The Shift is Real. And It’s Reshaping Higher Ed.
Higher education is undergoing a structural shift. Traditional degree pathways alone are no longer enough to meet the demands of students, employers, or the economy. Learners today are seeking fast, flexible, skills-based options that align with workforce needs and career advancement.
According to Lumina Foundation and Gallup, nearly two-thirds (64%) of adults without a college degree say certificates are “extremely” or “very” valuable for their careers.¹ In parallel, a 2023 University of Illinois survey of 500 organizational leaders found that 95% see benefits when employees earn microcredentials—nearly half offer raises, promotions, or other incentives.²
Meanwhile, policy momentum is building. In July 2026, the U.S. Department of Education will expand Pell Grant eligibility to include short-term workforce programs.³ This isn’t a trend—it’s a transformation.
The challenge for colleges? Building the infrastructure to meet it.
Continuing Education Isn’t a Side Door. It’s the Front Line.
As workforce needs accelerate and learners demand more targeted outcomes, continuing education (CE) and workforce development (WFD) are stepping into the spotlight. Once seen as auxiliary, these programs are now strategic. They enable access, support regional economies, and help institutions stay relevant in a rapidly changing educational market.
In fact, Gartner’s 2024 CIO Survey found that 41% of higher education technology leaders plan to invest in CE and WFD systems in the next 1–3 years to remain competitive.4
The question is no longer whether CE matters. It’s how institutions will build the infrastructure to deliver and sustain it.
Wake Tech’s Approach: Mission, Scale, and Community Impact
Few institutions have embraced this challenge more completely than Wake Technical Community College. As North Carolina’s largest community college, Wake Tech serves more than 37,000 CE learners annually—many of whom are fee-waived, working adults, or underserved populations seeking a fresh start.
Their CE division includes:
- Public Safety Training for firefighters, law enforcement, and EMS personnel
- Human Resource Development (HRD) courses for unemployed or underemployed individuals
- Customized Training Programs for regional businesses and workforce partners
“We provide educational services to more than 12,000 fee-waivered, unduplicated students per academic year,” said Dr. Karen Holding-Jordan, Dean of Continuing Education.5
“We were in dire need of an innovative ERP system that could not only meet the demands of our fee waiver community but also promote and increase enrollment.”
Dr. Holding-Jordan oversees the operational systems that support student and employer enrollment access to continuing education and workforce development programs. These programs are designed for learners whose lives and livelihoods depend on easy, flexible and barrier-free access.
Infrastructure Matters. Because Scale Without Stability Fails.
While Wake Tech’s vision was clear, their previous systems weren’t built to support the complexity or scale of their mission.
Manual processes. Inconsistent data. Compliance headaches. Lack of employer-facing functionality. These weren’t just inefficiencies—they were roadblocks to impact.
To address this, Wake Tech partnered with Entrinsik to implement Enrole, a CE and workforce platform designed to handle the unique requirements of non-credit programs. Unlike retrofitted SIS add-ons, Enrole integrates directly with Ellucian Colleague via Ethos API, ensuring real-time accuracy without a direct UniData connection.
Key capabilities include:
- Seamless course and section sync with Colleague
- Self-service enrollment via PINs for employer training coordinators
- Fee-waiver verification and custom data capture for compliance
- Integration with Informer 5 for reporting and analytics
- Real-time enrollment sync and registration notifications
- Safeguards for duplicate records and registration conflicts
And perhaps most importantly: Wake Tech went live in just eight weeks.
What it Enabled: Not Just Efficiency—Access at Scale
In the first six months post-launch, Wake Tech processed over 4,000 fee-waived CE registrations through Enrole—paving the way for a 19% year-over-year increase in overall CE enrollment.5
But the numbers only tell part of the story.
Behind every registration is a public safety officer staying certified. An unemployed adult gaining workforce readiness. A training coordinator enrolling 30 employees in industry-specific skills development—without needing to call the registrar.
Wake Tech’s CE division isn’t just keeping up. It’s pushing forward. And doing so without sacrificing accuracy, student experience, or compliance.
“The system verifies fee waiver eligibility, supports PIN-based access for employer coordinators, and integrates seamlessly with Colleague,” said Dr. Holding-Jordan. “It’s helped us ensure compliance while increasing revenue and access.”
Why Federal Policy Makes This Urgent
In July 2026, the U.S. Department of Education will launch the Workforce Pell Grant program, expanding aid eligibility to short-term, high-demand workforce training programs that are 8 to 15 weeks in length.3
This change is a turning point. For institutions, it opens the door to funding streams that were previously unavailable. For learners, especially working adults and underserved populations, it means unprecedented access to education that’s fast, focused, and affordable.
UPCEA emphasizes that the expansion of Workforce Pell is a major step forward in aligning federal aid with modern workforce needs, especially for adult learners and short-term programs.6
Wake Tech is ready. With infrastructure already in place, they’re well-positioned to scale and support even more learners the moment this policy goes live.
The Bigger Picture: What Institutions Can Learn from Wake Tech
There’s a reason Dr. Holding-Jordan wants her peers to take note:
“I would like my colleagues at the other 57 community colleges throughout North Carolina to have a comprehensive understanding of just how much Enrole allowed us to move forward in terms of enhancing enrollment and generating revenue.”
This isn’t about software. It’s about building the right foundation for a mission that’s expanding fast, and about delivering educational access with efficiency, precision, and purpose.
For CE leaders grappling with manual processes, disconnected systems, or under-resourced programs, Wake Tech’s example offers a practical blueprint for change.
Continuing Education Is Rising. Will You Lead?
Wake Tech isn’t an outlier. It’s a signal.
As colleges and universities look to adapt to today’s learners, continuing education will play an increasingly central role. It will be the on-ramp to postsecondary access, the partner to local industry, and the engine of regional workforce readiness.
But it can’t do that on spreadsheets.
Wake Tech’s approach, grounded in community need, enabled by scalable infrastructure, is one that institutions of all sizes can learn from.
Let’s Keep the Conversation Going
Whether you’re scaling an employer partnership initiative, preparing for Workforce Pell expansion, or just starting to modernize CE operations, we’d love to share what we’re learning.
📚 Sources
- Lumina Foundation and Gallup (2024). Adults Strongly Interested in Short-Term Credentials
https://www.ccdaily.com/2024/05/adults-strongly-interested-in-short-term-credentials - University of Illinois (2025). Innovations in Online Graduate Education: The Rise of Microcredentials
https://publish.illinois.edu/online-grad-innovation/innovations-in-online-graduate-education-the-rise-of-microcredentials - America Forward (2025). Effective Implementation of Workforce Pell: America Forward Recommendations
https://www.americaforward.org/effective-implementation-of-workforce-pell-america-forward-recommendations - Gartner (2024). Market Guide for Continuing Education and Workforce Development Solutions, Grace Farrell & Robert Yanckello https://www.gartner.com/en/documents/5765415
- Entrinsik (2025). Powering North Carolina’s Largest CE Program: Wake Tech’s Path to Scalable Enrollment
https://entrinsik.com/enrole/wake-tech-ce-enrollment-enrole/ - UPCEA (2025). Workforce Pell Is Now Law Under the One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB)
https://upcea.edu/workforce-pell-is-now-law-under-the-one-big-beautiful-bill-obbb
