Madison Area Technical College’s Patient Care Pathway Program – Three-Year Impact Report

This report documents the impacts of the Patient Care Pathway Program (PCPP) three years after random assignment. Operated between 2011 and 2014 by Madison Area Technical College in Madison, Wisconsin, PCPP aimed to help low-skilled adults access and complete occupational training in healthcare.

The evaluation found that PCPP:

• Did not increase receipt of a college credential requiring a year or more of training, the confirmatory educational outcome
• Increased enrollment in college occupational training but did not have impacts on other measures of educational progress
• Initially had small impacts on admission to two-year healthcare degree programs, which grew larger over time
• Had no detectable impact on average quarterly earnings in the 12th and 13th quarters, the confirmatory earnings outcome in this report
• Had few detectable impacts on other life outcomes.

PCPP had three key elements:

(1) A structured healthcare training pathway

(2) Contextualized and accelerated basic skills instruction packaged with credit-bearing courses

(3) Advising to help students navigate the program admissions process, academic plans, and academic and non-academic barriers to program completion.

PCPP is one of nine programs being evaluated under the Pathways for Advancing Careers and Education (PACE) project sponsored by the Administration for Children and Families. Future reports will extend the follow-up period further.