To inform investments in employment and training programs, practitioners and policymakers may consider evidence of a program’s impacts along with its cost. But how do they know whether estimates of a program’s cost are credible, and what do those estimates include? While the Pathways to Work Evidence Clearinghouse has long provided cost information on programs, until recently these cost estimates did not undergo a rigorous review. That has now changed.
We are excited to announce the presentation of new cost information on the Pathways to Work website. After releasing new cost standards in our Methods and Standards Protocol in January 2026, we conducted more than 150 reviews of cost studies. All studies on the Pathways to Work website that provide cost estimates have now been reviewed and rated using our new cost standards.
The cost standards are divided into two parts. Threshold standards determine whether a cost study has the characteristics necessary to produce accurate cost information. Cost studies meeting the threshold standards are then rated on quality standards that further assess the rigor, transparency, and ultimately the credibility of cost estimates.
For each program in Pathways to Work, we now provide findings and quality ratings from several types of cost studies whenever available. We then display the following cost information when reported in those studies:
- Cost per program participant – The per-participant cost of implementing a program (e.g., the program cost $3,500 per participant to implement).
- Cost by program outcome – The cost of implementing a program in relation to its impact on a given outcome (e.g., the program cost $1,400 per person who becomes employed as a result of their participation).
- Net benefit of program – Comparison of the cost of implementing a program to the monetary value of the outcomes it has produced (e.g., the net benefit of the program was $135,000).
The ratings we use to classify the cost analysis results are as follows:
- Outstanding quality – This rating is for studies that meet threshold standards and exhibit excellent rigor.
- Good quality – This rating is for cost studies that meet threshold standards and demonstrate a solid level of rigor.
- Acceptable quality – This rating is for cost studies that meet threshold standards but are lacking core quality elements. We consider these to be minimally valid cost estimates.
- Interpret cost findings with caution – This rating indicates that the cost study does not meet threshold standards, and is therefore lacking elements needed to provide accurate cost estimates.
You can find these cost ratings in two sections of each program details page:
- In the Highlights box at the top of each program page, we include the cost per participant (in 2024 dollars) for quick reference; and
- In the Implementation Details section, we include a summary table of cost results and ratings. This section also includes a paragraph that provides further details about the cost estimates.
We hope you find this new cost information to be helpful for decision making. Do you have feedback on these new cost features? Email us to let us know what you think.