Opportunity Data is independent research on workforce and labor market signals, organized into three avenues.
A.I. exposure across occupations and programs
A three-dimensional scoring of how exposed each occupation and academic program is to A.I.-driven change. Scores are built from O*NET work characteristics and weighted by BLS national employment counts. 772 occupations and 1,786 academic programs are covered, each scored across digital intensity, human interaction shield, and physical anchor. Explore the index.
Post-secondary earnings of actual graduates
Earnings trajectories at 1, 5, and 10 years after graduation, drawn from the U.S. Census Bureau's Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes. PSEO is administrative wage data sourced from state unemployment insurance records, not survey responses; this is what graduates actually earn. 900+ institutions across 33 states, three credential levels (certificates, associate, bachelor's), with full transparency about which programs are too small to report. Browse earnings data.
Workforce Pell, fully tracked
From credential eligibility screening to state implementation. The Workforce Pell Value-Added Earnings Test approximates the federal earnings threshold program by program, using the best available public data. The State Readiness Tracker follows each governor's progress in standing up the approval pipeline ahead of the July 1, 2026 launch. Together they answer the two questions institutions and policymakers are asking right now: which programs will qualify, and when can students enroll?
Who it serves
The audience is broadening. The work was built with prospective students in mind, someone weighing whether a welding certificate or a child development bachelor's will pay off. The same data and structure now serve a wider policy audience:
- Higher education leadership making program-portfolio decisions about what to grow, sunset, or build
- State workforce boards and higher education agencies setting Workforce Pell approval policy and eligible-program lists
- Policymakers shaping accountability frameworks around earnings, A.I. exposure, and credential value
- Researchers and reporters who need program-level evidence without the suppression and selection caveats hidden
Each of these audiences needs the same underlying view: trajectories rather than snapshots, distributions rather than averages, and honest accounting of what the data does and does not show.
What ties it together
Every score, threshold, and earnings figure traces back to public federal data. Every dataset comes with explicit accounting of what is observable and what is suppressed. Every comparison happens at the program or occupation level rather than at a single national average.
Selected Writing
Recent work published in trade press and policy outlets.
- Community colleges are already the AI safe harbor · Community College Daily · May 3, 2026
- The Workforce Pell bar most programs won't clear isn't earnings · Community College Daily · April 7, 2026
About Opportunity Data
Opportunity Data is an independent research project. The work is funded internally and not sponsored by institutions, vendors, or other parties that appear in the data. Federal sources only: U.S. Census Bureau Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes for earnings, BLS Occupational Employment Statistics for wages and employment, O*NET for work characteristics, the BLS-NCES crosswalk for the CIP-SOC mapping, and the College Scorecard for institutional context.
For questions, custom analysis requests, or research collaboration, see the contact section below.