Advance Vermont seeks state support to expand MyFutureVT and navigator training as postsecondary continuation falls

Tom Chaney, executive director of Advance Vermont, told the House Education Committee on Feb. 7, 2025, that fresh data show Vermont pos;s postsecondary credential attainment has slipped to about 58.9% and that his nonprofit seeks state support to sustain and expand MyFutureVT, a statewide careers-and-training information portal, plus navigator training and a new school-facing "Graduate with a Plan" pilot.

Chaney said MyFutureVT hosts a statewide inventory of post-high-school programs (Advance Vermont pos;s dataset listed roughly 650 credential programs and more than 500 careers linked to Vermont-specific wage and openings data) and that the site aims to present degree and nondegree options side-by-side so students and families can compare pathways and make informed choices.

Advance Vermont described three priorities for a state appropriation: maintain MyFutureVT as a free statewide resource and expand content and functionality; increase outreach and in-school navigator training to reach educators and students (including targeted work in counties with lower attainment); and pilot the Graduate with a Plan program that provides in-service training for teachers, a menu of curriculum options and direct school support timed to priority schools. Chaney said Advance Vermont has received past appropriations of varying sizes (the organization cited prior appropriations including $350,000 in two prior years and $150,000 in another year) but did not provide a single-dollar, current-year appropriation request during testimony.

Chaney emphasized that outreach must be targeted to communities with the lowest continuation and attainment rates. He said Advance Vermont will prioritize schools and communities in which the gap between first-generation and non-first-generation students is widest and described plans to provide multi-year, sustainable supports rather than short-term interventions.

Committee members asked how teachers and schools learn about MyFutureVT. Chaney said the organization attends conferences, tables at career fairs and runs direct in-school programming; he said the Graduate with a Plan initiative, funded in part by congressionally directed spending, would allow more systematic in-service training in prioritized schools.

Chaney framed the problem around three gaps: declining college- and credential-continuation rates for high-school seniors, low rates of internships and workplace exploration in high school, and disproportionate declines among male and first-generation students. He noted the state pos;s 2019 attainment goal (70% of Vermonters holding a credential after high school) and said recent one-week-old data show a small but meaningful decline from prior figures.

Ending: Advance Vermont asked the committee to consider continued or expanded appropriations in the coming budget cycle; the committee did not take a vote on funding during the Feb. 7 hearing.