Pathways to Careers and Postsecondary (P-CAP)
Expanding Pathways to Careers and Postsecondary for High School StudentsCongratulations 2025 cohort schools
Four high schools have been selected as partner schools for the 2025 Pathways to Careers and Postsecondary (P-CAP) cohort as part of a federal Rural Postsecondary and Economic Development (RPED) grant.
Start a P-CAP Program
P-CAP is designed for disengaged students who need a different kind of academic program to thrive with hands-on, real-world learning, preparing them for future success. CELL is currently working to expand the number of high schools offering P-CAP.
Grant-Funded Support for Rural Schools
Applications for a 2025-2026 planning year and 2026-2027 P-CAP program launch are now closed. Applications will open in March 2026 for rural Indiana high schools to take advantage of CELL's grant funding assistance supporting a planning year in 2026-2027 and P-CAP program launch in August of 2027. To learn more or express interest in the next grant-funded cohort, contact Brooke Marsh.
Technical Assistance for Non-Rural Schools
To learn more about bringing P-CAP to non-rural schools, reach out to Brooke Marsh.
About P-CAP
The Center of Excellence in Leadership of Learning (CELL) is a longstanding leader in partnering with Indiana schools to incubate and expand innovative strategies for strengthening students’ college and career pathways. With initial support from the Indiana Department of Education, CELL is working with schools to develop and launch their own Pathways to Careers and Postsecondary (P-CAP) program. Within the evidence-based P-CAP framework, each school designs their own local P-CAP program based on the assets and needs of their students, school, and community partners. The career pathways available to P-CAP students are determined by school leaders so that they align with students’ career aspirations, local high-wage and high-demand opportunities, and school resources. Many of the P-CAP programs offer multiple pathways to choose from including advanced manufacturing, construction, and healthcare.
Indiana’s P-CAP FRAMEWORK
- Strategy 1: Relationship-centered Learning
The foundation for student support, community building, and family engagement is built upon relationship-centered learning, which leads to higher student engagement in the classroom. - Strategy 2: Integrated Hands-on Curriculum
P-CAP facilitates learning by combining two or more core subjects and delivering them through project-based learning (including workplace learning challenges) offering students hands-on, integrated learning. - Strategy 3: Career Pathways
P-CAP schools strive to provide previously disengaged students with the opportunity to enroll in high school career pathways that are aligned with high-skill, high-wage, and in-demand industry sectors in the local economy. Every P-CAP student’s career pathway experience 1) is aligned with Next Level Programs of Study, 2) offers quality work-based learning, and 3) may result in them earning stackable workforce credentials. - Strategy 4: Postsecondary Pathways
P-CAP also aims to increase the number of students with a postsecondary pathway by working to remove barriers between high school and postsecondary education that are often experienced by educationally disconnected students. Every P-CAP student’s postsecondary pathway experience offers 1) dual credit, 2) the ability to earn stackable credentials, and 3) advising support aimed at supporting the transition to postsecondary. - Strategy 5: High School, Industry, and Postsecondary Collaboration
Local P-CAP programs are supported by a close working collaboration among high school, industry, and postsecondary partners. They work together to build the school’s blended career and postsecondary pathways and connect students to community partners who will help support their future goals and attainment with career-connected project-based learning and quality work-based learning experiences.
CELL-Recognized P-CAP Programs
CELL works with schools to implement a P-CAP program, and these schools become part of CELL's P-CAP Network to continue professional development and collaboration. The following are schools with CELL-recognized P-CAP programs:
P-CAP mentor Schools
The following four schools were P-CAP pilot schools and will serve as mentor schools as part of the program's expansion:
- Lincoln High School
Vincennes Community School Corporation
Vincennes, IN - Logansport High School
Logansport Community School Corporation
Logansport, IN - Perry Central Jr/Sr High School
Perry Central Community Schools
Leopold, IN - Winchester Community High School
Randolph Central School Corporation
Winchester, IN
P-CAP partner Schools
The following schools are working to implement P-CAP programs:
- Angola High School
MSD of Steuben County
Angola, IN - Eastern Greene High School
Eastern Greene Schools
Bloomfield, IN - Frankton Jr/Sr High School
Frankton-Lapel Community Schools
Anderson, IN - Jac-Cen-Del Jr/Sr High School
Jac-Cen-Del Community Schools
Osgood, IN - Madison-Grant Jr/Sr High School
Madison-Grant United School Corporation
Fairmount, IN - Manchester Jr/Sr High School
Manchester Community Schools
North Manchester, IN - North Montgomery High School
North Montgomery Community School Corporation
Crawfordsville, IN - Shelbyville High School
Shelbyville Central Schools
Shelbyville, IN - The Academy at LCSC
Logansport Community School Corporation
Logansport, IN - Union City Jr/Sr High School
Randolph Eastern School Corporation
Union City, IN - Wabash High School
Wabash City Schools
Wabash, IN
History
Pathways to Careers and Postsecondary (P-CAP) was first funded in 2022 through an Explore, Engage, and Experience (3E) grant from the Indiana Department of Education (DOE). Four pilot high schools worked with CELL to implement a P-CAP program: Lincoln High School in Vincennes, Logansport High School, Perry Central Junior-Senior High School, and Winchester High School. In 2024, CELL received two grants - one from the Don Wood Foundation and a Rural Postsecondary & Economic Development (RPED) grant from the U.S. Department of Education - to expand the Pathways to Careers and Postsecondary (P-CAP) programs to serve fifteen additional Indiana high schools.
Roots in the P-TECH Model
The P-CAP framework was informed and inspired by a model of Pathways in Technology Early College High School (P-TECH) that was developed by EducatorEdge, a division of Ulster BOCES in New York. EducatorEdge played a pivotal role in the early days of P-CAP by building the capacity of CELL and the four pilot school partners through training, consulting, and hosting study visits to their P-TECH partner schools including the Hudson Valley Pathways Academy, HFM BOCES, and Ellenville P-TECH High school. The P-CAP team at CELL is grateful for the mentorship and support provided by the EducatorEdge team that made P-CAP possible.
Students - with their needs and limitless potential - were the singular reason the four Indiana pilot schools partnered with CELL to dream, build, and refine P-CAP programs in their communities. After leaders within the P-CAP pilot schools first saw the national P-TECH model in action, they walked away with one thought - “I can name which students in our buildings would thrive from an experience like this.”
The P-CAP framework aligns with existing research on how to effectively bridge the gap between school and career pathways for students who have experienced prior educational disengagement. P-TECH is the foundational model that inspired and informed the adaptation and development of P-CAP to meet the unique context of Indiana. P-CAP is based on Indiana’s student needs and the education-to-workforce ecosystem. Two key differences between P-TECH and P-CAP are that P-CAP 1) is four years, not six, 2) is not early college, and 3) involves more career pathways than just technology.