This brief by Lauren Walizer encourages states to develop a state-defined process for Ability to Benefit (ATB). The ATB provision makes financial aid available to low-income people without a high school diploma or its equivalent (HSD/E). Challenges to implementing ATB are building awareness, educating actors about ATB’s requirements, and supporting proliferation. Policymakers and practitioners should understand these challenges as well as solutions for states and institutions.

This is the third brief in a series called Maximizing the Power of Career Pathways, which focuses on strategies to better define, develop, and promote career pathways. The briefs are informed by CLASP’s July convening co-hosted by the Workforce Collaborative of the Greater Washington Community Foundation that brought together state education and workforce development leaders, national organizations, advocates, funders and federal agency staff to share perspectives on critical areas of career pathway work.

Cover photo: Shutterstock, SFIO CRACHO