The Population Colleges — and the Nation — Can't Afford to Ignore United to Strengthen America’S Pathways Between Education and Employment

The Adult Student The population colleges — and the nation — can't afford to ignore United to strengthen America’s pathways between education and employment.

Strada Education NetworkSM is dedicated to catalyzing more direct and promising pathways between education and employment. We engage with partners across education, nonprofits, business and government to focus relentlessly on students’ success throughout all phases of their working lives.

Together we address critical postsecondary education and workforce challenges through a combination of strategic philanthropy, research and insights, and mission-aligned businesses – all focused on advancing the universal right to realized potential we call Completion With a Purpose®.

StradaEducation.org TABLE OF CONTENTS

About the Author 4 Executive Summary 7 Introduction

12 Section I: Understanding Adult Students Goldie Blumenstyk joined The Chronicle of Higher Education in 1988. She is Section 2: a nationally known expert 24 Strategies to Serve the Adult Population on the business of higher education, for profit-colleges, and innovation in and around academe. A winner of multiple awards 38 Section 3: Building Networks from the Education Writers Association, she has report- ed for The Chronicle from China, Europe, and Peru, and has contributed to The New York Times and USA 50 Conclusion Today. Blumenstyk appears frequently at conferences and on radio and television programs. She is the author of The Washington Post best-selling book American Higher Education in Crisis? What Everyone Needs to Know (Oxford University Press, 2015).

Cover photo by Julia Schmalz

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the chronicle of higher education t he a d ult s t ud e n t 03 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

f ever there was a time for more attention on enrolling adults in college, this is it. The demographic changes squeezing college finances could be reason enough. The demands of the economy, let alone the needs of our democracy, present an even stronger argument. Yet the general public, the news media, policy makers, and even many college leaders are still preoccupied with the trappings of college for students Section 1 straight out of high school: Understanding Adult Students intercollegiate sports, lazy rivers, campus Adults enroll in higher education — or life. Meanwhile, America’s adult students don't — for a host of reasons. Career prospects — the single mothers, military veter- or personal motivations may spark their inter- ans, third-shift workers, and downsized est, but finances, family obligations, and even Iemployees — have been treated as higher fear can keep them from college. The tens of millions who started but never finished are an education’s afterthoughts. obvious group for institutions to pursue, but Structural and cultural barriers have even that population is not low-hanging fruit, discouraged many adults from enrolling, as they are often portrayed. Their prior expe- from returning to complete a degree, or rience may have left them with academic and from trying for another one in a different financial obstacles to re-enrollment, say if they can’t obtain a past transcript because they still field. That’s bad for the half of the adult owe a college for a parking ticket or other bill. population that could benefit from higher Adults who have never attended college can be education, and it’s shortsighted on the even harder to reach, and are often unfamil- part of institutions. The more flexible col- iar with the mores of higher education. Once leges become for adults, the better they enrolled, adult students often have different needs than 18- to 24-year-olds. Some will need can serve students of any age. help with child care or food assistance. And This report describes the needs of all of them will expect college to leave them adult students and how colleges could better off than before. build on their current approaches by tapping partners beyond academe.

04 t he a d ult s t ud e n t the chronicle of higher education Section 2 Section 3 Strategies to Serve the Adult Population Building Networks

Many of the barriers that keep adults from Colleges can’t operate in a vacuum if the enrolling and succeeding in higher education nation is to meet the imperative to educate are erected by colleges themselves. Institu- more adults. States play a key role, although tions that do cater to adults have developed their policies sometimes hinder progress. strategies, like degree-completion programs, Employers and industry, along with unions, prior-learning assessment, and online de- can be important allies as well. In parts of the grees, to meet students’ evolving notions country, their collaborations with colleges of convenience. Whether facing imminent help companies and nonprofits teach workers financial stress or in anticipation of changing new skills and encourage adults to use that markets, colleges are now wrestling with how training as the basis for further education. Or- best to structure their adult-serving programs ganizations like the Graduate! Network, one of — and what business models will sustain the rare college-access organizations focused them. Some, but perhaps too few, are working solely on adults, create connections between to ensure that teaching to adults is high quali- colleges and community groups that ease the ty and well suited to their circumstances. way for older students to return to college. Meanwhile, a new educational ecosystem is beginning to establish itself, backed by entrepreneurs and investors who see opportunities in serving the adult student.

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06 INTRODUCTION

ake a minute, close your eyes, and picture a college student. What do you see? If you're like most Amer- icans, you're thinking of a young adult, fresh out of high school, leaving home for the first time, maybe drinking too much at a frat party, and struggling to figure out his or her future. Did you picture a single mother? A 30-year-old veteran? A downsized employee looking for a second career? In the United States, about 80 million people ages 25 through 65 have graduated from high school but don't have a college degree. Another 15 million have an associate degree but no bachelor's. They're not the folks we generally picture when thinking about college students. But the imperative for colleges to serve those 95 million adults has never been greater — in many cases for the institutions’ own financial health, but also for the sake of the nation. You’d never guess it based on all the energy and money colleges spend trying to bring 18-year-olds to their campuses. To be sure, adults are already part of the overall picture. Even with theT recent dips in adult enrollment that tend to come with an economic recovery, students age 25 and older now constitute about 27 percent of the undergraduate population. But looking across the landscape, you might have to squint hard to find them. The vast majority of adult students are concentrated in community colleges that struggle for financing, at for-profit institutions that sometimes charge too much for too little, or on the relatively small number of public and private campuses that have oriented their missions toward adults or designed programs with them in mind.

the chronicle of higher education t he a d ult s t ud e n t 07 The reasons adults have not become a focus peaks in the next six years before the numbers for many colleges are cultural and structural. there drop, but in the Northeast and Midwest, a fairly steady decline in the number of high- • Society is still captivated by the idea that school graduates has already begun. The latter college is for young people. two regions also happen to be where most of the nation’s colleges are located. • Historically, older students’ interest in The provocative new book Demographics higher education fluctuates with the econ- and the Demand for Higher Education by omy: They flock to college when jobs dry up Nathan D. Grawe, a professor of economics but go back to work when times are flush. at Carleton College, argues that the decline in traditional-age students may be even • Adults are harder to recruit because they’re greater than projected. His analysis reflects, more dispersed than the pool of high-school among other factors, how the 2008 financial students. Even when colleges manage to crisis caused many families to delay having connect with prospective adult students, having children. He predicts a 10-percent past brushes with higher education may decline in the number of 18-year-olds as have turned them off — or made them hesi- soon as 2029. tant to re-engage. Some colleges may be reluctant to face that reality, or think they’ll still be able to nab • Colleges have only so much bandwidth, enough high-schoolers. But as a strategy, de- and if they’re already pursuing new streams nying demographic change is as wrongheaded of students through dual-enrollment pro- as denying climate change. As Brett Visger, an grams with local high schools, which have associate vice chancellor at the Ohio Depart- been growing in popularity, they may not ment of Higher Education, says: “Neither is have the administrative capacity to consider escapable.” adult-oriented programs, too. To thrive, or even just to survive, many colleges that have long relied on tuition dollars • Government policies hardly encourage from high-school graduates to cover their colleges to seek out adults; only a few states specifically reward colleges for enrolling adults in undergraduate programs. Until this year, federal accountability measures like graduation rates counted only first-time, full-time students, a designation that doesn’t apply to most older adults. 95 million • Trying to reach more adults may mean colleges’ changing or expanding what and prospective adult students how they teach, a tricky cultural transition for many institutions. nationally Taken together, these factors help create the sense that serving adults is, as one educational entrepreneur puts it, “the forgotten costs will have to expand their horizons. That issue” for colleges. transformation comes at a time when many of But today the risks of that inattention are those same institutions are already on shaky greater than ever. financial ground. Demographic changes are one reason. Beyond institutions, the changing econ- By 2032, the country will have fewer students omy poses broader societal risks that colleges coming out of high school than it does today. ignore at the country’s peril. As the econo- The patterns of those declines vary. The South mists at Georgetown University’s Center on and West are projected to see some sharp Education and the Workforce have been warn-

08 t he a d ult s t ud e n t the chronicle of higher education ing, two-thirds of jobs in the United States or you don’t.” will soon require postsecondary education or In the last several months, as I’ve been training. Despite federal, state, and civic goals exploring the state of play for adult students, to raise educational attainment rates, we’ve I’ve spoken with dozens of people, like Reeves, got a long way to go. who believe the first step toward more social According to the latest calculations from mobility is a much more flexible higher-ed- the Lumina Foundation, which has been ucation system, one that would more readily tracking educational attainment since 2009, allow people who didn’t have a shot at college just under 47 percent of adults in the United at 18 — or who tried but missed — to try again States ages 25 to 64 have a postsecondary later in life. credential of value. That doesn’t necessarily That message is beginning to get traction. mean a four-year degree. Associate degrees and certificates may be in increasing demand, according to the Georgetown center's recent analysis of jobs paying roughly $40,000 that don’t require a bachelor’s degree. The attainment rate has been rising for younger adults, as colleges have stepped up their efforts to attract and graduate tradi- 27 percent tional-age students. But the enrollment and attainment figures for older adults suggest that they have not been a priority. In other words, current share of relatively more older people are being left out or left behind. The United States may have once been a undergraduate students nation where the stakes of the educational divide weren’t so stark, but that era is long age 25 and over gone. “The economy we’re living in now is different,” says Kim Parker, director of social trends research at the Pew Research Center. People without degrees, she says, “are going to be increasingly disadvantaged.” Signs of an adult-student movement are ap- We see that clearly in the current recov- pearing more and more frequently. ery from the last recession: Virtually all job That’s been evident in several new reports growth in the United States since 2007 has and white papers by national higher-edu- come from jobs requiring some form of post- cation groups championing the needs of secondary education. adults and other so-called nontraditional or The repercussions go deeper than em- “post-traditional” students (among them the ployment rate and earnings. The more the American Council on Education, the Edu- educational divide has determined economic cation Commission of the States, Complete opportunity, the more it has also become a College America, and State Higher Educa- sociocultural indicator, creating gulfs in our tion Executive Officers). In the last year, new civic life, marriage patterns, and most gravely, organizations like the National Adult Learner public health and life expectancy. Coalition and Higher Learning Advocates In the new book Dream Hoarders, the have come onto the scene to promote adult Brookings Institution senior fellow Richard V. students’ needs. Reeves argues that the line between the haves Signs of a movement are also apparent and have-nots in this country has hardened. in the campaigns now underway in many Upward mobility used to be a bit like a hurdles states, including Indiana, Maine, Minnesota, race: Even if you ran into a couple, you still Mississippi, and Tennessee, to reach adults had a chance to win. “Now,” he says, “it’s a bit who once attended college but never fin- like the high jump. You either go over the bar ished. Elsewhere, like in Rhode Island and

the chronicle of higher education t he a d ult s t ud e n t 09 Who is the “adult student”?

