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Tennessee is among a dozen states in a new national effort to help more working adults earn short-term workforce credentials.

The “FutureReady States” initiative is part of the nonprofit Lumina Foundation’s goal for 75% of U.S. workers to hold a college degree or high-quality credential by 2040.

Julie Roberts, chief academic officer for the Tennessee Higher Education Commission, said the state will work with Education Strategy Group alongside Michigan and Virginia. They will share strategies and help adults turn past credits or life experience into “stackable” credentials, which can lead to better jobs.

“We can credential people along the way to wherever they want to go,” Roberts explained. “Whether it’s an associate degree, a bachelor’s degree, graduate education, just thinking through, as they’re making a step, there’s some sort of credential, with the intention that will lead to some sort of growth in wages.”

Roberts said Tennessee’s FutureReady program will collaborate with the departments of Labor and Education and colleges like Austin Peay State University. She added the Tennessee Board of Regents is key to overseeing community and technical colleges, as well as nondegree workforce training.

Roberts encouraged students to get involved through the Tennessee Reconnect and Promise programs, calling them a strong first step toward credentials. She added the state will track workforce training programs and explore funding options to help people pay for the nondegree credentials.

“Department of Labor has money that can help fund training,” Roberts pointed out. “We have money at the Higher Education Commission that funds college. There’s other streams, through Department of Human Services. So, we’re also trying to figure out how we can make all of these things work together to really help folks, if they want to have workforce training, to also have it paid for where we can.”

Kenyatta Lovett, principal at the consulting firm Education Strategy Group, is advising Tennessee, Virginia and Michigan. He said Lumina’s new effort to measure the value of nondegree credentials is a strong opportunity, as each state has ambitious attainment goals and unique strategies to expand access to workforce training.

“More importantly, each of them are wanting to make sure that this is part of their policy framework moving forward, whether it’s Tennessee, in working with their master plan now and trying to figure out what’s the next wave of work for their innovation,” Lovett outlined.

The new initiative aligns with the state’s “Drive to 55” goal, aiming for 55% of working-age adults to hold postsecondary credentials this year.