Five Colleges Selected for First-of-its-Kind Effort to Connect Civic Learning to Workforce Readiness

Pilot program developed by Unify America will explore more rigorous, reliable approaches to measure the durable skills employers say new graduates lack

CHICAGO — September 10, 2026 — Unify America, a nonpartisan nonprofit that facilitates intercollegiate civic learning experiences, today announced the launch of a new initiative that aims to strengthen the connection between civic education and workforce readiness. The Durable Skills Pilot program, running from September through December 2026, will equip faculty at colleges and universities with new tools to assess the durable skills—like active listening and working across differences—that play a critical role in helping students succeed after graduation.

The pilot arrives amid mounting concern that graduates leave higher education without the durable skills employers increasingly demand. More than 90% of HR leaders rank communication, curiosity, collaboration, and critical thinking among the traits they most want in new hires—yet only about half of employers rate new graduates as proficient in them. The vast majority (96%) of HR leaders, too, say that they are counting on colleges and universities to take responsibility for teaching these skills to ensure their graduates are prepared for the modern work environment.

"Higher education has always carried a few missions at once: to teach students to think and reason, prepare them for the world of work, and help them become active participants in our democracy,” said Michelle Sobel, president of Unify America. “This pilot starts from a simple idea: The skills that make someone a good citizen are the same skills employers say they value most. We’re giving students an opportunity to practice those skills and a report that shows exactly where they used them, why those skills matter, and how they can improve." 

Designed to better assess how civic skills translate to the world of work, the Durable Skills Pilot will include five institutions of various types across the U.S. and reach approximately 500 college students. Institutions were selected for their commitment to promoting civic education and engagement on campus and their innovative workforce readiness practices. The first cohort includes:

• Rose State College (Midwest City, OK)
• Tarrant County College (Tarrant County, TX)
• University of North Dakota (Grand Forks, ND)
• University of Southern Mississippi (Hattiesburg, MS)
• Weber State University (Ogden, UT)

“The habits of a good citizen and the habits of a good colleague overlap far more than people realize,” said Mikelle Barberi-Weil, assistant professor of professional sales at Weber State University. “Patience, curiosity, the willingness to stay in a hard conversation—these are the skills employers are looking for, and through this pilot with Unify America, we’re finding reliable ways to measure them.”

Students participating in the pilot will be matched with peers from different institutions, backgrounds, and worldviews for one-on-one conversations about pressing national issues on Unify America’s platform. Afterward, their discussions will be securely assessed against a new framework that maps 21 durable skills against two widely used rubrics: the AAC&U Civic Engagement VALUE Rubric and NACE's Career Readiness Competencies. Each student will receive a private, personalized Durable Skills Report showing where they practiced those skills in their conversation and how to strengthen them; faculty will be granted a class-wide overview of how proficiently their students demonstrated those skills. Initial findings from the pilot will be reported in early 2027.

"In my classroom, you’ll find every point of view in America sitting three feet apart from one another. Increasingly, the workplace is the exact same, and it’s essential that early talent can navigate that environment," said Brian Tatum, professor of English at Tarrant County College. "With Unify America, we’re providing a training ground that not only helps students develop the skills that help them succeed in their first job, but proves they’re actually graduating with them."

Since its founding in 2020, Unify America has brought high-quality civic learning experiences to 277 colleges and universities across 46 states, hosting conversations with more than 40,000 learners in its Civic Gym program since fall 2021. To learn more, visit www.unifyamerica.org.