Wallace State Community College announces Back on Track Initiative

Partnership with WestEd’s Center for Economic Mobility and NCII to Transform Community College Career Pathways for Working Young Adults

Hanceville, Ala. — Wallace State Community College is excited to announce the launch of Back on Track, an initiative to build pathways from low-wage jobs to family-sustaining careers. Beginning in 2026, WSCC will partner with the National Center for Inquiry and Improvement, WestEd’s Center for Economic Mobility, and a cohort of eight colleges to launch three new pathways designed to meet regional labor market needs while helping young people advance in their careers. By 2029, WSCC will graduate two cohorts of students from the new pathways while building capacity to scale project impact to other programs across the institution.

The project is designed to address the urgent challenge of helping working young adults advance from unstable service sector jobs to living-wage careers.

"This project represents a critical opportunity to reimagine how community colleges can serve young people who are working but trapped in unstable, low-wage employment," said WSCC President Dr. Vicki Karolewics. "By creating stronger bridges between where students are and where they want to be, we can help transform lives and communities."

“I’m very excited to serve as WSCC’s team lead for the Back on Track Initiative,” said Dr. Jim Malone, Dean of Health Sciences. “Through the examination of granular local labor market data and a focus on educational pathways, the project purposefully connects adults with programs that will help advance their current careers, their future career trajectories, and their salaries.”

The new pathways being developed include one with a focus on health science, one for early childhood to elementary education and another that can help advance frontline workers to supervisory positions.

Expected outcomes include improved employment stability for graduates and field-tested models that can be scaled nationally.

For more information about Back on Track at WSCC, contact Dr. Jim Malone at james.malone@wallacestate.edu or 256-352-8309.

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About Wallace State

Wallace State Community College (Ala.), a member of the Alabama Community College System, is a comprehensive community college in north central Alabama offering more than 200 options in academic, health and technical programs of study leading to an associate degree, certificate or transfer, as well as workforce-credit training and adult education. An Achieving the Dream Leader College, nationally recognized by the Aspen Institute as a Rising Star for the 2025 Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence, ranked by Southern Business and Development among the Top 3 institutions in the South for workforce development, named a Center of Excellence by the National League for Nursing and the National Security Administration, rated the Top Online Community College in Alabama, a Military Friendly Institution and an All-Steinway School, Wallace State is an outstanding place for students to pursue their education and career goals. Classes are offered online and on campus, day, evening and on weekends, with numerous start dates each year. Visit Wallace State’s beautiful main campus located on 300-acres in Hanceville, Ala., our satellite location in downtown Oneonta, Ala., find us online at www.wallacestate.edu, or call 256.352.8000.