HARRISBURG, PA — Demand for work-integrated learning (WIL) continues to outpace supply. Of the 8.2 million learners who sought an internship, only 3.6 million secured one. Many large employers already operate WIL at scale, but small and midsize employers remain far less engaged, even though they employ roughly 46% of the American workforce and are critical to expanding opportunity for learners and building regional talent pipelines.
Today, the Business-Higher Education Forum (BHEF) announces the 12 colleges and universities selected for Expanding High-Quality Work-Integrated Learning: a national initiative funded by Ascendium Education Group, and part of BHEF’s Work-Integrated Learning Innovation Center. Over the next two years, each institution will design and pilot shorter-duration, high-impact WIL models built for small and midsize employers. Together, the cohort aims to reach at least 1,200 learners and engage at least 36 employer partners.
The following institutions were selected through a competitive national review by BHEF and external experts. Each demonstrated a well-designed pilot grounded in employer needs, specific commitments to learner access, and credible plans to sustain the work. Together, they span institution types, regions, sizes, and student populations, forming a national cohort positioned to show which WIL models work best for a range of learners and employers:
- Bowling Green State University (OH)
- Drake University (IA)
- East Stroudsburg University (PA)
- Harrisburg University of Science and Technology (PA)
- Houston City College (TX)
- Miami Dade College (FL)
- Montgomery College (MD)
- San Jacinto College (TX)
- SUNY Polytechnic Institute (NY)
- University of Idaho (ID)
- University of Nebraska at Omaha (NE)
- University of North Texas (TX)
Each institution will receive a sub-grant of up to $65,000 for a grant period running November 2, 2026, through October 31, 2028, to pilot short-term WIL models, including micro-internships and project-based learning, designed to better match the capacity of smaller employers and a wide range of learner circumstances.
Pilots will build toward institution-wide adoption. Institutions will prioritize learners who have had limited access to career-connected experiences, including Pell-eligible, first-generation, working, and rural learners, and will partner with employers of 500 or fewer employees.
With support and one-on-one coaching from the BHEF team, each institution will design its WIL model around BHEF’s Work-Integrated Learning Innovation & Quality Framework. Project teams, including employer partners, will have opportunities for peer learning through regular virtual community-of-practice sessions and two in-person convenings. The outcomes and findings from the 12 pilots will provide important information on the elements and conditions necessary to right-size WIL for institutions, learners, and employers broadly.
“Small and midsize employers need early-career talent as much as any organization, but most work-integrated learning models were built around the hiring cycles and staffing capacity of large organizations,” said Kristen D. Fox, CEO of the Business-Higher Education Forum. “These 12 institutions are testing what it takes to right-size high-quality WIL in ways that deliver real value for industry and learners. This design is critical so that more employers can participate and more learners, especially those balancing work and family, can gain the experience employers are looking for.”
Ascendium’s investment reflects a shared commitment to learners from low-income backgrounds, who are often least able to take on unpaid or inflexible work experiences.
“Learners from low-income backgrounds need opportunities to gain career experience that fit alongside their jobs, coursework, and family responsibilities,” said Ashley Parker, program officer at Ascendium. “This initiative will help colleges and employers design those opportunities together and build evidence about what it takes to make them high quality, accessible, and sustainable.”
The initiative extends BHEF’s broader effort to make WIL a standard part of every postsecondary experience. Employers and higher education leaders across BHEF’s national Partner Network of senior executives have identified expanding project-based learning and building WIL models that align with business return on investment as priorities, and both are central to this initiative’s design. The initiative also complements the Institutional Capacity Expansion Lab, which launched in September with six colleges and universities building institution-wide WIL infrastructure. Where the Lab strengthens the systems that support WIL across a campus, Expanding High-Quality WIL tests specific models with the smaller employers that are essential to expanding opportunity.
“What these institutions learn will not stay on their campuses,” Fox added. “BHEF’s network of business and higher education leaders will put this evidence to work, and the tools and case studies that come out of this cohort will help institutions and employers across the country make work-integrated learning the norm rather than the exception.”
BHEF will share the cohort’s lessons through the WIL Innovation Center’s online resource hub, adding practical tools, case studies, and frameworks to existing resources such as the WIL Diagnostic Tool and Defining and Delivering Quality in Work-Integrated Learning. The resulting evidence base, organized by model type, learner population, and employer context, is intended to accelerate adoption well beyond the 12 participating institutions.
About Harrisburg University
Harrisburg University of Science and Technology (HU) is an independent, nonprofit university in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, offering degrees in advanced manufacturing, analytics, biotechnology, cybersecurity, nursing, and other STEM fields. Accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, HU serves a diverse student body through bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral programs that link research with practical application. Learn more at HarrisburgU.edu or stay in the know by following HU on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, X, and YouTube.
About the Business-Higher Education Forum
The Business-Higher Education Forum is a national network connecting pioneering corporate and higher education leaders to identify emerging skills and co-develop inclusive pathways that address talent needs. BHEF empowers and catalyzes collaborations that deliver accelerated, inclusive, and effective solutions across education and work to meet the changing talent needs of learners, workers, and businesses.
About Ascendium
Ascendium Education Group® is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization driven by the belief that learning after high school gives people the power to build better futures. Our national philanthropy focuses on increasing opportunities for learners from low-income backgrounds to achieve upward mobility through postsecondary education and workforce training. We partner with organizations whose objectives align with our core strategies to expand opportunity, support learner success, and connect and align systems. Our grantees include postsecondary education and workforce training providers, intermediaries, researchers, and media organizations from across the U.S. To learn more, visit AscendiumPhilanthropy.org.
Media Contact
Harrisburg University: Have questions about this story? Want to line up an interview? Contact Dan Wilhelm, director of communications, at DWilhelm@HarrisburgU.edu.
Business-Higher Education Forum: For BHEF inquiries, contact Jodi Langellotti, manager of marketing, communications, and events at the Business-Higher Education Forum, at Jodi.Langellotti@BHEF.com.
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