Expanding Career-Connected Learning: Why We Invested in YouScience

Imagine a 16-year-old doodling in class, unsure of her future. She loves to draw but doesn’t know how to channel that passion into a career—until YouScience helps uncover her innate spatial visualization and architectural design aptitudes. A year later, she’s drafting blueprints in a summer program, confidence soaring and potential unleashed. That’s the power of YouScience.

It’s exactly this kind of transformative potential that led ECMC Group’s Education Impact Fund (EIF)—a mission-driven investor focused on education and workforce success—to invest in the company. With our most recent investment in YouScience, we found a partner that fully embodies this mission—a company with an impact-oriented approach and a proven college and career readiness (CCR) platform that empowers students, especially those in underserved communities, to achieve their full potential.

YouScience is a leading CCR platform, serving more than 1 million students across thousands of K–12 and postsecondary schools. Its award-winning Brightpath platform unifies personalized postsecondary pathways, work-based learning and student success. Central to this approach is a research-backed aptitude assessment that helps learners identify their natural abilities, learning styles and broader interests.

By focusing on aptitudes—which are intrinsic to each student—rather than external factors, YouScience equips students to discover well-fitting educational and career paths. With access to more than 200 industry-recognized certifications and structured real-world learning experiences—from virtual career fairs to in-person internships—students can fully immerse themselves in potential career trajectories. Meanwhile, educators leverage the platform’s tools to align classroom learning with authentic workforce needs, expanding access and success for diverse student populations.

There is growing recognition that CCR should be a top priority in K–12 education in the United States. Research shows that robust Career and Technical Education (CTE) fosters higher engagement and reduces dropout rates. Data from the U.S. Department of Education reveals that students who take multiple courses in a single CTE program area graduate at a 96% rate, compared to the national average of 85%. Employers also see its value, with 79% hiring candidates based on their CTE credentials. Coupled with current talent shortages, this has driven major investments in CTE—fueling CCR platforms like YouScience that use tech-driven solutions to guide students toward real-world opportunities.

YouScience’s impact to date has been both broad and deep. The platform has served more than 13,400 schools and organizations nationwide, guiding 4.1 million individuals through aptitude-based college and career planning. Students have completed more than 8 million industry-recognized certifications—an essential bridge between classroom learning and tangible career prospects. YouScience makes these career connections more accessible and transparent for all students. Its effectiveness is evident in concrete outcomes. In one district, early exposure to YouScience in middle school led to a 200% jump in CTE enrollment the following year. Another school discovered strong interest in aviation and used YouScience data to add an aerospace engineering course, tapping into previously unrecognized student talent.

YouScience’s leadership team, including co-founder and CEO Edson Barton and CFO Philip Hardin, is deeply committed to driving meaningful outcomes for all learners. Their steadfast focus on aptitudes and career discovery dovetails with EIF’s mission to uplift students and communities through innovative solutions. We believe collaboration with a forward-looking, impact-driven team is the best way to merge business returns with genuine social benefit. With YouScience primed to reach millions more students, we see a future where every learner can uncover hidden strengths, navigate clear pathways and ultimately thrive in careers that match their true potential.

EIF is proud to support this work, confident that our partnership will accelerate YouScience’s mission and shape brighter outcomes for the next generation.