California Cradle-to-Career Data System

What California Cradle-to-Career Data System does

The California Cradle-to-Career Data System (C2C) is a state government program established under the Cradle-to-Career Data System Act (California Education Code section 10860, et seq.), signed into law by Governor Newsom on July 27, 2021. Housed within the California Government Operations Agency (GovOps), C2C operates as California's first statewide longitudinal data system, securely linking education, workforce, financial aid, social services, and health data across 16 state agencies. The organization serves California students and families, educators and school districts, legislators and policymakers, and researchers through public-facing tools that track education-to-employment pathways over a 10+ year historical horizon.

C2C's core technology is a secure cloud-based longitudinal data infrastructure with encryption at rest, in transit, and in use, integrating validated data from sources including the California Department of Education (covering 400+ school districts), California Community Colleges (116 campuses), California State University (23 campuses), University of California (10 campuses), Employment Development Department, Department of Social Services, Department of Health Care Services, California Student Aid Commission, and ScholarShare Investment Board. The platform supports the Student Pathways Dashboard (interactive visualizations with district, legislative district, and demographic filtering), the Query Builder (CSV/XLSX downloads of aggregated student pathway datasets), Data Insights (partner agency analytics), eTranscript California (electronic transcript exchange for 100+ higher education institutions), and integration with CaliforniaColleges.edu via the California College Guidance Initiative partnership. Governance is provided by a 21-member Governing Board and two 16-member Advisory Boards, with FERPA-aligned privacy and data access controls.

C2C is funded through California's state budget rather than commercial revenue and distributes all tools at no cost as a public service. The organization employs approximately 30 staff led by Executive Director Mary Ann Bates, who was selected by the Governing Board in December 2021. Distribution is primarily digital—through c2c.ca.gov, partner platforms, electronic transcript exchange, and in-person Data Walks across California communities. Documented outcomes include identifying 40,000 community college students with over $20 million in unclaimed CalKIDS scholarship funds through data linkage with the California Student Aid Commission and ScholarShare Investment Board.

Name

California Cradle-to-Career Data System

Legal name

California Cradle-to-Career Data System

Website

https://c2c.ca.gov

Company type

Private

Founded year

2021

Operating status

Operating

Short description

The California Cradle-to-Career Data System (C2C) is a California state government program linking education, workforce, financial aid, and social services data across 16 state agencies. It serves students, families, educators, and policymakers through dashboards, query tools, and data insights tracking education-to-employment pathways.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Sacramento

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Public Government Service: C2C is a free government data system funded through California state budget appropriations. It provides public-facing tools including dashboards, query builders, and research request processes at no cost to users. Revenue model is government-funded public service rather than commercial.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels10 records

Core offering

C2C operates a statewide longitudinal data system that links education, workforce, and social service records from 16 California state agencies to deliver public-facing data tools. Its core offerings include the Student Pathways Dashboard, the Query Builder for downloadable aggregated datasets, Data Insights analytics for partner agencies, eTranscript California for statewide transcript exchange, and CaliforniaColleges.edu college planning tools.

Product overview

The California Cradle-to-Career Data System (C2C) is a statewide longitudinal data system providing a suite of public-facing data tools. The core product portfolio consists of: the Student Pathways Dashboard (Data Story) for interactive education-to-workforce visualization; the Query Builder for downloading aggregated datasets; Data Insights for partner agency analytics; and integrated tools including eTranscript California for transcript exchange, CaliforniaColleges.edu for college planning, Data Walks for community engagement, and Community Conversations for public outreach. C2C links data from 16 state agencies and educational institutions spanning early learning through workforce outcomes.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Student Pathways Dashboard: Data dashboard showing student transitions from California public high schools to colleges and into the workforce.
• Query Builder
• eTranscript California
• Data Walks
• California Career Passport

Products and services

• Student Pathways Dashboard (Data Story) Interactive visualization dashboard that uses linked C2C data to show student transitions from California public high schools into postsecondary education and the workforce, with filters by district, legislative district, and student population demographics. Available free to all Californians via the c2c.ca.gov website.
• Query Builder: Student Pathways Dataset Data download tool that lets medium-to-advanced users (researchers, policy analysts, advocates) download aggregated Student Pathways data files in CSV or XLSX format covering six visualizations (pathways, enrollment, award types, degree completion time, working while enrolled, post-graduation wages) along with PDF documentation. Free to use.
• Data Insights

Quantifiable outcome

• Helped identify 40,000 community college students with unclaimed CalKIDS scholarships totaling over $20 million
• +3 more outcomes

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration4 records

Feature5 records

Partnerships

18 partnerships are on record, tiered core and supporting.

