The Center for Advanced Professional Studies (CAPS) Network has been selected for the HundrED Global Collection 2027. The Collection names 100 of the world’s most impactful and scalable K-12 education innovations. HundrED’s global Academy picked CAPS from 846 submissions. This is the third time CAPS has been selected, with previous recognitions in 2023 and 2024. This recognition belongs to the educators, students, and industry partners in every CAPS affiliate program.
Today, HundrED revealed its Global Collection 2027 at the Global Education Forum in Madrid, Spain. CAPS is one of 100 innovations chosen worldwide. All 100 were selected for real impact on learners and for their potential to spread across very different communities.
We want to be clear about one thing: this recognition is possible because of the CAPS affiliate community. HundrED reviewed the CAPS Network. What it saw was the work happening every day across our affiliate programs. Educators reshape their classrooms around real clients. Industry partners open their doors and give their time. Students step up as young professionals.
What Is the HundrED Global Collection?
HundrED is a nonprofit education organization based in Helsinki, Finland, with an active community in more than 100 countries. Each year, its Global Collection identifies 100 impactful and scalable education innovations and helps them spread.
The 2027 selection process was rigorous and included youth reviewers:
- 846 innovations submitted from around the world
- 100 selected (12% of submissions)
- 217 HundrED Academy members from 70 countries reviewed the shortlist, including Junior Academy reviewers ages 13–16
- 3,586 total reviews, weighing evidence of impact, scalability, relevance to current needs, and contribution to human flourishing
The 100 innovations in the Global Collection 2027 come from 45 countries. Together, they reach more than 152 million learners.
Three Selections: 2023, 2024, and Now 2027
CAPS has now been named to the HundrED Global Collection three times:
Global Collection 2023: Announced in October 2022, CAPS was one of just 10 U.S. organizations in the collection. Read the 2023 announcement- Global Collection 2024: CAPS was chosen from more than 3,000 applicants, making it the network’s second Global Collection in a row. Read the 2024 announcement
- Global Collection 2027: CAPS is one of 100 innovations selected from 846 submissions.
Very few innovations are recognized more than once. Each repeat selection means the Academy found the model’s impact and scalability still holding up as the network grows.
At the time of our 2024 selection, the network had 101 affiliates in four countries. Today it includes 139 affiliate programs. Each year CAPS programs serve more than 16,000 students, and more than 70,000 alumni. The first Blue Valley CAPS program launched in 2009 in Overland Park, Kansas, and the CAPS Network formed in 2015. Since then, the model has spread because educators in very different communities made it their own.
Why CAPS Was Selected: Profession-Based Learning in Practice
At the heart of every CAPS program is profession-based learning (Pro-BL). In Pro-BL, students work on real projects for real clients, alongside the professionals and community partners who help design and deliver the experience. In Pro-BL, the client, the problem, and the stakes are real.
HundrED’s Academy reviewers specifically praised:
- Authentic industry projects that connect students with working professionals
- Gains in communication, teamwork, and leadership
- A flexible network model that lets each school adapt CAPS to its own community
- Multi-country expansion as evidence that the model can scale
Flexibility is a big part of what makes CAPS scalable. Affiliates commit to our shared 5 Core Values, not to a rigid replica of one program. That is why CAPS works in a diverse range of communities and learning spaces.
The Impact Behind the Recognition
HundrED looks for evidence, and our affiliates’ students and alumni provide it. The 2025 CAPS Network Alumni Impact Study gathered responses from 1,257 alumni, with a ±2.6% margin of error at the 95% confidence level. It found that:
- CAPS alumni report an average starting salary of $48,475, up to 50% higher than their peers
- More than 75% are employed, and nearly 60% are continuing their education
- 17.2% are already six-figure earners
- Alumni rated their professional confidence 4.84 out of 5, with gains in every professional skill area measured
- Four in five say CAPS built their confidence to take initiative, communicate, and adapt
The word alumni use most often to describe their CAPS experience is “love.”
Human Flourishing: The Theme of the Global Collection 2027
This year, HundrED framed the Global Collection around human flourishing: what education should enable beyond academic achievement alone. That idea is at the heart of CAPS. Students gain access to professional networks and career pathways, build confidence and purpose through self-discovery, and form real relationships with mentors who treat them as colleagues.
A Network Made Stronger Through HundrED
Our HundrED connection has already grown the network. A relationship that began at the 2022 HundrED Innovation Summit led BEADS Tembea Academy in Kenya to join as the CAPS Network’s 100th affiliate, our first program in Kenya.
That is the power of global connection. Every new relationship brings ideas, partnerships, and possibilities that inspire and strengthen programs across the entire CAPS Network.
The Affiliates Behind the Recognition
A Global Collection selection names the CAPS Network, but the work behind it happens in affiliate programs across the network. Instructors, directors, and district leaders build programs around real clients. Industry and community partners bring authentic projects and mentorship to the table. Students rise to meet professional expectations. Their work produced the evidence HundrED reviewed. It shows the model can scale, and it keeps pushing what’s possible in K-12 education.
Affiliates and partners celebrating the news can tag @hundredorg and use #HundrEDGlobalCollection so HundrED can re-share their stories.
Bring CAPS to Your Community
Is your school or district looking for a proven way to tackle student disengagement and connect learning to real careers? Check out these resources for more information or contact us for a conversation
- Explore affiliation: Learn about joining the CAPS Network
- Start with free resources: Visit Experience.Work for profession-based learning guides and tools
- Read the report: Explore all 100 innovations in the HundrED Global Collection 2027
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