The definition is not clear. “that is not predominant- Many in higher education use ly anchored in the role of “over age 24” to distinguish college student,” Kasworm adult undergraduates from says. Those identifiers could those who enroll in college help institutions better shape right after high school (i.e., programs and policies to fit the students we used to con- the needs of adults and oth- sider “traditional”). ers with varied obligations. But as the adult-learning Meanwhile, many college scholar Carol E. Kasworm leaders and policy makers has written, that age demar- have adopted the term “non- cation “is both helpful and traditional” or “post-tradition- problematic.” For instance, al” to refer to students who it excludes the many young- are older or work full time, er students who share the and who may be parents, vet- challenges of adulthood, like erans, or active-duty service caring for children or working members — in short, anyone full time. A definition of adult who doesn’t fit the model of students should center on the 18- to 24-year-old under- their financial independence, graduate residing on or near commitments to family and a campus. work, and a personal identity

10 t he a d ult s t ud e n t the chronicle of higher education North Carolina, new efforts are extending consider returning to college or entering for higher education — starting, for instance, the first time. Such flexible, creative approach- with a certificate that could later “stack” to- es may help colleges better serve all students, ward a degree — to adults who never before especially those of any age with significant considered college. family and work commitments. Individual institutions, too, are begin- Interest and intentions, however, won’t ning to feel the pressure to adapt. This year be enough. To ensure that adults are not just the annual meeting of the Council for Adult afterthoughts, colleges will need to act. and Experiential In the sections Learning saw that follow, this record interest from report will identify first-time attendees, the barriers that with many people Virtually all job growth in can prevent adult there reporting that students from their boards, presi- the United States since enrolling or per- dents, and provosts sisting in college were showing more and some ways to interest in adult 2007 has come from jobs remove them. It students than ever will discuss how in- before. The growth requiring some form of stitutions’ policies of academic pro- and practices can grams based on the hinder adult stu- notion that students postsecondary education. dents and describe can earn credit strategies to break by demonstrating that logjam. The competencies, wherever learned, is a signal report will also explore the role that public that more colleges are now open to recogniz- and private organizations outside of higher ing adults’ past experience. education play in developing support net- Interest is also rising among companies works to aid adult students, while spotlight- and investors that see financial opportunity in ing new ideas to advance the adult-student helping colleges better serve the adult market. agenda. Finally, the report will look ahead at Civic and business groups around the country the challenges on the horizon and the tactics are developing more sophisticated mentoring that will be vital to propel the adult-student and counseling techniques for adults as they movement forward.

the chronicle of higher education t he a d ult s t ud e n t 11 SECTION 1

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12 t he a d ult s t ud e n t the chronicle of higher education Understanding Adult Students

isconceptions enrolled in the fall of 2017 in public, private, abound when it and for-profit two-year and four-year colleges, comes to adult 27 percent were over age 24, according to data students. This calculated for The Chronicle by the National section outlines the Student Clearinghouse Research Center. That diversity of the cur- proportion has decreased over the last few rent and potential years as the job market has improved. adult-student pop- On top of that, some 3 million students are ulation, explores enrolled in master’s, professional, and doctor- people’s varied al programs. Because three-quarters of those motivations for students are over 24, most institutions have enrolling, and de- designed and refined the programs’ content fines the particular and schedules with adults’ needs in mind. services that adult Serving adult undergraduates demands more students need. attention, and this report deals with institu- Knowing what tions and students at that level. Nonetheless, matters most to them is crucial for colleges to many of the issues and solutions for the adult effectively reach and serve this population. student apply across the board. The misjudgments about adults begin Based on age alone, the number of adult with basic accounting. Policy reports and undergraduates in college is dwarfed by the Mnews articles frequently say that adults over number who could be. Nearly 44 million the age of 24 make up about 40 percent of the Americans ages 25 to 64 hold only a high- college-student population. But that oft-cited school degree or equivalent. That’s 26 percent percentage actually reflects both undergradu- of the adult population. Another 21 percent — ates and people pursuing graduate and profes- more than 35 million people — have attended sional degrees. college but never earned a degree (although Of the 17 million undergraduate students about a quarter of them have earned some

the chronicle of higher education t he a d ult s t ud e n t 13 educational or work credential). Higher edu- show that poor academic performance is rare- cation may not be in the cards for everybody. ly the reason they left in the first place. Most But when nearly 80 million people — half the commonly, it’s other F’s: family and finances. country’s adult working-age population — are In the same vein, the reason most adults prospective students, colleges would be wise give for not returning to college or never hav- to pay them more attention. ing gone is: “Life got in the way.” With some notable exceptions, colleges historically have failed to adapt enough in structure or in aca- Some College, No Degree demic focus to provide what the adult population needs. While it’s true that the exceptions Attitudes toward the sizeable “some are growing by the day — as more colleges college, no degree” population are evolv- create accelerated programs, develop proce- ing. In the past, such people may have been dures to assess and grant credit for prior learn- dismissed as dropouts who just couldn’t cut ing, and adopt other features tailored to adult it. But numerous studies of adults who have students’ circumstances — many institutions returned to college or are considering doing so and policy makers still fail to fully recognize how current offerings and messages can discourage adults from enrolling and 1.1: THE ADULT-STUDENT MARKET succeeding. These systemic Prospective adult students number about 95 million nationally: people who failings have dispro- have finished high school but never gone to college, attended college but not obtained a degree, or earned an associate degree but not a bachelor's. portionately thwarted minority students. Among High School (includes equivalency) Some college, no degree Associate degree African-American adults who entered college in In millions 2011, just 32 percent had Male Female finished six years later, according to data from the Age 25 to 34 National Student Clear- inghouse Research Cen- 6 4.3 ter. The completion rate for Hispanic adults was 34 5 5 percent. That’s compared 1.7 2.1 with 44 percent for white adults and 58 percent for Asian adults. And as Age 35 to 44 a study by the Western Interstate Commission 5.4 4.3 for Higher Education 4.1 4.3 described below notes, Af- rican-American and His- 1.6 2.1 panic adults could benefit most from returning to Age 45 to 64 college to earn a degree. For the “some college, 12 11.7 no degree” group (other terms in use include 8.4 9.3 “part-way home students” 3.1 4.3 and “comebackers”), the Clearinghouse has identified a subgroup Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2012-2016 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates that it calls “potential

14 t he a d ult s t ud e n t the chronicle of higher education completers”: those who have made at least has never been to college represents anoth- two years of academic progress in college in er opportunity. These prospective students, the last 10 years but have yet to earn a degree. however, are even harder to locate. To reach By the latest count, in August 2017 about 3.8 them, institutions will have to establish pipe- million adults fit into that category. Whether lines through local employers, unions, and or not states and colleges use that definition, community and social-service organizations. many that are now trying to reach adult stu- As colleges are beginning to do in Arizona, dents have zeroed in on the “near-completer” Rhode Island, and elsewhere, they may also population. need to give greater consideration to granting Students who started college but never academic credit for on-the-job education, and finished are, according to the Lumina Foun- to figure out how that might become part of a dation and other groups, crucial to the goal of “stack” that builds toward an academic degree increasing postsecondary educational attain- (See Section 3). ment nationally. President Obama famously Adults who stopped their formal educa- pushed for all adults to pursue at least a year tion after high school are often unfamiliar of postsecondary education as part of his ad- with the official and unofficial practices of ministration’s 2020 College Completion Goal college-going. They may not understand how to restore America’s standing as the best-edu- to select a major or connect with a faculty ad- cated nation in the world. The Trump admin- viser. That knowledge gap is crucial for insti- istration has said nothing about that goal, but tutions to remember in recruiting and serving a majority of states have set their own, many of older students. As Mark Milliron, a longtime which align with a national goal Lumina set in advocate for new college models — and more 2009: 60 percent postsecondary attainment by recently, the co-founder of the data-analytics 2025. Lumina gets there not only with millions company Civitas Learning — colorfully told of traditional-age students beyond current an adult-learning conference last year: “Most projections, but roughly 6 million adults with of higher education is insider trading.” some college, and about as many who’ve never More-intentional advising can help alle- before entered higher education. viate some of these disadvantages and help Institutions looking to bolster enroll- adult students learn the lingo, understand ment by wooing adults often start with those the expectations, and navigate the academic who have some college experience. But the calendar. The latest Strada-Gallup Student idea that they represent low-hanging fruit Survey found that no more than half of current is another misconception. Adults are gen- college students consider their academic erally a difficult population for colleges to advising very helpful. But it may be of greater reach, not least because they are dispersed. benefit to adults: Attitudes about advising are People who’ve tried college before but didn’t more favorable among students age 24 and get through can be especially reluctant to older. Community colleges in Minnesota, with re-enroll because they have misgivings — and funding from Lumina, plan to hire special ad- sometimes problematic academic and finan- visers known as “navigators” to counsel adult cial legacies — from their past experiences. students. The University of North Carolina system has been carefully crafting recruitment messaging for its “Part-Way Home” effort. Adults “already Why Adults Enroll have some guilt associated with not finishing,” says Samantha McAuliffe-Raynor, the sys- Adults enroll in college for a variety of tem’s director for special projects and strategic reasons, often for their own enrichment, to assessment. So the message needs to be: “You set an example for their children, or to fulfill are close.” a promise they made to themselves earlier in life. The Graduate! Network has witnessed many such motivations in 14 years of advising Reaching Newcomers adults. When its counselors ask students what they are shooting for, “They say, ‘I want this The quarter of the adult population that thing that nobody can take away from from

the chronicle of higher education t he a d ult s t ud e n t 15 me and will have value forever,’” says Hadass says Patrick Lane, WICHE’s director of data Sheffer, the group’s president. The value for initiatives and author of the forthcoming them is emotional as well as financial. study. Colleges should also ensure that not But for the majority of adult students, the only classes but essential services are avail- opportunity to jump-start their job prospects able in person or online at hours adults can or advance in their lines of work is almost access them, so students don’t lose a day’s pay always a factor. For those over 50, there’s often every time they try to see an academic adviser extra incentive. “They view this as their final or resolve a financial-aid matter. shot for another career,” says Phyllis A. Cum- The question of return on investment mins, an associate professor of sociology and is a ripe topic for further exploration using gerontology at Miami University of Ohio who residents’ salary histories in state data sys- studies the motivations of adult students. Tra- tems. That information, says Lane, could help institutions develop — and advertise — degree programs and other policies with the biggest To help returning students blocked from bang for students’ buck. enrolling because of money they still owe a Different Populations, college, Mississippi allows them to use state Different Needs

student-aid funds to pay off old debts. Adult students have many identities. They are displaced workers, military veterans, women and men attending college after decades as stay-at-home parents or in other pur- ditional-age students increasingly cite similar, suits, employees taking advantage of tuition career-focused goals for going to college, ac- assistance, and people on public benefits or in cording to annual surveys of college freshmen. low-wage jobs for whom college never before The difference is that the stakes are higher for seemed like an option. adults because of the financial tradeoffs and Colleges don’t generally know students’ personal sacrifices involved. particular circumstances or needs, and such Only a few studies have aimed to measure information is not routinely captured in data the financial rewards versus risks for adults collected on campuses or obtained from state returning to college. One soon to be published or national surveys. For instance, a work by the Western Interstate Commission for schedule can hold great influence over a stu- Higher Education (WICHE) compares earn- dent’s life, but because of the way the federal ings data for near-completers who went back government and other organizations classify to earn a bachelor’s degree and those who did their data, it’s difficult to know how many not. It found that the financial payoffs were current adult students are also working full positive, although not as high as the 50-per- time. Of the 25 percent of all college students cent wage premium often cited for bachelor’s who work full time, a healthy proportion are degree holders. Among the near-completers probably adult undergraduates. Those who are who finished, the payoffs for were greater for working are also likely to be struggling finan- African-American and Hispanic students than cially. According to the Georgetown University for white students, suggesting that a degree Center on Education and the Workforce, 46 may help them out of low-wage jobs that per- percent of older working learners earn wages petuate financial disparities. or salaries that put them below 200 percent of The findings indicate that colleges and the federal poverty level. policy makers have a key role to play in To better serve students with varied back- protecting adult students from the poten- grounds and demanding day-to-day responsi- tial financial disadvantages of re-enrolling. bilities, many colleges will need to reconsider Colleges must ensure that the prices they existing policies and practices. Some of those charge and the time their programs require to changes will cost money. Others aren’t expen- complete are justifiable on economic grounds, sive at all, but may require a shift in perspec-