• eTranscript California NetworkcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2008C2C leverages eTranscript California, an existing statewide electronic transcript exchange that has facilitated transcript request and delivery since 2008. Over 100 higher education institutions participate including community colleges, CSUs, UCs, and independent institutions.
• California Community Colleges (CCC)coreOthersMajor data provider contributing community college enrollment, completion, transfer, and financial aid data to the C2C P20W analytical dataset.
• California Department of Education (CDE)coreOthersCore data provider supplying K-12 enrollment, assessment, graduation, and early learning data to the C2C system.
• California State University (CSU)coreOthersData partner providing university enrollment, graduation, and student outcome data to C2C.
• University of California (UC)coreOthersData partner contributing UC system enrollment, graduation, and student outcome data.
• California Student Aid Commission (CSAC)coreOthersData partner supplying Cal Grant financial aid data and supporting the CalKIDS scholarship program integration.
• Employment Development Department (EDD)coreOthersWorkforce data partner providing employment, wage, and industry occupation data for C2C's workforce outcomes tracking.
• California Workforce Development Board (CWDB)coreOthers2025 expansion partner bringing workforce training participant data to enrich the P20W dataset.
• ScholarShare Investment Board (SIB)coreOthersPartner managing CalKIDS scholarship accounts, integrated with C2C to identify students with unclaimed scholarship money.
• Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CTC)supportingOthersData provider contributing teacher credentialing data including program enrollment, credential types, and teacher preparation information.
• Department of Developmental Services (DDS)supportingOthersSocial services data partner providing developmental disability services data for longitudinal outcomes tracking.
• California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS)supportingOthersHealth care data partner supplying Medi-Cal enrollment and health services data for integrated outcome analysis.
• Department of Social Services (DSS)supportingOthersSocial services data partner providing CalFresh and CalWORKs program data for comprehensive student and family outcome tracking.
• Employment Training Panel (ETP)supportingOthers2025 expansion partner providing workforce training panel data to enrich understanding of non-linear career paths.
• Department of Industrial Relations (DIR)supportingOthersLabor relations data partner contributing apprenticeship program and workplace data to workforce outcomes dataset.
• Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education (BPPE)supportingOthersData partner covering private postsecondary institution enrollment and award data.
• Independent Institutions of Higher EducationsupportingOthersPrivate college and university data partners contributing enrollment, graduation, and financial aid data.
• California College Guidance Initiative (CCGI)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerC2C partners with CCGI to power CaliforniaColleges.edu, the State's official college and career planning platform. CCGI tools are powered by student transcript data and help streamline admissions, placement, guidance, and financial aid.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves10 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• National Student Clearinghouse: National nonprofit that collects and reports on student enrollment, persistence, and completion data across U.S. higher education institutions. Highly comparable to C2C as a longitudinal education data infrastructure provider, though operating at national scope rather than a single state.
• WestEd: Nonprofit education research organization that originally facilitated the C2C blueprint design with 200+ stakeholders across 15 California state agencies. Operates similar P20W research and evaluation work and shares C2C's education equity mission and mixed methods/data approach.
• California College Guidance Initiative (CCGI): California-based nonprofit that operates CaliforniaColleges.edu, C2C's core distribution and consumer-facing college planning platform. Direct strategic partner with deep product and data integration to C2C and a highly comparable student-success data mission.

Emerging players

• Education Analytics, Inc. Nonprofit education data and analytics organization that works with state and district longitudinal data systems to produce actionable insights for educators and policymakers. Closely comparable in mission and analytical capabilities, though typically engaged as an external partner rather than as the system operator.
• uAspire: National nonprofit focused on college affordability and financial aid advising, with strong overlap to C2C's student-facing financial aid tools and CalKIDS scholarship identification outcomes. Comparable mission and population served.
• Niche.com: Education and career data platform providing college and career search, comparison, and planning tools to students and families. Comparable end-user experience to CaliforniaColleges.edu, though commercially operated and not anchored in state longitudinal data.

Broad incumbents

• PowerSchool: Major K-12 student information systems and analytics vendor with broad national footprint. Comparable in serving schools with longitudinal student data, dashboards, and college/career planning (Naviance), though as a commercial vendor rather than a public data system.
• College Board: National nonprofit administering SAT, AP, and college planning tools used across California. Overlaps with C2C's college planning and equity missions and operates adjacent longitudinal data on college-going outcomes, though at much larger scale and broader scope.

Others

• RAND Corporation: Major policy research organization that conducts education and workforce research for California and other states, often using state longitudinal data. Comparable in research output and policy translation, though as a research producer rather than a data system operator.
• Mathematica: Policy research and data analytics firm that evaluates education and workforce programs for state and federal clients. Comparable in delivering longitudinal program impact evaluations (akin to C2C's Data Insights service) but as an external consultancy rather than the underlying state system.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/@CA-Cradle-to-Career
• Facebookfacebook.com/CaliforniaC2C
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/ca-cradle-to-career

Compliance5 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about California Cradle-to-Career Data System