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Our Coalition’s Impact
Unlocking Talent Pipelines. Driving Economic Mobility at Scale.
SkillUp delivers an undeniable 499:1 ROI for funders by connecting non-degree talent to high-opportunity pathways and driving $18.7 billion in increased wages for over 5 million STARs since 2020.
Our goal is to empower workers seeking better jobs and economic mobility by providing the tools and support to help them change their lives. To do so, we've built a worker-first learning agenda and product experience that meets the needs of the millions of individuals without a college degree who are skilled through alternative routes (STARs).
July 2020 - June 2026
Six Years of Impact in Action
5+ Million
SkillUp workers supported
470,000+
SkillUp profile creators
110,000+
SkillUp users referred to training providers
291,005+
SkillUp users who attained jobs
$18.7B
Additional wages to SkillUp job attainers
19,148+
SkillUp career coaching participants
499:1
Return on Investment (ROI)
+5M
of 10 million STARs with opportunities unlocked
291,005+
of 1 million jobs secured for STARs
+$18.7B
of $50 billion estimated additional wages for STARs
Challenging the Paper Ceiling with Infrastructure
Degree inflation and fragmented training catalogs artificially limit talent pipelines. SkillUp bridges the gap between employers, training providers, and non-degree talent by building the infrastructure that makes skills-first hiring scalable, verifiable, and good for business.
We aim to create opportunities for 10 million STARs and help secure 1 million jobs by 2030. We'll accomplish these goals through:
The 180+ coalition partners who have joined us in our mission
Expanding our current 60+ regions to serve the Top 100 MSAs
A tech-forward, human-centered AI product approach
Quality standards and data that drive training and job placements, wage increases and more
Tareakubore's Story
The Proof: From Artificial Barriers to Sustainable Mobility
Before discovering SkillUp, Tareakubore struggled to find a career path that allowed her to grow. Working as a customer service representative at Home Depot, she lacked the specific technical experience and job-seeking knowledge required to break into high-growth industries.
Through SkillUp’s curated navigation tools, Tareakubore accessed free skill-building programs, resume writing support, cover letter guidance, and targeted career direction. This comprehensive support gave her the confidence and community needed to successfully transition into the tech industry. The impact didn't stop with her: Tareakubore connected her brother to SkillUp, leading him to enroll in and graduate from a program at Opportunity College. Her journey proves how investing in one STAR creates a ripple effect that expands economic mobility across entire families and communities.
See Our Latest Research & Innovation
Report
Integrating AI into Career Navigation Services SkillUp’s Journey and Lessons Learned
Article
Skilled Trades, Community Value and Building Purpose-Filled Careers
Article
How SkillUp and Our Partners Are Helping San Antonio Adults Return to College
Industry News & Thought Leadership
We don't operate in a vacuum. We serve as the connective tissue across the workforce ecosystem, sharing data as a public good.
Keep a PULSE on SkillUp
Keep a pulse on SkillUp and STARs with our monthly newsletter. Subscribe if you’re looking for data, strategies and inspiration culminating in success stories of people transforming their lives and careers.
SkillUp in the News
View the latest SkillUp Coalition partner, industry, and organizational news. As well as workforce and education research articles that SkillUp has written or contributed to.
SkillUp's Learning & Impact Lab
To better support STARs, SkillUp's Learning and Impact Lab turns real time data into practice, reshaping the marketplace and driving systemic change.
A message from SkillUp CEO, Steven Lee
Helping 1 Million STARs Secure High-Opportunity Employment
"The SkillUp Coalition, launched in 2020, is meant to help workers leverage their strengths and define their futures through proactive outreach, personalized career exploration, and training and employer connections.
Every person has unique gifts and deserves the chance to express them, but the college-for-all mentality has made some believe they can't. We aim to break barriers standing in their way and help 1 million STARs secure high-opportunity employment by the end of 2030."
Want to join us in this mission? Partner with us!
Proven Outcomes
Past Impact Reports
SkillUp released its first Impact Report at the organization's 2nd anniversary in 2022 and continues to release on an annual basis.
Partner & Funder FAQs
What is SkillUp’s Return on Investment (ROI) for funders and investors?
SkillUp delivers a 499:1 ROI for funders and investors by comparing the collective estimated wage gains of our users ($18.7 billion+) directly against our operating budget. Unlike standard platforms that only track short-term, one-time job placements, SkillUp’s proprietary Pulse Survey—conducted 3x annually across a panel of over 18,000 members—follows STARs across a 2-year career journey. This longitudinal data provides real-time workforce intelligence, proving not just if strategic investments generate impact, but why they drive sustained economic mobility.
How does SkillUp ensure training programs actually lead to living-wage pathways?
We eliminate deficit-based framing by vetting all offerings against rigorous quality standards. Our training catalog features 8,000+ short-term programs (completable in 12 months or less), with 1,000+ completely free programs and over half priced under $2,500. Using real-time labor market analysis, every listed pathway is curated to ensure low risk, high yield, credential backing, and alignment with living-wage roles across 60+ regional economies.
How does SkillUp help employers tap into non-degree talent to fill critical roles?
Degree inflation and the "paper ceiling" artificially restrict talent pipelines and drive up recruitment friction. SkillUp provides direct access to a pre-vetted pool of over 5 million STARs (Skilled Through Alternative Routes) nationwide. We help employers transition to skills-based hiring practices, giving them the reach and tools needed to fill hard-to-fill roles with qualified, resilient non-degree talent across five high-growth industries.
What types of open positions are featured in the SkillUp jobs catalog?
Our jobs catalog contains over 20,000 quality, open positions refreshed multiple times per week—none of which require a four-year college degree. Every job listing is vetted to ensure it offers living wages and clear opportunities for career growth, helping employers attract high-retention talent ready to advance within their organizations.
How do technology and education partners integrate SkillUp’s curated catalogs?
We provide turnkey API integration solutions that allow partners—such as Willow, OverGrad, JFF/Britebound, and Kuder—to instantly embed our quality-vetted jobs and training catalogs directly into their own career navigation platforms, guidance systems, and community apps. We believe in data as a public good, doing the heavy lifting of curation, vetting, and labor market alignment so our partners don't have to duplicate effort or investment.
How does SkillUp leverage AI to support career navigation for STARs?
SkillUp centers the worker first by embedding agentic AI infrastructure throughout our platform experience rather than relying on generic chatbots. Our multi-agent AI orchestration coordinates personalized career recommendations, intelligent catalog searches, and contextual guidance—answering critical questions regarding training readiness, childcare constraints, and life resources. Supported by an internally built Evaluation Framework with zero external dependencies, our AI interactions are verifiable, transparent, and accountable.
We have also added questions to our pulse survey about AI sentiment for our users to keep a real-time pulse on how they feel.