16 t he a d ult s t ud e n t the chronicle of higher education tive on the part of colleges and other authori- institutions have not. Additionally, they might ties. Some form of campus needs-assessment consider creating emergency-aid funds to help may help. with car repairs, medical expenses, or overdue Food and housing insecurity are common utility bills so students will stay enrolled. challenges. Many colleges have opened food Another challenge that colleges can as- pantries, where students can pick up canned sume many adult students face is child care. goods or make themselves a peanut-butter One in four undergraduates are parents, and sandwich, and established formal or informal more than one in 10 undergraduates (nearly Single Stop offices, where financially needy two in 10 female students) are single parents, students can file for housing benefits and according to the Institute for Women’s Policy other government social services. But plenty of Research. But the number of institutions offering child care is declining. Fewer than half of the nation’s 1,000 community colleges have child- 1.2: WHO ARE ADULT UNDERGRADUATES? care centers on campus, according Compared with the traditional-age population, to the American Association of more are female, more are black, more attend University Women. part time, and more receive Pell Grants. One approach institutions may try, perhaps in cooperation with By percentage their states, is to design finan- Age 25-64 Age 18-24 cial-aid programs specifically to help students with child-care costs. SEX Minnesota offers such assistance Female 59.4 54.2 through its Postsecondary Child- Male 40.6 45.8 care Grant, a program that now provides 2,000 students with Source: National Center for Education Statistics, 2015 figures grants of up to $3,000 per child per year. And the state recently raised RACE/ETHNICITY income eligibility levels for the White 56.3 58.9 grant. “It’s one of the programs we Black 20.9 12.9 actually want to drive up demand for,” says Meredith Fergus, who Hispanic 14.4 17.1 oversees data and analysis for state Asian 4.1 6.6 grants at the Minnesota Office of Higher Education. American Indian or Alaska Native 1.1 0.7 The presence of student veter- Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander 0.6 0.5 ans in higher education holds some lessons in how to accommodate More than one race 2.6 3.2 a particular population’s needs. Source: National Postsecondary Student Aid Study, 2012 More than 700,000 current or former service members received ATTENDANCE Post 9/11 GI Bill education benefits Full time 39.7 76.5 in the 2016 fiscal year, and of those who initiated their benefits that Part time 60.3 23.5 year, 46 percent enrolled in under- Source: National Center for Education Statistics, 2015 figures graduate programs. On many campuses, former service members FINANCIAL AID themselves have organized groups Receive Pell Grant 45.4 38.7 to help peers adjust to college, Do not receive Pell Grant 54.6 61.3 connect with resources like counseling, and share any concerns or Source: National Postsecondary Student Aid Study, 2012 requests with the administration. Some institutions have helped

the chronicle of higher education t he a d ult s t ud e n t 17 establish such groups, and others have gone expiring. And registrars and faculty members even further. Georgia State University, for should know how to translate military expe- example, has trained more than 1,000 faculty rience — not just formal courses, but training and staff members on veterans’ issues through and occupational skills, all noted on a Joint a program called Green Zone, developed by Services Transcript — into academic credit. Virginia Commonwealth University. People “That’s where there’s a lot of work to be who have completed the training display a done,” says Tom Green, an associate execu- Green Zone sticker in their offices so student tive director at the American Association of veterans can easily recognize them. Georgia Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers. State also connects incoming student veter- “We haven’t seen any big, broad adoption” by ans with peers further along in their studies colleges of granting credit for training and through a program called PAVE, or Peer Advi- skills, he says, and that can make veterans sors for Veteran Education, developed by the with considerable experience “feel like they’re University of Michigan in collaboration with starting from scratch.” Student Veterans of America. The only requirement colleges have for serving veterans is to be able to certify their Overcoming Barriers benefits. But as Mark Eister, director of military outreach at Georgia State, puts it, “You’re Federal and state financial-aid policies not going to keep them in school if you don’t can present barriers to adults. Rules in many do a good job.” Beyond providing dedicated states restrict aid to full-time students, while services, that means understanding the ins most adults enroll part time. Regulations for and outs of the GI Bill. Under its rules, vet- calculating income can effectively penalize erans who enroll in too many online classes people who work, and early-application dead- can lose out on housing subsidies; some who lines tend to favor high-school students over attend part time risk their tuition benefits adults (See Section 3).

1.3: UNDERGRADUATE ADULT ENROLLMENT OVER TIME

Their enrollment tends to fluctuate with the economy: More come to campus during a recession and go back to work in a recovery.

Age 25 and older Total 16.8 17.4 17.1 17 In millions 15 14 14.5 13.3 11.8 11.8 11.7 11.9 12.2 10.6

5.3 5.5 5.2 4.4 4.5 4.5 4.9 3.7 3.9 4.2 4.2 4.1 3.9 4.2

1987 1991 1993 1995 1997 1999 2001 2003 2005 2007 2009 2011 2013 2015

Source: Chronicle analysis of U.S. Department of Education data

18 t he a d ult s t ud e n t the chronicle of higher education For students who’ve attended college Another challenge returning students before, re-enrolling can require additional may face is being in default on a prior feder- maneuvering through a maze of college and al student loan, which prevents them from government policies. obtaining new loans or Pell Grants. Students Returning students might still owe past in default can restore their eligibility by mak- debts, like parking tickets or unpaid fees, and ing nine months of consecutive payments, many institutions do not practice debt for- perhaps using an income-based-repayment plan to keep the amounts more affordable. But they may need counseling on how to rehabil- To encourage students in the Reach Higher degree-comple- itate their defaulted loans, and more significantly, during the tion program, the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Educa- ensuing nine months, their tion invite them and their families to an annual reception at plans to attend college can be derailed. a local historic or cultural landmark, where each student is Some requirements that photographed receiving a certificate from the chancellor. colleges may apply to all students, such as immunization records or high-school transcripts, can seem unnecessary or irrelevant for adult students, giveness. In Indiana, where state leaders feel especially those returning to college after de- a sense of urgency in encouraging adults to cades. Other steps, like a placement test, can return to college, the Commission for Higher be simply daunting. “That’s a nightmare,” says Education tried to institute a statewide policy Julie Szeltner, who directs adult services and on debt forgiveness as part of its You Can. Go programs for College Now, an organization Back. campaign. The effort failed, although in Cleveland that supports low-income youth some institutions did create their own pol- and adults in higher education. Her advice to icies. Mississippi, meanwhile, has found a students staring down those tests: “You don’t workaround to the same problem: Under its want to go into this cold.” Institutions like Complete 2 Compete program, returning Cuyahoga Community College help by offer- students can use their new state financial aid ing free online and face-to-face preparatory to pay back their old college debt. classes for placement exams. A student’s old debts to a prior institution, Colleges may not realize other im- however small, can also block them from pediments to adult students. Adam Bush, obtaining the official transcript required to co-founder of the organization College enroll at a new institution years later. Diffi- Unbound, in Rhode Island, recalls that a few culty securing past transcripts for any reason years ago, he was coordinating a campus is a key factor that discourages adult students tour at a local college for prospective adult from re-enrolling. students. When they went online to register, The transcript challenge may sound some could not, because the drop-down menu minor, but Becky Takeda-Tinker, president of on the web form requiring them to enter their Colorado State University-Global Campus, an birthdates didn’t go back further than 1970. It online institution oriented toward adults and has since been changed. other nontraditional students, says making it Taking broader account of adult students’ easier for students to get their past transcripts circumstances can reveal more fronts where is the first reform she would propose. It’s also they may be discouraged. Colleges that plan why Aslanian Market Research, a consulting to offer adult-focused degrees entirely on- firm that specializes in adult-student strat- line, for example, might want to think twice egies, recently recommended that colleges about that strategy. While online programs seeking to enroll such students “must have offer the convenience many adults need, they efficient ways to help them obtain past tran- also require broadband service, which is still scripts.” lacking in many rural communities or may be

the chronicle of higher education t he a d ult s t ud e n t 19 cost-prohibitive for some prospective stu- Path’s American Women’s College. “We almost dents. And online programs demand a facility have to give them permission.” with technology that some adults may not Adults who never attended or completed have. According to a 2017 survey conducted college before may feel embarrassed. Perhaps by the consulting company Eduventures, a their decision to enroll later in life puts them at majority of prospective adult students want odds with attitudes in their family or religious some mix of online and campus-based cours- community. Adults can be easily deterred es, an argument for colleges to consider hybrid if their spouse or partner is not explicitly programs, with opportunities for face-to-face supportive, says Matt Bergman, an assistant connections. professor of educational leadership at the Uni- Beyond the policies and structures that versity of Louisville who studies adult-student hinder adult students, there are also human retention. Or maybe a prospective student challenges. Some adults feel guilty, for exam- attends a conservative church, he says, where ple, about the time academic work will take congregants ask, “Why are you going to some away from their families. Bay Path University, liberal college?” which has run a degree-completion program To offset negative influences, Bergman for women since 1999, has found that to be says, it’s important for colleges “to embrace especially true for mothers. “The No. 1 compe- the family and embrace the friends of the tition we have isn’t other schools,” but pro- family.” Elite colleges serving tradition- spective students’ own doubts about whether al-age students find many opportunities to they deserve to go to college, says Amanda do so, through parents’ weekends and other Gould, chief administrative officer at Bay programs. At Louisville, the bachelor’s of sci- ence in organizational leadership program, designed especially for returning adult students, throws a Workforce 1.4: THE ECONOMIC CASE FOR ADULTS TO ENROLL Wednesday party once a semester at a For older students, going to college promises to bowling alley or similar venue where improve their job prospects and raise their pay. students, their children, and other family members can enjoy activities and UNEMPLOYMENT RATE snacks together. Despite lingering challenges, the landscape for adult students is chang- Less than high-school graduate 11.2% ing. Colleges’ diminishing skepticism High-school graduate 8.0% and growing use of online education has helped satisfy a real need for con- Some college or associate degree 6.2% venience. That’s something for-profit Bachelor's degree or higher 3.4% institutions have long understood; now, increasingly, public and private colleges Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2012-2016 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates for adults age 25-64 are catching up. Other approaches, such as specially designed completion degrees and “stackable” credentials ANNUAL EARNINGS — as at Brigham Young University-Ida- ho, where the Pathway program nests Less than high-school graduate $27,040 certificates into associate degrees into bachelor’s degrees — are becoming High-school graduate 37,024 more prevalent. Some college or associate degree 41,496 Be it those ideas or others in the Bachelor's degree only 60,996 works, the challenge for college leaders is to identify the strategies that will work Bachelor's degree or higher 66,508 best for their own institutions — and the most effective ways to put them in place Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Median usual earnings of full-time wage and salary workers age 25 and older, and sustain them. 2017 annual averages

20 t he a d ult s t ud e n t the chronicle of higher education QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER

As colleges discuss how DO your website and marketing materials in- best to meet the needs of the adult-student population clude images and messaging that help adults in all its diversity, here are some key questions for see themselves as students at your institution? officials to consider. HAVE you conducted a needs-assessment of your students, to determine how best to help them with child care, food assistance, transpor- tation, or emergency aid? Are you prepared to meet those needs?

