For more than a decade, Northeastern University’s College of Professional Studies and Year Up United have shared a conviction: that talent is everywhere, but opportunity is not. Their partnership, now 10+ years strong, offers a concrete answer to one of higher education’s most persistent challenges: how do you meet ambitious learners where they are, honor the work they’ve already done, and open a clear path forward?

What Year Up United Does

Year Up United is a national workforce development organization with a singular mission: close the opportunity gap for young adults aged 18 to 29 in cities across the country. The students they serve are often first-generation college students, or young people who, because of systemic barriers, have not had access to professional environments.

The program itself is rigorous by design. Participants commit to a full year of intensive training: six months of Learning and Development (L&D) focused on IT, finance, and business operations (fields that closely mirror CPS’s own professional programming) followed by a six-month paid internship with a corporate partner. In the Boston market, those partners include organizations like State Street, JPMorgan Chase, and Mass Eye and Ear. Students show up five days a week. They build technical skills, professional communication, and the kind of workplace fluency that no one is born knowing.

Year Up United’s model is also accountable in ways that are rare. Students are paid throughout the program, and that compensation is tied directly to performance. Miss a standard, and your paycheck reflects it. It’s a structure that takes students seriously, as professionals in training, not as recipients of charity.

“I’ve seen firsthand what happens when these students are given a real shot,” says Ari Schaff, who worked at Year Up United’s Boston headquarters from 2015-2016 in the Student Services team before joining Northeastern CPS as an Academic Advisor where she works with community partnerships, including Year Up United. “These are not students who need to be convinced they can succeed. They already have.”

Where CPS Comes In: The Credit Pathway

When Year Up United students complete their Learning and Development phase, they’ve earned something real. The question has always been whether higher education would recognize it.

At Northeastern CPS, the answer is yes.

Through Prior Learning Assessment (PLA), Year Up United graduates can receive academic credit for the work they’ve already completed, a minimum of 18 credits from their L&D coursework, with the potential for more depending on additional credentials or community college coursework a student may bring. CPS is one of only two universities in the country with this PLA relationship with Year Up United; Southern New Hampshire University is the other.

That distinction matters. It means Year Up United alumni who want to continue their education at CPS aren’t starting from zero. They’re building on a foundation they’ve already laid.

Since the partnership began more than 100 students have enrolled and this past spring, 20 graduated from Northeastern.

A Pathway, Not Just a Program

What makes this partnership more than a credit transfer agreement is the continuity it creates. Year Up United’s support for students doesn’t end at graduation. Its alumni network stays active through newsletters, ongoing updates, and a community that students describe as genuinely sustaining.

“The alumni network is truly incredible,” Schaff added. “Many of the Year Up United students come back and give back to the program.”

Meanwhile, CPS programs in IT, business, and professional studies are a natural next step for students who trained in exactly those fields.

There’s also a practical reality that the partnership accounts for: many Year Up United alumni don’t move directly from their internship to college enrollment. Life happens. Some students take time to stabilize before they’re ready to continue their education. Year Up United’s student services team takes a holistic view of each student with the understanding that learning doesn’t happen in isolation from the rest of someone’s life. The CPS pathway is designed to be there when students are ready, not just when it’s convenient.

Why This Matters for CPS

Year Up United’s model is built around tracks: IT, finance, business operations. All of which align closely with what CPS does. This isn’t a partnership of convenience. It’s a partnership of shared vocabulary, shared purpose, and a shared belief that the people who go through Year Up United are exactly the kind of motivated, capable, professional learners that CPS was built to serve.

As Year Up United continues to standardize its platform nationally, the credit recognition process will only become more consistent, which means more students at more sites across the country will have a clear pathway to CPS.

The Path Made Real: Year Up United Alumni at May 2026 Commencement

The partnership between Year Up United and CPS isn’t just a policy or a credit agreement. It’s a story that played out on stage at Leader Bank Pavilion last week.

At CPS’s May 2026 commencement ceremonies, and at ceremonies across the University, a number graduates crossed the stage who first walked through the doors of Year Up United. They came in as young adults navigating systemic barriers to professional life. They leave as Northeastern alumni.

Among this year’s graduates:

Randel Azcona, BS Management
Jennifer Chavez Umana, BS Management
Adelajda Bako, BS IT
Michelle Bonilla, BS Digital Media & Comm.

Their graduation is the proof of concept. The pathway works.

What You Can Do

If you know a Year Up United alumnus who is thinking about what comes next, share this. The pathway exists. The credits are recognized. CPS is ready.

For Year Up United alumni and partners interested in learning more about Prior Learning Assessment at CPS, contact Ari Schaaff: [email protected].