By Corey Mohn
Ten years in the past, we made a wager on relationships over replication. As a substitute of franchising a mannequin, we selected to construct an ecosystem—the CAPS Community—grounded within the perception that an entrepreneurial method would create ripples of innovation with exponential scaling energy. We believed that by harnessing the facility of relationships for good, we may assist extra college students uncover who they’re and the place they belong on the planet.
At the moment, with over 1,200 alumni voices captured in our 2025 Alumni Affect Research, we’re seeing these ripples flip into waves. And we consider these waves can and might be surfed by educators all throughout the globe. We’re dedicated to the concept that our objective (offering extra college students in additional locations the time and area for self-discovery) is extra necessary than our model. As such, we would like our learnings to be leveraged by anybody and everybody to make a constructive impression.
The place Discovery Meets Follow
Let’s do some context setting. The CAPS mannequin exists to assist each scholar uncover who they’re—what they like to do, what they’re good at, and the place their strengths could make a significant impression. The CAPS mannequin makes use of profession-based studying because the automobile for this self-discovery, participating college students in genuine, real-world tasks that mirror skilled observe. By working alongside trade and neighborhood companions, college students check their pursuits, develop skilled expertise, and acquire readability about their greatest subsequent steps. CAPS makes studying private, purposeful, and related in a method that makes a distinction past the classroom.
The CAPS Community is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and world neighborhood of educators, colleges, and companions advancing profession-based studying. The Community connects and helps affiliate applications by means of shared studying, skilled growth, and peer collaboration—creating area to trade greatest practices, troubleshoot challenges, and study from each other in actual time. The true energy extends far past studying learn how to implement a pedagogy. As a related neighborhood, the Community accelerates innovation by making a ripple impact—the place publicity to new concepts, fashions, and mindsets sparks collaboration and steady enchancment. Associates mitigate threat by studying from others who’re testing, iterating, and refining in parallel, permitting educators to thoughtfully adapt what matches their neighborhood and transfer ahead with better confidence.
The Outcomes: Extra Than We Hoped For
The Alumni Affect Research information tells an extremely highly effective story on a number of fronts. CAPS alumni are coming into the workforce incomes 50% greater than their nationwide friends. Much more hanging: 17.2% of alumni already earn six figures—a fee 3-4 instances increased than their friends nationally.
However the numbers that matter most aren’t about {dollars}. After we requested alumni to explain their CAPS expertise in a single phrase, one rose above all others: love. Not “helpful.” Not “sensible.” Love. They spoke of loving the liberty to discover, loving the relationships they constructed, and loving how CAPS made them really feel seen and trusted.
The arrogance information validates what they’re feeling. Alumni rated general confidence at 4.84 out of 5 —up from 3.16 earlier than. Their means to conduct skilled conversations jumped from 2.85 to 4.78. To reply positively to errors? From 3.12 to 4.82. These aren’t incremental features. They’re transformational shifts in how younger individuals see themselves and their potential.
Why This Issues Now
We’re releasing this examine at a second when conventional training is going through an existential disaster. By 2030, as much as 70% of expertise utilized in most jobs will change. Youth unemployment sits at 10.8%. And 72% of highschool graduates report feeling unprepared for all times past secondary faculty—75% don’t really feel able to make faculty or profession choices.
In the meantime, CAPS alumni are thriving. Practically 60% are at present enrolled in diploma applications, concentrated within the precise fields going through the best workforce shortages. And they didn’t simply take part in CAPS to construct their resume and test a field—82% would suggest CAPS to a present scholar, 79% would take part once more, and 78% are happy with their expertise.
Make Your Transfer
This information isn’t meant to rejoice one community. It’s meant to unleash a motion. Obtain the complete 2025 Alumni Affect Research at yourcapsnetwork.org/alumni and see what’s attainable once we belief college students to steer their very own studying journey.
To the scholars who dared to stretch past their consolation zones and lead their studying: you’re our motivation. You proved that when given genuine work, actual relationships, and real belief, younger individuals don’t simply meet the usual—they obliterate the stereotypes of what college students can contribute to the world.
To the educators, enterprise leaders, and policymakers studying this: the blueprint is right here. The proof is evident. The query is straightforward: Will you make your transfer?
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Corey Mohn is the President and Govt Director of CAPS Community, empowering highschool college students to fast-forward into their future by means of real-world enterprise tasks and the event {of professional} expertise. Previous to CAPS, Corey served as Director of Statewide Applications for the Kansas Middle for Entrepreneurship.
In July 2015, Corey launched the CAPS Community, a consortium of college applications dedicated to this mannequin of profession-based studying. CAPS Community has grown to incorporate 138 affiliate applications, together with over 200 faculty districts throughout 29 states and 4 nations. In January 2026, CAPS launched a first-of-its-kind community for center faculty educators with assist from BriteboundTM (formally American Pupil Help).
Extra info will be discovered at https://yourcapsnetwork.org
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