What Bossier Parish Community College Can Teach Us About Data and Workforce Pell

As states and colleges prepare to implement the new Workforce Pell legislation, one issue rises to the top again and again: data. For the first time, Pell Grants will flow to very short, non-credit programs that articulate to credit (see here for all of the eligibility requirements in the law). But many colleges don’t yet have the infrastructure to track non-credit students alongside their for-credit peers. That gap will make it difficult to report the outcomes required under the new law and to make strong cases for which programs should qualify for Workforce Pell. One college in Louisiana offers an example of how to track students in non-credit and credit programs alike to assess their success.

A Platform Built for Decision-Making

Bossier Parish Community College (BPCC) in Louisiana offers a glimpse of what is possible. Since 2017, BPCC has maintained an in-house web-based tool called BPCC Live Informatics Platform (BLIP). This platform supports dashboards with live data on important measures for the college, such as enrollment, completion, retention, success, persistence, and space utilization. These metrics can be further broken out by semester, campus, and student demographics, even showing how students perform by class. It allows college-wide access to data that Wesley Bange, BPCC’s Chief Information and Technology Officer, and his department hope will drive data-based decision-making and promote accountability.

According to Bange, the “live dashboard shows the baselines from last year, the goals broken down by division, [and] where we’re currently above or below the goals.” The dashboard also includes historic trends from as far back as 2012, offering a long view of enrollment and program performance. It is both a data repository and a decision-making tool used by faculty, department chairs, and leadership.

Tracking Industry-Recognized Certifications

When the Louisiana Community and Technical College System set goals for certifications on its statewide priority list, what began as a grant-reporting exercise for BPCC turned into systemic change.

Instead of keeping industry-recognized credentials separate, BPCC responded by embedding certifications directly into courses, bundling certification exam vouchers into class fees, and requiring students to report their assessment results to complete the class. Those outcomes are then added to the student record. Faculty can upload certification files directly, ensuring the documentation is there if an audit ever comes. This approach makes data more reliable and makes certifications part of the normal course process rather than an extra hurdle. And all of this is easily tracked in BLIP.

One criterion for Workforce Pell eligibility is that the program leads to a recognized, stackable, and portable credential across employers, and many industry-recognized certifications meet that requirement. Having a data system that tracks them will make it easier for the college to show that the program is meeting that goal.

Integrating Non-Credit and Credit Data

Another challenge many colleges face is connecting their for-credit and non-credit data systems. BPCC has integrated non-credit offerings into its for-credit departments and now houses all data in its student information system and in BLIP. It has also standardized data definitions across credit and non-credit, so records connect seamlessly.

In Louisiana, employers must provide specific data points, such as identifying and demographic data, to qualify for customized incumbent worker training subsidies. At BPCC, that employer-reported information is fed into the student information system along with everything else, creating a more complete picture of student participation and outcomes.

This holistic data system will make it much easier for BPCC to implement Workforce Pell. Programs won’t have to scramble to stitch together fragmented records; instead, they can draw directly from an existing database that connects credit and non-credit.

The Problem with Labor Market Data

Wage and employment data, while available, often lags so badly that it misrepresents current realities. As Bange explains, “Ten years ago, Shreveport was like the movie capital of the world…all that data filtered into the Workforce Commission saying actor is a five-star job…[but] six months later it dried up, and it’s still listed as a five-star job.”

This kind of lag undermines the usefulness of labor market data in shaping decisions about which programs are truly leading to good jobs. As states implement Workforce Pell, updating how labor market information is collected and reported will be critical for measuring the value-added outcomes the law requires.

Following the Money

BPCC also uses its BLIP platform to track program finances. Its health index calculates the full cost of a program, including equipment and specialized requirements, but excluding general education. Some programs, like occupational therapy, will always run deficits because they are expensive. The dashboard helps leaders decide where subsidies are necessary and where programs can stand independently.

Lessons for Workforce Pell Implementation

At BPCC, data informs decision-making from the faculty to the president’s office. Building, maintaining, and refining such systems takes time and effort but pays off. As colleges prepare for Workforce Pell, they will need a strong infrastructure to:

• Select eligible programs to submit to the state approval process.
  
• Report on outcomes such as completion rates, certification attainment, and employment.
  
• Refine programs over time to ensure they deliver real value to students and employers.

BPCC shows what is possible when credit and non-credit systems are connected, outcomes are tracked consistently, and leaders commit to making evidence-based decisions. With Workforce Pell on the horizon, it is time to build these data systems.