment