The Census Bureau supports continuous learning throughout the employee lifecycle. Employees can access learning and development opportunities designed to build workplace skills, strengthen leadership capability, support career growth, expand technical expertise, and prepare for important career and financial milestones. Programs are available in a variety of formats, including instructor-led training, virtual learning, self-paced courses, coaching, workshops, and specialized development experiences.

The Professional Development Program provides learning opportunities for employees at all career stages. Courses are designed to strengthen interpersonal competencies, enhance workplace effectiveness, and help employees build the knowledge and skills needed to support individual and organizational success.

Whether employees are strengthening skills for their current roles, preparing for greater responsibilities, or aspiring to future leadership opportunities, Professional Development provides learning experiences that support continued growth throughout their careers.

Learning opportunities may include instructor-led courses, webinars, workshops, self-paced learning, and other development experiences designed to meet the evolving needs of the Census Bureau workforce.

The Census Bureau provides competency-based development for supervisors and managers to strengthen the knowledge, skills, and capabilities needed to lead effectively and support the Bureau’s mission. Management development is informed by Census Bureau leadership competencies and applicable federal supervisory and managerial development requirements and guidance established by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM).

The Leaders Lead Program provides competency-based training and development opportunities for Census Bureau supervisors and managers. The program supports continuous leadership development by strengthening the competencies leaders need to effectively lead employees, manage work, achieve organizational results, and support the Census Bureau’s mission.

Leaders Lead is guided by the Census Bureau Leadership Competency Model and incorporates applicable federal supervisory and managerial development requirements and guidance established by OPM, including the Federal Supervisory and Managerial Frameworks and Guidance.

The Census Bureau Leadership Competency Model focuses on five key areas:

• Building Alliances and Collaboration - Strengthening relationships, fostering collaboration, and working effectively across teams and organizational boundaries.
• Organizational Transformation - Developing the ability to navigate change, support organizational improvement, and lead employees through an evolving work environment.
• Leading People - Building the skills needed to engage, develop, motivate, and effectively lead employees and teams.
• Maximizing Performance Results - Strengthening the ability to establish expectations, promote accountability, and help individuals and teams achieve meaningful results.
• Managing Programs and Projects - Developing the skills needed to effectively plan, coordinate, manage, and oversee programs and projects that support organizational priorities.

Through required and elective learning opportunities, Leaders Lead supports supervisors and managers throughout their leadership journey while helping the Census Bureau meet applicable federal supervisory and managerial development requirements. OPM guidance requires initial supervisory training within the first year of appointment and additional training for supervisors and managers at least once every three years.

The Career Resource Center (CRC) provides confidential career development services to help Census Bureau employees make informed decisions about their careers.

Employees can receive assistance with career exploration and planning, Individual Development Plans (IDPs), federal resume development, interviewing strategies, networking, job-search strategies, and navigating the federal hiring process.

The CRC also offers individual career coaching, resume critiques, mock interviews, workshops, and other resources designed to help employees identify goals and take meaningful steps toward their next career opportunity.

The Retirement and Financial Literacy Program helps employees build the knowledge needed to make informed financial and retirement decisions throughout their federal careers.

Educational opportunities cover topics such as federal retirement planning, the Thrift Savings Plan (TSP), federal benefits, financial wellness, and retirement readiness, with resources designed for employees at different career and life stages.

The Census Bureau provides a structured onboarding experience to help new employees understand the organization, connect their work to the Bureau’s mission, and build a strong foundation for success.

New employee learning includes orientation, required and foundational training, resources for navigating the Census Bureau workplace, opportunities to learn how the organization works, and activities that support connection, engagement, and continued learning during the employee’s transition into the organization.

The Census Bureau offers technical and specialized learning opportunities that help employees build the skills needed to support evolving mission and workforce needs.

The Data Science Training Program (DSTP) is a key element of the Statistical Data Modernization project and supports the Census Bureau’s efforts to modernize its data processes. The program is designed to strengthen employees’ data science knowledge and skills and help build the technical capabilities needed to support the Bureau’s evolving mission.

DSTP offers two complementary training options that allow employees to build data science skills based on their experience, career goals, availability, and interests:

The Data Science Training Program Cohort is a five-month academic learning experience designed to immerse employees in data science while expanding their professional networks. The cohort empowers employees to solve problems using data science, promote innovation, engage with the evolving data science landscape, and connect with data science experts across the Census Bureau.

Available to current full-time Census Bureau employees, the cohort combines three core elements:

• Blended Learning - Combines online coursework, practical exercises, and live instruction facilitated by in-house Census Bureau subject matter experts (SMEs).
• Hands-On Learning - Capstone projects give participants opportunities to apply and reinforce data science skills while working on projects that support Census Bureau missions.
• Ongoing Mentorship - Subject matter experts provide career development guidance, technical support, and opportunities to build professional connections.

The cohort includes two learning paths:

• Data Science Generalist Path - Builds foundational data science knowledge and applies data science concepts and tools to diverse, real-world Census Bureau problems.
• Machine Learning Specialist Path - Expands employees’ ability to apply machine learning techniques, models, and algorithms to support Census Bureau work.

Data Science On-Demand provides flexible, online, self-paced training designed to strengthen employees’ data science literacy and build capabilities relevant to their roles and career paths.

The offering includes three learning tracks:

• Data Science Literacy - Builds foundational knowledge that helps employees communicate and collaborate effectively as data science becomes increasingly integrated into the workplace.
• Data Science for Managers - Helps managers strengthen their ability to lead, manage, and develop a data science-ready workforce.
• Skill Builders - Provides targeted learning to help employees build specific skills needed for their work or prepare for and reinforce learning from a cohort experience.

Together, the cohort and on-demand options provide multiple pathways for employees to develop data science capabilities at a pace and level that align with their skills, career goals, and learning needs.

Census Corporate University (CCU) provides academic and developmental opportunities that support the Census Bureau’s enterprise and occupational competencies while helping employees prepare for current and future career goals.

Through university partnerships and Census-specific development opportunities, CCU offers degree, certificate, citation, certification, mentoring, and other developmental programs designed to strengthen employee capabilities and support continuous learning.

CCU programs and development activities are designed to:

• Enhance employees’ skills and career marketability, both within and outside the Census Bureau.
• Provide continuous learning and career development opportunities.
• Offer Census-specific academic and developmental opportunities that support workforce and organizational needs.
• Help employees build competencies that support current responsibilities and future career goals.

CCU offers a variety of academic, professional development, certification, and mentoring opportunities, including:

• Business Analysis Certificate and Citation Program
• Business and Administrative Studies Undergraduate Certificate Program
• Information Technology Undergraduate and Graduate Certificate Programs
• Joint Program in Survey Methodology (JPSM) Degree, Certificate, and Citation Programs
• Federal Acquisition Certification for Program and Project Managers (FAC-P/PM)
• Project Management Foundational Professional Certificate Program
• Statistics and Quantitative Methods Undergraduate Certificate Program
• Leadership and Management Graduate Certificate Program
• Census Mentoring Program

Through these opportunities, CCU connects employees with structured learning experiences that strengthen Census Bureau capabilities, encourage continuous development, and support career growth.

The Census Learning Center (CLC) is the Census Bureau’s central learning management system. Employees use the CLC to find and register for training, complete online learning, access required courses, and maintain their learning transcripts.

Employees can visit the Census Learning Center to explore available learning opportunities and manage their training activities.

Whether employees are new to the Census Bureau, building new skills, preparing to lead, planning their next career move, developing technical expertise, or preparing financially for retirement, the Census Bureau provides learning resources to support continued growth throughout their careers.