Delaware lands $1.5M national grant to strengthen career pathways — from middle school to workforce

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Delaware is one of just five jurisdictions nationwide selected to receive a $1.5 million grant aimed at strengthening career pathways and college access for high school students.

The Rodel Foundation, a nonprofit education policy and advocacy organization based in Wilmington, announced the three-year award last month. It comes from the Pathways Impact Fund, a national initiative of nonprofit network StriveTogether.

Paul Herdman, president and CEO of Rodel, said the investment has three set priorities.

“One is to strengthen college and career navigation – helping young people in this time of AI …, help them navigate college and career choices. The second is getting them a leg up on what they’re going to do next. That’s really expanding access to accelerated coursework and expanding work-based learning,” Herdman said.

“Then the third is really to help build a data system so that we can connect what’s happening in school to what happens in the workplace.”

Currently, educators can measure how many students enroll in pathways or earn credentials. What’s harder is determining whether those students ultimately enter high-demand fields.

If a student completes a health care pathway in high school, Herdman asked, do they go on to study health care in college? Do they secure a job in that industry?

“We can’t really connect the dots,” he said. “The work that this grant helps us do is connect those dots.”

This is a national challenge too. A 2023 report by ECMC Group, a nonprofit focused on students’ success, found that while 78% of Generation Z high school students said it’s important to determine a career plan before graduating, only 13% of students born between the late 1990s and early 2010s reported feeling fully ready to make decisions about their future.

In districts like the Seaford School District, efforts to align education with workforce needs are already taking shape.

Nikki Miller, supervisor of instruction overseeing career and technical education for secondary schools in Seaford, said the district has begun reshaping programs to better reflect local and statewide workforce gaps.

“We’ve changed some programs of study to better match,” Miller said. “In our middle school, we just added … a teacher academy that is strategically targeting areas where we know we need students to later become teachers. So minority candidates, Spanish-speaking candidates, males.”

Seaford has also expanded early access to credentialing opportunities. Some seniors are now participating in adult education programs to earn welding certifications and phlebotomy credentials — programs not offered directly in the high school but available nearby.

“We’re able to use grant money to be able to help fund that,” Miller said.

As a Title I district, where the majority of students live in poverty, cost is a major factor in expanding opportunity. Miller said increasing access to dual enrollment — without passing fees onto families — is a top priority.

“One of the big pushes for us is we are trying to get as many dual enrollment opportunities for our students as possible,” she said. “The majority of our students live in poverty, so we don’t want to charge them a fee for that opportunity. We’ve added a hydroponics, dual enrollment course to our agriculture pathway, and that’s something that the grant money is assisting with.”

Miller says they are reviewing Advanced Placement courses that could transition into partnerships with Delaware Technical Community College or Wilmington University, allowing students to earn college credit before graduation, too.

Rodel’s Herdman said Delaware’s strong track record helped it secure the competitive award. About 30,000 students — roughly 75% of Delaware high schoolers — are currently enrolled in one of the state’s 12 career pathways, ranging from fields in agriculture and science, technology engineering and math, or STEM, to health sciences and public service.

“We’re in the top 10 in terms of financial aid or FAFSA completion,” he said, referring to the Free Application for Federal Student Aid. “The reason we were just one of five jurisdictions that received this around the country is because there’s a good track record here of helping young people make these good choices.”

The funding will roll out in phases. During the 2026–27 academic year, Rodel will expand statewide efforts such as Advanced Placement training, data capacity building and postsecondary transition supports. Targeted pilots — including college and career navigator roles and expanded dual enrollment agreements — will take place in select districts and higher education institutions.

By 2027 and 2028, most initiatives are expected to be implemented statewide.

“Pathways are really about helping young people make good choices,” Herdman said. “We don’t want students to transition beyond high school without a strong sense of self and what they want to become.”

For districts like Seaford, the work is already visible — in middle school classrooms cultivating future teachers, in high school seniors driving 15 minutes to earn welding certifications and in students earning college credit before they walk across a graduation stage.

The grant, leaders say, is not just about expanding programs. It’s about ensuring that when students leave high school, they leave with direction — and a path forward.