Texas colleges pitch quick credentials as a first step toward higher wages. But students often fall off the path

On paper, Angela Ramirez is taking a path like the one that many Texas policymakers and community college leaders designed to help students like her. With dreams of becoming a nurse, the high school graduate took an eight-week class to earn a nursing aide credential, which helped her land a job at a nursing home in New Braunfels. That job, she thought, would help her enter the health care field while she saved up to pay for her nursing degree. Read more