The Agile Community College: Dynamic Labor Market Alignment in an AI-Driven Economy

Authors: Joseph B. Fuller, Kerry McKittrick, Amanda Holloway, Nathania Silalahi, Chris Mullin, and Mikhaila Sung

Join the webinar on Thursday, August 27th from 1-2pm ET

Click Here to Register

View Full Report

Executive Summary

Data Framework

Community colleges are being asked to prepare learners for a labor market changing faster than the systems designed to respond to it. As generative AI reshapes work and skill demands, traditional approaches to workforce development are no longer sufficient. The Agile Community College presents a new model for how community colleges can continuously adapt to changing workforce and learner needs through better use of data, technology, and institutional decision-making.

A New Model for Workforce Development

The playbook introduces two foundational concepts for workforce development in an AI-driven economy:

• Dynamic Labor Market Alignment is the goal: continuously meeting evolving workforce and learner needs by promoting access to quality jobs, skills for long-term career mobility, and supporting inclusive regional economic growth.

• Institutional Agility is the capability: building the systems, processes, and structures needed to detect, interpret, and respond to labor market change while maintaining quality and mission.

  
  

Building Data & Technology Capacity

Strategic use of data and technology can help operationalize these concepts. The report introduces two complementary frameworks:

• A practical data framework identifies the core labor market and student outcomes data colleges should use to inform workforce decisions, including employment trends, skills, AI exposure, student outcomes, and return on investment.

• A technology framework helps colleges assess technologies that strengthen institutional capacity across teaching and learning, student support, career navigation, work-based learning, and employer partnerships.

  
  

Four Recurring Institutional Decisions

The report applies these concepts and frameworks to four recurring institutional decisions:

• Program Portfolio: How should colleges decide which programs to launch, expand, redesign, or sunset?

• Curriculum Design: How should programs evolve as occupations, skills, and AI continue to change?

• Career Navigation: How can colleges equip students with better information and guidance about education and career pathways?

• Resource Allocation: How should institutions prioritize investments to maximize workforce and student outcomes?

  
  

An Ecosystem Responsibility

Community colleges cannot build agile systems alone. The report concludes with recommendations for employers and policymakers to strengthen workforce development:

• Employers: Partner with colleges to validate workforce needs, inform program design, and expand work-based learning. 

• Policymakers: Invest in data infrastructure, regional capacity, and policies that enable colleges to adapt to evolving labor market needs.

  
  

About the Research

The playbook is the culmination of a multi-year collaboration between the Project on Workforce at Harvard and Education Design Lab. It draws on in-depth case studies of community colleges, microcredential design sprints, interviews with college leaders, employers, and policymakers, and convenings of more than 100 community college leaders nationwide.