DO you have policies to forgive past debts, or delay repayment, so returning students are not barred from re-enrolling? What about for former students requesting a transcript to enroll at another institution?

ARE your advising and financial-aid offices open on evenings or weekends? If not, can you add after-hours services online or by tele- phone?

DO you take advantage of the professional experience of your adult students and help them balance work and classes by employing them in on-campus jobs?

the chronicle of higher education t he a d ult s t ud e n t 21 CASE STUDY

To Improve a Region’s Welfare, a College Revamps Its Offerings

If California were its own country, hasta College is the only or low wages, those jobs wouldn’t it would be the world’s sixth- higher-education institution necessarily sustain them, but the biggest economy. But while it in a 16,000-square-mile people were living their lives, and boasts some of the most region of northern Califor- many weren’t planning to return to educated pockets in the nation, nia known for employing college. They needed money for rent people in timber and saw- and car payments, says Buffy Tanner, college-attainment levels are mills — and more recently, who directs a new program for adults: widely uneven across the state, as off-the-books “trimmigrants” in “The truck is the death knell of a lot and it is facing a projected Smarijuana fields. For most of the of educational plans.” shortage of more than 1 million college’s history, says Kate Mahar, Before creating the program, Shas- college-educated workers by dean of institutional effectiveness, ta used a self-evaluation tool from 2030. With demand for jobs like its enrollment strategy was just the Council for Adult and Experiential forestry in decline, and others “who showed up.” Learning to assess its readiness to such as healthcare and IT on the That changed a few years ago, serve adults. It discovered that fix- rise, Shasta College is one when local public-health agencies tures like its rich but potentially con- institution trying to help adults noted the connections between res- fusing array of degree offerings and retool. Meanwhile, Gov. Jerry idents’ poor health and a lack of weekday remedial classes from 10 Brown just requested $100 higher education. The two-year col- a.m. to 2 p.m. were discouraging the lege began to see itself as a cata- very students it wanted to reach. million from the state legislature lyst for improving public health and In the fall of 2016, Shasta created to establish a new competen- promoting economic development a new program with structured sched- cy-based, online community — and officials there realized that ules, a limited choice of courses, and college that would nearly one-third of adults in the three built-in coaching designed especially offer sub-associate-degree surrounding counties had attended for adults. It’s called ACE, for Associ- credentials for working learners. Shasta or another institution but ate Completion in the Evenings. “It’s never earned a degree. ‘guided pathways’ on steroids,” says “The typical trajectory was: Go to Tanner, referring to the practice now high school, and then go to Shas- in use at many community colleges to ta for some classes,” Mahar says. help students see clearer routes to Some of the students who left would degrees. eventually enroll in online courses at The average age of the ACE stu- institutions like Arizona State Univer- dents is 30, and 70 percent are wom- sity or the University of Phoenix, but en. They typically take two eight-week plenty found jobs in logging, retail, or courses at a time, meeting in person other work that didn’t require a de- two evenings a week. The program gree. Long term, because of injuries also offers also four- and five-week

22 t he a d ult s t ud e n t the chronicle of higher education SHASTA COLLEGE ACE students prepare for class. classes online. The structure doesn’t homa working in Lowe’s and Home The format of the ACE program work for everyone: Out of 49 stu- Depot stores, she is now a depart- makes a degree seem attainable. dents in the first cohort, 17 left. But ment manager for fabrics and crafts Finishing a course every five or eight 18 have graduated, and the rest are at Walmart. “I stock a lot of yarn,” weeks, “there’s a sense of accom- still enrolled. Since then, 100 more she says. Walmart offers its em- plishment,” Spencer says. With eight students have signed up. ployees discounted tuition at the courses to go, she’s already making For students like Lisa Spencer, 52, for-profit American Public University, plans to pursue a bachelor’s degree who works full time during the day but Spencer says that even so, the through an online program at Califor- and happens to live three miles from courses would cost thousands more nia State University at Chico. the campus, the program is a perfect than she pays at Shasta. Spencer’s experience at Shasta fit. “It’s like they designed the whole Her dream, she says, is to work for has also given her 23-year-old daugh- thing for me,” she says. the local government. Over the years, ter the college bug. The young woman Spencer had dabbled at a com- she has applied and interviewed for works two jobs now, and her mother munity college after high school, office jobs but never managed to land says she wants her to go to college if back in the early 1980s, but never one. That convinced her, she says, and when “she’s ready, so she appre- went very far toward a degree. Af- that without a degree, “I was proba- ciates it.” But, she adds, “I hope she ter 25 years in California and Okla- bly going to work retail ’til I died.” doesn’t wait until she’s 50.”

23 the chronicle of higher education t he a d ult s t ud e n t SECTION 2

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24 t he a d ult s t ud e n t the chronicle of higher education Strategies to Serve the Adult Population

igher education’s created by the institutions themselves — and attention to adults has are in their power to remove. come in waves, with Land-grant institutions were the first to different types of insti- extend a college education to a mass audi- tutions taking the lead ence, inspired by the Wisconsin Idea and over time. This section other notions of higher education’s public will highlight how col- purpose. That was followed in the 1920s and leges have historically ’30s by Roman Catholic colleges’ and other served adults, exam- urban institutions’ creation of “night schools” ine the economic and largely for workers and immigrants, and often technological forces offering more practical subjects than what prompting many insti- younger students from more-elite back- tutions to rethink their grounds were studying. The years after World approaches, and dis- War II, of course, brought another burst of sect the cultural and attention with the GI Bill. According to a study financial challenges to by Carol E. Kasworm, a noted scholar of adult doing so. Many of the barriers that keep adults education, nearly 500,000 veterans enrolled Hfrom enrolling and succeeding in college are in college in 1945-46, representing more than the chronicle of higher education t he a d ult s t ud e n t 25 2.1: WHICH INSTITUTIONS DRAW THE MOST ADULTS? These lists display institutions in descending order of the a quarter of the undergraduate number of undergraduates age 25 and over enrolled in the population. By the following fall 2015 semester. The percentage shown is the share of year, about half of the 2.3 million adults in the undergraduate population at that time. students enrolled at any level of Share of higher education were veterans. FOUR-YEAR PUBLIC COLLEGES undergraduates That experience signaled to age 25 and over many traditional institutions that U. of Maryland-University College 79% the skills and life experience that older students brought with them Miami Dade College 32% called for different approaches to Santa Ana College 57% teaching, an idea that would be St. Petersburg College 50% popularized as “andragogy” two Broward College 36% decades later by the academic U. of Texas at Arlington 47% and author Malcolm S. Knowles. College of Southern Nevada 42% The next surge in adult-serving efforts came quickly, first Valencia College 27% with the growth of public com- Florida International U. 28% munity colleges in the 1960s, Florida State College at Jacksonville 43% and then with the emergence in U. of Central Florida 20% the early ‘70s of experimental Arizona State U.-Skysong 66% institutions like Empire State College, part of the State Uni- Thomas Edison State U. 87% versity of New York system, and Utah Valley U. 29% DePaul University’s School for Palm Beach State College 31% New Learning. Taking a page State U. of New York Empire College 82% from the recommendations of Portland State U. 40% the Carnegie Commission on Metropolitan State U. of Denver 43% Non-Traditional Study at the time, these places were among FOUR-YEAR PRIVATE NON-PROFIT COLLEGES the first to adopt the practice of granting credit for what students Western Governors U. 93% already knew. Excelsior College 91% Pamela J. Tate, then an Southern New Hampshire U. 73% academic at SUNY at New Paltz Liberty U. 61% and today the president of the Brigham Young U.-Idaho 45% Council for Adult and Experien- tial Learning (CAEL), recalls the Baker College at Flint 56% era as a time of great innovation Keiser U. at Ft Lauderdale 73% in adult education, fueled by a Columbia College 76% healthy infusion of money from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical U. Extended 88% states, federal grant programs, Campus and foundations. Some 40 insti- Saint Leo U. 70% tutions started colleges or other Park U. 75% programs aimed at adults during Everest U. South Orlando Campus (Fla.) 81% this period, says Tate. “It was an Indiana Wesleyan U. 65% access and justice mission” that drove the movement, she says, National U. 73% a marked difference from today, Wilmington U. 60% when the rationale is more often Bellevue U. 82% linked to the economic needs of Indiana Tech 70% individuals, or of states and the Independence U. 76% nation. Many of the experimental Franklin U. 86% Source: Chronicle analysis of U.S. Department of Education data

