Princeton-based Educational Testing Service (ETS) announced the beta release of Futurenav Compass, a platform aimed at helping higher education students connect studies with in-demand careers. The platform is designed to provide a clear roadmap to achieve professional goals, leveraging skills assessments, intelligent career navigation and real-time labor market data.
The California State University (CSU) system will be the first to introduce Futurenav Compass. Initial implementations will begin at Los Angeles-area CSU campuses in the Fall of 2025, with a systemwide rollout to follow.
According to Ken Eisner, managing director of Global Higher Education to Workforce at ETS, the platform serves as “the middleware for a student’s education to workforce journey.” It uses an AI engine trained on millions of job transitions to provide a dynamic, accurate view of the job market and connect students directly to relevant jobs and internships.
The CSU system sees the partnership as a way to enhance student success. “Every student will graduate with the opportunity for their first career job and/or a clear path to further study,” Dilcie Perez, the CSU’s systemwide deputy vice chancellor of Academic and Student Affairs said. “This is about moving from graduation goals to career alignment.”
Given that a significant majority of CSU graduates remain in California and close to their alma mater, the localized job and career connections provided by Futurenav Compass are considered a vital component of the partnership. ETS and the CSU will work together to ensure the platform adapts to market needs and delivers measurable results for students, staff, and employers.