26 t he a d ult s t ud e n t the chronicle of higher education institutions are still active: Excelsior College, education (CBE), and either fully online or formerly Regents College, enrolls more than hybrid courses that mix distance education 36,000 adult undergraduates. The several with face-to-face instruction. public institutions known as “completion Advocates for adult learners argue that colleges” created between 1969 and ‘72 — prior-learning assessment in particular is Charter Oak State and Granite State Colleges, not being used as extensively as it could be, and Governors State and Thomas Edison State despite efforts by groups like CAEL to promote Universities — recently formed a coalition to it. While specific approaches vary, the con- promote their approach. cept involves evaluating and awarding credit, Today the landscape is even more varied. often through portfolios and tests, for educa- A major influence since the late 1990s has tion acquired through experience outside a been the for-profit-college sector. During their formal classroom. Even at institutions that do boom, proprietary institutions dominated give credit for prior learning, it’s often avail- adult-student enrollment. They developed so- able only for certain programs or in certain phisticated, if in some cases overly aggressive, schools (for example, New York University’s recruiting tactics; innovations in scheduling, division of applied undergraduate studies). On such as compressing courses into accelerated the surface, the hesitancy is understandable: formats of five to eight weeks, appealing to Colleges are often reluctant to grant credit for working adults short on time; and of course courses taken at other institutions, much less the extensive use of online education. All of for knowledge with no college at all behind those are now increasingly common tools it. Winning over faculty members who are for serving adult students across all of higher skeptical of the concept or suspicious of the education. rigor of the assessment process is often a bar- With several major for-profit-college rier. Department chairs, deans, and provosts companies now shuttered and others de- can also be resistant because granting credit cidedly smaller, a new set of institutions has through PLA may mean forgoing tuition reve- begun to command the market. Liberty and nue. But advocates say a study by CAEL should Southern New Hampshire Universities have relieve the financial fears at least: It found that transformed their enrollment profiles with a students who enroll with PLA end up taking fast-growing online presence. Western Gover- more courses at the institution than those who nors University was created for adult students, do not. using a competency-based model heavily In a similar spirit, competency-based reliant on mentors. Students over the age of 24 education allows students to progress at their account for 60 to more than 90 percent of un- own pace by demonstrating what they can do dergraduates at those institutions and dozens instead of hewing to the timeline of a semes- of others. ter. While questions linger over how such Still, across all colleges and universities, programs comport with federal student-aid the pattern of adult enrollment is markedly regulations that still use the “credit hour” as uneven. While adults make up 27 percent of the measure of students’ academic progress, all undergraduates nationally, only one-third hundreds of institutions are now either offer- of private-four-year colleges enroll adults at ing competency-based degrees or planning to that rate or higher. Among public four-year do so. Among them, the University of Wis- colleges, less than one-third do. The for-profit consin-Extension, a pioneer in adult learning, sector, meanwhile, still attracts mainly adults: now offers more than a half-dozen competen- Nearly all proprietary institutions enroll cy-based certificates and degrees; the for-profit adults at at least the national rate. Capella University offers dozens. Weekend colleges were another common strategy in the 1980s and ‘90s especially, but Tools and Strategies in recent years, many institutions with such programs have shifted to an online or hybrid Three of the tools most often associated model. Bay Path University, one of at least a with adult-oriented programs are prior-learn- dozen women’s colleges that now run special ing assessment (PLA), competency-based undergraduate programs for adults, used to

the chronicle of higher education t he a d ult s t ud e n t 27 have three locations around the state for its tem that each offer interdisciplinary degrees American Women’s College weekend pro- designed for adult students recently formed a grams. But even with average annual enroll- consortium to share courses. ment growth of 11 percent over the past five Another approach, dubbed the “dedicat- years, officials decided to close one of the sites, ed distance cohort” model by its creators at noting students’ preference for online options. Nightingale College, a proprietary nursing Bay Path now relies on peer mentoring and school in Salt Lake City, also shows promise — social-media groups organized around disci- and perhaps signals that the for-profit-college sector’s days as an adult-student innovator aren’t behind it. In partnership with community hospitals and other health-care To collect the best information and cultivate broad facilities, Nightingale offers associate and bachelor’s degrees buy-in for a campuswide re-evaluation of its approach to in nursing. The courses are adult students, the University of La Verne has involved its taught by Nightingale instruc- tors, with Nightingale equip- Adjunct Advisory Council, whose members work closely ment, in the local facilities. The three-year-old program is still with adult students. small, enrolling 360 students across six sites in three states. And the distributed approach has allowed Nightingale to reach plines to help foster a sense of community. students, whose average age is 32, where they At many institutions looking to bring back live, in cohorts as small as five, and to custom- near-completers and others with some aca- ize the program to meet local communities’ demic credit, degree-completion programs, needs. Because the labs aren’t designed to be with titles like associate or bachelor’s in liberal permanent, the college’s president, Mikhail studies, have been a go-to approach. An effort Shneyder, says, “We literally can pick up and by the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher leave when the need is met.” He believes the Education adds a dimension: The 10-year-old model could easily be adapted to other fields, bachelor’s in organizational leadership, aimed in health care and beyond. at students with at least 72 credits under their All of these moves have something in belt, has a 10-course core curriculum devel- common. They reflect a new — and clearly still oped by faculty members from eight different evolving — understanding of “convenience.” institutions. Students typically take those 30 Adult-learning consultants like Aslanian core credits from their designated home insti- Market Research report that college clients are tution, but may turn to any college in the net- now rethinking the roles of satellite campuses work to register for a course when they need they established decades ago. Where conve- it, which also frees up the various campuses nience might once have required a physical from duplicating one another’s offerings. The location, today different course formats, year- 18 remaining credits the degree requires can round schedules, and collaborative degrees come from whichever institution the students can be far more satisfying to adult students — choose. The board evaluates the program as and potentially more cost-effective for institu- a collaborative effort, encouraging the insti- tions. tutions to work together rather than vie for students. “It’s not a competition,” says Debbie Blanke, the regents’ associate vice chancellor Institutional Reckonings for academic affairs. Since starting the program, Oklahoma Leaders at Bay Path created what is now added a similar one at the associate level. And called American Women’s College, in 1999, the approach has inspired imitators: Five cam- out of necessity. The number of traditional-age puses in the University of North Carolina sys- students was falling, and the university need-

28 t he a d ult s t ud e n t the chronicle of higher education ed to diversify its enrollment by attracting he ponders whether and how to reach out to more adults. Today many other colleges — what he recognizes as a large pool of potential whether facing imminent enrollment declines adult students. Can St. John’s offer courses or in anticipation of changes to come — are with tuition that would appeal to a price-sen- grappling with the same problem, particularly sitive market? Will it need to retrain advisers? in the Northeast and Midwest. How much would it have to adapt its existing Facing urgent challenges, some insti- curriculum, heavy on arts and sciences, to tutions have swiftly created new programs include the programs in health sciences, and marketing campaigns aimed at adults, business, and information technology that are as the University of Northern Michigan just most likely to appeal to adult students? And did in medicinal-plant chemistry and autism with a relatively small online footprint now, studies, and Urbana University, in Ohio, is could St. John’s find niches that would let it now doing with its Urbana Works program, even attempt to compete with institutions like bringing courses to people’s workplaces. Both Arizona State and Southern New Hampshire institutions have had declines in enrollment: Universities and University of Maryland Uni- Northern Michigan’s fell to 7,000 from 9,200 versity College, which already enjoy first-mov- over the past eight years, and Urbana was er advantage in online education? saved from extinction by a 2014 merger with St. John’s will be answering those ques- Franklin University. “If we don’t change, we tions and others over the next year, and Gem- die,” says Fritz J. Erickson, president of North- pesaw already has a few ideas. He expects the ern Michigan. primary market, at least at first, will be return- When enrollment and financial challeng- ing students who already know St. John’s, and es aren’t as dire, a different set of questions Roman Catholic students who will be most comes into play. St. John’s University is at that comfortable with its Vincentian mission. The crossroads now. The 21,000-student institution president has spoken with his counterparts in in Queens, N.Y., is bracing for both a declin- the region about ways they might collaborate ing pool of 18- to 24-year-olds and increasing on adult programs. Mindful of Arizona State’s competition from public colleges, because of partnership with Starbucks, which has helped the state’s generous new “tuition-free degree” that university lower its recruitment costs by program. That gives the president, Conrado establishing a pipeline of prospective stu- (Bobby) Gempesaw, lots to think about as dents, he’s exploring whether St. John’s could

2.2: ADULT ENROLLMENT BY SECTOR Community colleges enroll the greatest share of adult students; the for-profit sector attracts a similar proportion as private nonprofit institutions.

Public 2-year Public 4-year Private nonprofit Private for-profit .5% Total Under 18 61% 29% 9% 1,055,371 18-24 31% 48% 19% 3% 11,065,583 25-34 43% 30% 12% 14% 2,881,634 35-49 45% 23% 16% 17% 1,518,076

50-64 50% 18% 16% 14% 434,424 Percentages do not add up to 100 due to rounding.

Source: Chronicle analysis of National Center for Education Statistics, 2015 figures

the chronicle of higher education t he a d ult s t ud e n t 29 develop a similar relationship with 2.3: MAKING IT THROUGH COLLEGE companies in New York City or else- Adult students are less likely to complete a credential where. “The importance of partnerships within six years than are traditional-age students, although is key,” he says. “Just saying, ‘This is a big the disparities vary by sector. market,’” without thinking through the Age at first entry 20 and under Over 24 specifics is a mistake.

TOTAL Structural Questions Completed 62% 42% For colleges looking to enter the adult-student market, intensify their ef- Still enrolled 12% 9% forts, or shift their approach, some of the key strategic decisions come down to Not enrolled 26% structure. It’s more than a bureaucratic 49% matter. Structure has implications for crucial questions about business mod- TWO-YEAR PUBLIC els, academic quality, student services, and marketing. Completed 41% 33% Historically, colleges have taken one of three basic approaches to structure. Still enrolled 17% 10% • Offer programs for adult students Not enrolled 42% within the college — and hope that 57% professors and advisers are flexible enough to serve them alongside tra- FOUR-YEAR PUBLIC ditional-age students.

Completed 68% • Create a separate adult unit that re- 49% lies on faculty from various depart- Still enrolled 12% ments or schools — and put up with 9% the inevitable turf wars to get professors to teach the right courses at the Not enrolled 21% 43% right times in the right formats. FOUR-YEAR PRIVATE NONPROFIT • Develop a fully separate college for adults within the institution with Completed 79% its own faculty, procedures, and in 62% many cases, a separate business model — and deal with jealousies Still enrolled 7.4% 6.7% if the division is profitable, and re- sentments if some faculty members Not enrolled 14% see the adult college as academically 32% inferior. FOUR-YEAR PRIVATE FOR PROFIT Recently, more models have Completed 41% emerged. 36% Take the adult-focused Brandman University, in southern California. It Still enrolled 13% 9% broke off from Chapman University, and since 2008 has been a separate and Not enrolled 46% independently accredited institution. 55% While Chapman is still a traditional Source: National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, Fall 2011 cohort

30 t he a d ult s t ud e n t the chronicle of higher education research university, Brandman now enrolls taking a deep re-evaluation. Rather than spin about 12,000 students, the vast majority of off a college, La Verne has appointed dozens of them over age 24, and offers self-paced, com- faculty and staff members to examine a range petency-based programs, fully online courses, of policies and practices there that may be ob- and hybrid courses that are each eight weeks stacles to enrolling more adults. The items up long, with 21 hours of online instruction and a for debate include general-education require- three-hour class one night a week. ments, transfer policies, tuition pricing, and Last year Purdue University acquired the financial aid. for-profit Kaplan University, further breaking La Verne’s president, Devorah A. Lieber- the mold. Purdue has described the deal as a man, says she recognizes that some policies way to both jump-start its online efforts and that appeal to traditional-age students may reach more adult students — with career-fo- not suit adults, and that maintaining the cused programs that the main campus doesn’t existing structure may limit the university’s offer, and a national profile that its regional flexibility. But she believes La Verne can find campuses don’t enjoy. The new institution, to ways to reconcile all that. “We’d rather decide be called Purdue University Global, will be right now, with these tensions, and do it in a run by an independent board including sever- way that we’re a whole university,” she says. al Purdue trustees. Kaplan Inc., the company That way, “we always have our values and our that owned Kaplan University, will maintain quality education.” some influence over operations as the hands- La Verne, St. John’s, and dozens of other on manager of technology, marketing, and colleges now weighing new degree programs recruitment. are just some of the institutions developing To be sure, there is no single right and expanding their adult-student strategies. model. Gary Brahm, president and CEO of In the last year, CAEL has seen a sharp in- Brandman, favors his because it allows the crease in the number of institutions that have new university to focus all of its efforts — elected to use its Adult Learner 360 self-eval- from advising to curricula — on the needs uation process to assess their strengths and of adult learners. But those considering a weaknesses. Of the 155 institutions that have gone through the process in the last five years, 60 did so in 2017. CAEL and the other major national group focused on adult students, the University To ensure that students don’t miss out on Professional and Continuing Education As- career services, Colorado State University- sociation (UPCEA), report additional signs of interest. With the rise in online learning for Global Campus periodically gives adults, a number of institutions are folding their adult-serving operations into divisions assignments in its courses that require that oversee distance education. There are connecting with the career center. good reasons to go that route; for one, it can be more cost-effective. But there are possible downsides, too. Marketing for adults should be different than for traditional undergraduates and graduate students, and the distance-edu- similar model, he says, shouldn’t underesti- cation unit may not appreciate that distinction mate the effort of building brand awareness or have the necessary expertise. The services for a new institution. and pricing most appealing to the target mar- Another southern California institution kets might also differ. with a tradition of serving older students, the A single division may be able to han- University of La Verne, plans to take a different dle that broad portfolio, but as many in approach to reinvigorating its adult programs. the field warn, when colleges decide that For decades it has relied on satellite campuses serving adults is everybody’s business, it and, more recently, company-based programs, often becomes nobody’s business. No one but the 8,300-student La Verne is now under- entity is held accountable. At the same time,

the chronicle of higher education t he a d ult s t ud e n t 31 adult-serving units, even those that generate of an accelerated format could involve addi- profits, often don’t have as much political tional faculty development and perhaps some clout within their institutions as do other internal politicking, too. schools or colleges. A new pricing model for adult students could involve not only lower tuition, but a different way of collecting it. Western Gover- Price, Quality, and Value nors University relies on subscription pricing, what one consultant calls “the Netflix Depending on the structure a college model,” because students there work at their adopts for its adult-serving programs, it may own pace. StraighterLine, a private com- follow a different academic calendar, one more pany that offers low-cost online courses for aligned with the accelerated formats that which many colleges grant academic credit, adults seem to prefer. The programs might also also follows that model. StraighterLine adds have a different pricing model. For institutions another feature for busy adult students: a where longer semesters have been the norm, stop-out option that lets them pause their getting everybody on board with the concept subscriptions when work piles up, or they

FORUM Barriers to Starting and Finishing

College Teresa Renee Elsa M. Julie Lubbers McCreight Núñez Peller Advocates and Indiana commissioner Senior director of Graduate President of Eastern Founding Executive director leaders explain for higher education Memphis, an organization Connecticut State University of Higher Learning Advo- what stands in the that supports adult students cates, a nonprofit group We must work harder Adult students need focused on policy change way of enrolling to convince workers Forty-three percent of courses scheduled at Most federal policies and retaining more who currently have a our adult learners cite times when they aren’t simply were not de- undergraduate adult job that completing a finances as the primary working — evenings, signed for today’s stu- postsecondary creden- barrier to enrollment or weekends, online — students. dents. Adults often must tial is crucial to ensuring re-enrollment. It is in the times that fall outside needlessly return to the they can compete for best interest of institu- traditional faculty work- starting gate. Income, better opportunities in a tions to better educate loads. financial obligations, dynamic job market. students on financial obligations on the front end changes in enrollment, to minimize withdrawals and past academic and and potentially increase financial performance completion rates. factor into aid rules and regulations, complicating the road to accessing and retaining financial assistance.

32 t he a d ult s t ud e n t the chronicle of higher education have a family emergency. nancially possible,” he writes. Colleges don’t Affordability is important to all students, typically calculate their costs that granular- but especially adults, who are more likely to ly, he says. “But there is no reason we cannot be forgoing income to enroll. The president of do so.” Charter Oak State College, Edward Klonoski, An elephant in the room for adult-serving has argued that the adult student’s return on programs is quality. Because the programs investment must be much more immediate often have more-flexible admissions stan- than the traditional-age student’s. To that dards, accelerated time frames, and degrees end, colleges ought to apply a different finan- organized around such topics as leadership cial model. Rather than assume a program’s rather than traditional disciplines, they’re profitability based on a student consuming sometimes viewed with suspicion, even — or 120 credits, Klonoski recommends calculat- especially — by faculty members at the same ing costs and revenue based on the unit of institution. a credit, not a degree. “If we know that each Many colleges’ reliance on adjunct faculty credit has some level of profitability, then to teach adult-oriented courses adds to the integrating lower-cost credits becomes fi- concerns, because adjuncts tend to get less

Scott Pam Burck Henry Pamela J. Pulsipher Eddinger Smith Smith Tate President of Western President of Bunker Hill CEO of StraighterLine, Former president of Indiana President of the Council Governors University Community College an online course provider Wesleyan University for Adult and Experiential Learning The prospect of return- We have made a con- Improving adult enroll- Mission ambiguity is the ing can result in great vincing case that college ment and retention root cause for the lack A less-talked-about anxiety. And, if re-en- credentials lead to social requires colleges to offer of success serving adult barrier, but a significant rolling adults clear that and economic mobility. greater convenience, students. Unspoken one, is the fear of failure emotional hurdle, they Our adult learners have lower prices, and lower missions rule the day! many adults face as may find themselves heeded the call, but we risk. For adults with At some institutions the they consider higher academically atrophied must help them survive unpredictable lives, unwritten, hidden mis- education. Counseling and unprepared to per- the process. Employ- being able to start and sion is to serve tradition- and career-navigation sist and graduate. While ment, food, housing, and stop without financial or al-age, residential young support and other individualized faculty child care are prereq- academic penalty makes people. Simply changing early interventions are engagement can provide uisites to academic prog- perfect sense. Howev- the mission statement essential if colleges are needed remediation ress — not the other er, such behavior at a to include words and to retain and graduate for academics, such as way around. college is a dropout — phrases that include adult students in larger math and writing, helping punishing both students adults is important, but numbers. adult students develop and colleges. not sufficient. the resiliency and perse- verance, aka “grit,” is far more difficult.

the chronicle of higher education t he a d ult s t ud e n t 33 QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER

As colleges evaluate their IS your institution prepared to assess students’ prior readiness to recruit, enroll, and teach adult students, learning and award credit for it? How widespread is the here are some key questions for officials to acceptance of such prior-learning assessment (PLA) consider. throughout your institution? If PLA is part your strategy to enroll more adults, how are you developing buy-in from faculty members?

HOW willing is your institution to consider curricular alterations to attract more adult students? How can you ensure that any adult-focused programs you do add incorporate the same high-impact practices that the rest of your undergraduates may experience?

IS your faculty prepared to teach both traditional-age and adult students, to respond to the cyclical nature of adult enrollment? Do your faculty-development programs include training on andragogy, or effective approaches to teaching adults?

HAVE you considered collaborating with peer institutions to offer courses that would together constitute an adult-oriented certificate or degree program?

34 t he a d ult s t ud e n t the chronicle of higher education support from institutions and are less likely the Graduate! Network, a national advocacy to have time for students outside of class. But group for adult students. Too often, Scobey full-time, tenured professors may also need to and others contend, adult programs fail to up their game to teach a broader population of emphasize such practices as project-based students. When the college-going population learning, undergraduate research, and others was more elite, says Gail Mellow, president of considered effective by studies like the Nation- LaGuardia Community College, “even if you al Survey of Student Engagement and promot- were a god-awful professor, it didn’t matter.” ed by groups like the Association of American But today, she says, it’s faculty members who Colleges & Universities. need more education to be sure their tech- The upshot? Academic leaders must niques work, and their diverse students are all strike a delicate balance. They need to create learning. programs that are appealing and accessi- While colleges’ effectiveness in teaching ble to adults while ensuring their academic adults has not been a topic of much research, rigor. And the programs should incorporate academics in the field say the recent focus on high-impact educational practices that take integrating high-impact educational practices advantage of the experience and context into the traditional undergraduate experience adults bring to the classroom. needs to be extended further. “Adult students Colleges, however, aren’t the only im- are not getting a first-class, engaged educa- portant players. As Section 3 will show, states, tion,” says David Scobey, a former professor at employers, industries, and community orga- the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor and nizations can all help adult students get the Bates College who is now a senior scholar at education they need.

the chronicle of higher education t he a d ult s t ud e n t 35 CASE STUDY

Pursuing a Statewide Attainment Goal Takes More Than a Catchy Campaign

Educational attainment in he third time was the charm the students had abandoned. Tennessee falls short of the for the University of Memphis. Two years later, the university tried national average, and well below Spurred in part by a change again with a program called Experi- the state’s “Drive to 55” goal for in the state funding formula ence Counts, only to discover that that rewards institutions with many of the students it was hoping at least 55 percent of the adult extra money for the adults to reach had already exhausted their population to have a postsecond- (and low-income students) eligibility for federal student aid. A ary degree or certificate by 2025. they enroll, the university began re- semester later, under a new program The current rate is about 41 cruitingT former students in 2011 with called Finish Line, Memphis began to percent. Without more adults in a campaign it called Back on Track. get the formula right. the mix — about a quarter- Even though it recruited students who Until then, the university’s message million of them — the state can’t were just 30 credits shy of a degree, to students was essentially, “Nothing even come close. It has been it was mostly a bust. The reason: The has really changed at the institution pulling out all the stops to attract educational experience Memphis was since you left,” says Tracy Robinson, more adults: New programs offer offering wasn’t different from the one who oversees the latest program. “We free tuition at community and technical colleges, and a statewide campaign called Tennessee Reconnect encourages people with some college experience to re-enroll. Still, as the University of Memphis has learned, it takes more than slogans to bring adults back

UNIVERSITY OF MEMPHIS A Finish Line graduate celebrates at commencement.

36 t he f u t ur e of t he d e g r e e the chronicle of higher education really didn’t give them anything entic- would have paid about $4,500 in tu- governors from different political ing.” ition. “That cost savings resonates, parties, and grass-roots efforts have Scholarships are part of the new even with students who aren’t get- also supported a focus on adult stu- approach. But it mostly distinguish- ting our scholarship,” says Robin- dents statewide. es itself from the others with ded- son. Memphis faculty members have Along with the state-funding-for- icated advisers — Memphis calls also evaluated the corporate-training mula incentive to colleges to enroll them “completion concierges” — programs offered by local compa- adult students, a network of Tennes- whose job is to find students “the nies like FedEx and First Tennessee see Reconnect Ambassadors helps clearest, shortest, most effi- advise adults on their college op- cient path” to a degree. An tions and, in some cases, assists Academic Fresh Start option them in resolving defaults on their allows returning students to prior student debt. So far the am- exclude prior Fs or Ds from Without about a quarter- bassadors have counseled some their new GPA, so, as Robin- 13,000 adults. The program is son puts it, “they don’t have modeled after the national Grad- to pay for their past mis- million adults in the mix, uate! Network; Tennessee is the takes.” first to try that approach state- And there’s a concerted Tennessee can't come wide. effort to help students gain Beginning in the fall 2018, the credit for prior learning at state plans to extend its popular the lowest possible price. close to its 55 percent free-community-college program The university asked fac- for traditional-age students, the ulty members to evaluate attainment goal by 2025. Tennessee Promise, to adults. free online courses offered In anticipation of Adult Promise, through Saylor Academy, each college is expected to estab- and now encourages Finish lish a Reconnect Team, to train Line students to take nine of faculty and staff members for the them for academic credit. Students Bank, and students can now earn up influx of adults; and to provide each may also pursue additional credit to 30 credits for such options. student with a personalized Recon- for prior learning by submitting port- Finish Line enrolls about 350 stu- nect Success Plan (parents, for ex- folios reflecting their experience for dents; their average age is 36, com- ample, will get information on nearby evaluation under previously estab- pared with 27 in the general campus child care). lished state standards. population. Two factors have helped The goal, says Jessica Gibson, as- Students using such flexible op- the program succeed. One is buy-in sistant executive director for adult tions have earned an average of 11 from university leadership, Robinson learner initiatives at the Tennessee credit hours at an average total cost notes (Memphis even sent recruit- Higher Education Commission, is of $1,800. Taking only University ment emails from the provost). And simple: “To help adults feel secure of Memphis courses, the students state lawmakers, two successive that people are looking out for them.

the chronicle of higher education t he f u t ur e of t he d e g r e e 37 SECTION 3

iStock

38 t he a d ult s t ud e n t the chronicle of higher education Building Networks

olleges can’t power or to encourage former students who never sustain an adult-student earned a degree to go back for it, or to moti- movement on their own. vate adults who haven’t attended college to That will require new give it a try. In many cases, states are uniquely ideas, advocacy, mon- positioned for that. Legislatively and adminis- ey, and a willingness to tratively, they control the policy and funding collaborate. This section levers that can help colleges enroll more adult will describe the roles that students. policy makers, employers, Among other states, Tennessee uses community organizations, its college-funding formula to reward in- and others can play. To be stitutions that enroll more adults. That most effective, colleges can be an effective incentive, but it doesn’t cannot overlook opportu- guarantee results. In Ohio, the perfor- nities to engage with those mance-based-funding formula has included players in this evolving a provision rewarding colleges for enrolling ecosystem. students age 25 and older since 2012. But Brett Visger, associate vice chancellor at the state Department of Higher Education, isn’t sure State Incentives and Obstacles of the effect on enrollment: “I can’t say we’ve seen a tremendous change.” Many colleges CState governments can be integral to spur- seem more focused on dual-enrollment ring adults to enroll or re-enroll in college. programs for high-school students, he says. But state policies can also create some of the Ohio has not undertaken a statewide market- biggest impediments to adult students. ing campaign aimed at adult students, but Support from state legislatures and agen- officials there set a goal of 65 percent post- cies, as this report has previously discussed, secondary educational attainment by 2025, often takes the form of a statewide campaign up from 44 percent today. “There is no way we

the chronicle of higher education t he a d ult s t ud e n t 39 will reach our goal,” says Visger, “unless we policies favor traditional-age students, delib- are purposeful in reaching adults.” erately or not. For instance, several states, and Sometimes states set their sights on in- notably their recent free-college programs, stitutional obstacles. As part of Mississippi’s make aid available only to recent high-school Complete 2 Compete program, state educa- graduates. And often aid programs are des- tion leaders urged several public colleges to ignated for full-time students. Six in 10 adult lift a cap on the number of credits they would undergraduates attend part time. accept for military courses and to waive rules Both the Education Commission of the that had required students to take at least States (ECS) and the Center for Postsecondary 30 percent of their credits at the institution and Economic Success (CLASP) have recently awarding them a degree. issued reports detailing how state student-aid States also hold much of the data needed policies hinder adult educational attainment. to reach prospective adult students. In the Among other issues, ECS notes that states that case of Indiana’s You Can. Go Back. campaign, award their aid on a rolling basis or set an the state hired a marketing firm to contact early deadline for applications may be penal- people with some college experience. State izing adult students, who tend not to follow involvement can also run deeper. In Tennes- the traditional admissions cycle. And many see, where the adult-student movement has states’ aid-calculation formulas, CLASP points gained traction, state employees are trained as out, fail to take into account the full cost of “ambassadors” to advise colleagues in various attendance for adults, including expenses like state agencies on the ins and outs of enrolling childcare. Each state determines for itself how in college under the Tennessee Reconnect to support its residents, but with states now program. collectively awarding some $12 billion in stu- While some states — including Indiana, dent aid annually, their policy decisions have a Maine, Minnesota, and Tennessee — set aside powerful impact. financial aid for adult students, many others’ Beyond student aid, states have other

3.1: STATE BY STATE: SOME COLLEGE, NO CREDENTIAL

Many states and institutions are trying to locate students who started college but never finished, as this population is vital to the goal of increasing postsecondary educational attainment. Here is the estimated share of adults in each state with some college, no degree, and no high-quality certificate, as defined by the Lumina Foundation.

23% 20 21% 21% 20% 20% 20% 19% 19% 18% 18% 18% 16% 16% 16% 16% 15% 15% 15% 14% 13% 13% 13% 13% 13% 12% 10

7% Alaska Ala. Ariz. Ark. Calif. Colo. Conn. Del. Fla. Ga. Hawaii Idaho Ill. Ind. Iowa Kan. Ky. La. Maine Md. Mass. Mich. Minn. Miss. Mo. Mont. 0

Source: Lumina Foundation, "A Stronger Nation," 2018

40 t he a d ult s t ud e n t the chronicle of higher education opportunities to set the agenda. They can Employers as Partners help ensure that public institutions are prepared to serve adult students, by specify- Even with broad support from state gov- ing or incentivizing the adoption of appro- ernments, employers’ attitudes and policies priate academic programs and schedules, on professional development and educational or — as Complete College America recently assistance can make or break an adult-enroll- recommended — by establishing statewide ment campaign. That’s a lesson Sarah Ancel standards for prior-learning assessment. learned at the Indiana Commission on Higher States can also meet local needs by stream- Education and applied to CCA’s recent rec- lining the process for college students to file ommendations on adult students. They may for government food aid and other public feel inspired to go back to college, but if the assistance. employer isn’t supportive, says Ancel, a senior In many parts of the country, states could vice president for the group, “that postcard better fund the community colleges and goes into the trash.” regional public universities that serve many Employer support can take many forms: adults. Many such institutions face signifi- flexibility on work schedules, on-site space for cant financial challenges, especially in rural college courses, even expertise in developing areas, where they may be the only option for courses and degree programs. students. Financial support, though, is the primary Finally, states can effectively coordinate way employers can contribute. Yet the propor- with employers on campaigns to encourage tion of employers that provide undergraduate adult students to pursue higher education, as educational assistance has declined in the last Complete College America (CCA) laid out in five years, according to the Society for Human its new recommendations “A Better Deal for Resource Management. During negotiations Returning Adults.” That’s if, the group says, over the 2017 federal tax bill, lawmakers colleges are ready to serve them. considered eliminating the provision that

22% 22% 20 20% 20% 20% 20% 18% 18% 17% 17% 17% 17% 17% 17% 17% 16% 16% 16% 16% 16% 15% 15% 14% 14% 13% 10 Neb. Nev. N.H. N.J. N.M. N.Y. N.C. N.D. National Ohio Okla. Ore. Pa. R.I. S.C. S.D. Tenn. Texas Utah Vt. Va. Wash. W.Va. Wis. Wyo. 0

the chronicle of higher education t he a d ult s t ud e n t 41 tuition benefits has since increased to more than 1,000. Cook pays tuition to the college 3.2: TUITION ASSISTANCE RATES when the employee registers for a course, Fewer employers are providing education and if students get a D or lower, they have to benefits to their employees. repay the money (but if they leave the company within a year, they no longer do). The 61% program also helps employees earn a high- 56% school equivalency diploma. Dan Peterson, 53% vice president for industry and government affairs, says the company hopes My Cook Pathway will meet some of its hiring needs from within.

The Role of Industries

Enthusiastic employers — say, manufacturing companies or government agencies 2013 2015 2017 — are important partners for colleges de- Source: Society for Human Resource Management, 2017 Employee Benefits report veloping adult programs. But building those relationships one by one is time-consuming. A strategy that can get programs up and running or increase enrollment faster, as some high- allows individuals to deduct up to $5,250 in er-education leaders have found, is partnering employer-paid tuition benefits. The deduction with industry groups or business consortia. ultimately survived, but it still can’t be applied The approach is attractive on the industry to certain educational expenses, like the cost side because it can help fill skilled positions of prior-learning assessment. The cap also has in growing and specialized fields. And on the not increased since 1986, while the price of college side, it can bolster adult enrollment higher education has soared. Most employers even in a stronger economy. that offer tuition assistance limit annual reim- Rio Salado College, the online arm of the bursements to $5,250. Maricopa Community College system, has The common practice of reimbursing pursued several such partnerships. In one employees for tuition rather than providing an with the insurance industry, students can upfront payment poses problems for lower-in- earn an insurance-studies certificate that come adults. That is a major criticism of the qualifies them for the key certification in that vaunted Starbucks arrangement with Arizona field and is also worth 18 credits toward an State University, in which the company picks associate degree. The newly elected sheriff in up the portion of employees’ tuition at the uni- Maricopa County is encouraging officers who versity not covered by student aid. Ancel, for have completed the 39-credit police acade- one, says coordinating with employers could my training to continue on for an associate help colleges eliminate this barrier. After all, degree in law-enforcement technology. And in she says, “They know the employer is good for a partnership with the Western Association of the check.” Food Chains, Rio Salado offers a retail-man- Companies that have tried upfront tui- agement certificate. Fry’s Food Stores, the tion payment say it increases enrollment. The largest private employer in Arizona with some Cook Group, a major employer in Indiana 21,000 associates, pays for tuition upfront, and through its medical-technology subsidiary the association partially reimburses the chain and the French Lick Resort, made the shift if the employees complete the program. While in its tuition benefits in 2016. Participation Fry’s makes no guarantees, executives say the in the program jumped from 75 people in certificate has helped some employees qualify the previous five years to more than 600 in for promotions. one year. The number of employees using Rio Salado’s president, Christopher Busta-

42 t he a d ult s t ud e n t the chronicle of higher education mante, says he sees relationships with indus- population will hold a postsecondary degree try consortia as the future of college-employer or credential by 2025. But even if almost every partnerships. And they pay off for institutions. high-school student there went on to earn one, Employees may enroll initially because a the state would fall well short of that mark. course or certificate will help them with an Its current attainment rate is just under 47 immediate job need, but of the students who percent. And so the state is looking to adults — have come to Rio Salado through one of its about 100,000 of them — to close two-thirds of industry partnerships, Bustamante says, 16 that gap. percent have stayed on after receiving their Officials there are mindful that not all cre- work-related credential. dentials are valuable. “Some are just letters,” On the industry side, several groups in says Robin McGill, director of strategic initia- Rhode Island hardly need convincing. They’re tives in the Office of the Postsecondary Com- already working closely with the state’s Coun- missioner, “and the difference is not always cil on Postsecondary Education and Depart- apparent to students.” Indeed, the problem of ment of Labor and Training on a statewide ef- worthless credentials is one that gets far too fort called Real Jobs that relies on colleges and little attention from government and industry, others to create intensive training programs but it can have serious ramifications for stu- in biosciences, health care, advanced manu- dents. An analysis of student-loan data from facturing, and other fast-growing fields. In less 2015 showed that 44 percent of undergraduate than a year, the Community College of Rhode certificate holders nationally had defaulted Island developed new boot-camp style pro- in the previous 12 years, a rate matching that grams to train people for computer-based ma- for people who left before receiving a creden- chinist, maritime pipefitting, and other jobs at tial. That 44 percent is twice the comparable submarine plants run by General Dynamics. default rate for people with associate degrees The program in biosciences — developed by and more than five times the rate for those the community college and the University of with bachelor’s degrees. Rhode Island — is designed to train employees Unions are also encouraging members to for jobs in pharmaceuticals, textiles, and beer enroll in college, and not necessarily just for making; it starts in June. Other public, private, the work-related training. A program spon- and for-profit colleges are now creating addi- sored by a New York City local electricians’ union at SUNY Empire State College’s Har- ry Van Arsdale Jr. Center for Labor Studies provides both technical training and writing-intensive liberal-arts studies. Most union To deepen outreach to potential students, members who start in the program need an Graduate! Philadelphia created an advisory associate degree to become a journeyman electrician in New York City, but a good num- council of local clergy members who can ber stay on for a bachelor’s degree in labor identify congregants with college potential studies. and refer them to the organization. Civic Outreach

Many high-school students don’t have to tional boot camps. Funds from Real Jobs mean look far for messages about going to college, that for many of the students, the programs or — if they’re lucky — guidance on how to are free. In some cases, employers are even get there. True, the deck is stacked in favor of paying the participants. wealthier families, and counselors in low-in- The programs do not yet carry academic come areas are typically few and far between. credit, but the plan is to evaluate them for that But generally speaking, the college-counsel- purpose, even if the training is provided by ing infrastructure oriented toward 18-year- a union or other noncollege partner. Rhode olds is well-established. Island’s goal is that 70 percent of its adult Little of that exists for adults. Yet efforts

the chronicle of higher education t he a d ult s t ud e n t 43 in about two dozen communities highlight and leaders, like the advisory board of local a powerful strategy built around broad civic clergy that Graduate! Philadelphia uses to help QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER engagement. College Now, a 50-year-old identify potential students. In effect, the na- organization in Cleveland that has historical- tional organization is a network of networks. ly served low-income high-school students, Like College Now, the Graduate! Network recently expanded its focus to include adults, trains advisers to help adults with transaction- especially those who have never attended al barriers, such as resolving an old student college. The group works directly with employ- debt, and more human ones, like fears of ers, as well as workforce-development boards, returning to college, where they may have libraries, the YMCA, and others to identify po- done poorly before. The mantra is assist adults tential students and provide guidance to en- “to and through” college, says Hadass Sheffer, roll in college or other training. College Now the founding executive director of Graduate! also sends its counselors to GED classes. Once Philadelphia and president of the network. students have had that academic success, the “We don’t dwell too much on the past.” group has found, they are more inclined to Data also drives the Graduate! Network. continue on with their education. Affiliates collect up to 125 points of infor- Community connections are also the mation about their clients, interactions with linchpin of the Graduate! Network, the only advisers, and partner colleges, which the major national group devoted to helping network then uses to analyze which practices adults choose, enroll in, and graduate from work best. One of its recent findings is that a college. Founded 14 years ago as Graduate! adults are more likely to enroll in college if Philadelphia when the city was beginning its they have personal contact with an adviser — a human one, not an automated system. “You can’t just send somebody to a website,” says Sheffer, “when other interactions have failed To ease anxiety about placement tests, them.” College Now in Cleveland provides practice exams, as well as space to sit down and Investors and New Models take them. Opportunity attracts capital. So it shouldn’t be surprising that as colleges and policy makers have begun paying more attention to adult students, entrepreneurs and Philly Goes 2 College campaign, the organiza- investors have taken notice. tion started expanding five years ago and now One company that has attracted some has affiliates in 22 cities. Together they are $32 million in venture capital is Guild Educa- working with some 30,000 adults. tion. Founded in 2015, it provides mentoring Each city’s group operates quasi-inde- to people using employer-paid tuition ben- pendently, deciding whether to prioritize efits and advises the employers on selecting employer-based recruiting; “comebackers,” partner colleges. An even newer company, the organization’s preferred term for students ReUp Education, works with colleges to who’ve attended college before; or people with locate and re-enroll former students, using no college experience. The national network the same software that was developed to help provides strategies for engaging employers, by the Boy Scouts of America track down former demonstrating the economic payoffs of a more members for its National Scout Jamboree. educated workforce; guidance on running ReUp shares in the tuition revenue from the programs like monthly college nights and students it recruits, and it continues to coach prospective-student phonathons; and advice them, a model akin to that of online-program on “strengths-based” counseling and not over- managers that market and help run colleges’ whelming busy adults with too many deci- distance-education programs. The Strada Ed- sions at once. Affiliates are also encouraged to ucation Network, the former guaranty agency develop relationships with community groups United Student Aid Funds, recently acquired

44 t he a d ult s t ud e n t the chronicle of higher education QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER

As colleges weigh how to DO you have a system for working with industry work with governments, employers, industries, and consortia or local business groups to better community organizations to reach and serve adults, here understand their future needs? If so, do you have a are some key questions for process in place to translate labor-market needs, officials to consider. where appropriate, into courses or degree programs?

COULD you negotiate with employers in your region to pay tuition benefits when employees enroll, as not to discourage low-wage workers who can’t afford the upfront costs?

HAS your institution on its own or in a consortium developed relationships with workforce boards, libraries, houses of worship, and social-service organizations to help identify adults who could benefit from postsecondary education? If so, what systems do you have in place to advise such adults on enrolling?

IF industries in your region issue nationally recognized certifications, are you willing to award academic credit for them? If so, do you have a clear policy on how the certifications will be recognized, and is that policy understandable to people inside and outside the institution?

the chronicle of higher education t he a d ult s t ud e n t 45 CASE STUDY

InsideTrack, a coaching company that also open online courses known as MOOCs; free works with colleges to help them re-enroll online courses from Saylor Academy; low-cost, former students. general-education options from the company Still, many businesses see the adult-stu- StraighterLine; and 100-plus free or low-cost dent market as a mix of opportunities and online courses developed by companies and challenges. To help stimulate investor inter- recently accredited by the American Council est, the Joyce, Rockefeller, Walmart, and W.K. on Education. Coding boot camps also contin- Kellogg Foundations recently joined forces to ue to draw students, and it won’t be long before create a new Employment Technology Fund. entrepreneurs extend that model of intensive It will provide low-interest loans to early-stage job-focused training to other high-demand companies and other ventures developing fields. And LinkedIn, backed by the power of tools to help the more than 100 million adults its new owner, Microsoft, is just beginning to in the United States who are undereducated, flex its muscles as an education provider. underemployed, or unemployed. The fund is Some higher-education insiders are also not focused exclusively on adult learners, but making moves in this realm. The University if it works as envisioned, it could help catalyze Learning Store, a consortium of six major the creation of new technology-enabled tools public universities, offers working adults short and services aimed at adults, such as a plat- online competency-based courses that lead form for online peer-to-peer counseling. to micro-credentials and certifications. While College rankings, too, have discovered the the courses do not currently carry academic adult-student population. After highlighting credit, consortium leaders are exploring ways “America’s Best Colleges for Adult Learners” to grant it for some of them, so they could stack for the first time in its annual college issue in toward a degree. And the for-profit-college the fall of 2016, Washington Monthly magazine sector, while smaller than it was a few years plans to publish an entire college guidebook ago, is showing some signs of revival, as many for adult students this spring. The Monthly is institutions seek to reassert themselves in the a nonprofit organization headed by an editor, adult market. The sector may also be embold- Paul Glastris, who has argued that colleges’ ened by the Trump administration’s moves failure to meet the needs of adult students away from Obama-era regulations. “hurts us all.” The landscape is becoming more com- Last year the company Colleges of Distinc- petitive, and attitudes are more accepting of tion, known for awarding that designation to education through these alternative models. help institutions recruit traditional-age stu- We see that not only in the growing interest in dents, began doing the same for adult-serving badges and the rise of companies like Linke- institutions. The new venture, called Abound, dIn, Credly, and Degreed, which allow people invites colleges to be evaluated based on the to digitally share their academic and educa- company’s “rigorous, unbiased, qualitative tional credentials. The Credential Engine proj- assessments” measuring criteria like afford- ect, backed by the Lumina Foundation and ability and pathways to completion. Abound, other groups, promises to be a giant online which bills itself as a “college guidance system information resource to connect students and for degree-seeking adults,” charges colleges employers. As a one-stop site listing available it finds worthy dues of $1,500 to $5,000 a year credentials and requirements for jobs, it could to use the Abound seal and other materials in help clarify education pathways for careers. their marketing. As the options for adult learners continue Of course colleges are hardly the only to evolve, the challenge for colleges is to con- places today where adults can go for valuable nect to and build on the energy around them education or training. Some of the alternatives to create a better environment for older and also cost a lot less. They include the massive working students.

46 t he a d ult s t ud e n t the chronicle of higher education

CASE STUDY

With Declines in Traditional-Age Students, Two Institutions Meet Adults Where They Are

Massachusetts has the highest t the height of the recession working. “The ‘college fear factor’ is educational-attainment rate in the several years ago, Bunker Hill real,” says Liya N. Escalera, associate country. Approximately 56 percent drew attention and acclaim dean of academic affairs. “You can’t of its adults have at least one for offering classes for third- underestimate the anxiety.” With that postsecondary credential shift workers from 11:45 p.m. in mind, the college has designed de- (compared with about 47 percent to 2:30 a.m. The classes last- velopmental courses in accelerated ed just a few years and never formats with what it calls “embedded” of adults nationally). But as the enrolled more than 120 students at success coaches, so students don’t number of high-school graduates Aa time. But as one dean puts it, the have to figure out how to get help. And in the state is projected to decline innovation jump-started a “student to keep part-time students on track to- over the next decade and a half, ready” mindset that continues to de- ward their degrees — even if work or institutions as diverse as Bunker fine an institution where more than family obligations prevent them from Hill Community College and two-thirds of the 13,000 students are taking the 15 credits per term that Northeastern University are age 25 or older. some college-completion advocates looking to educate more adults, Convenient schedules — with many recommend for on-time graduation especially those already in the students taking classes on weekends, — curricular maps will identify “mile- workforce. or at 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. on weekdays, stone courses” for each major. That before and after work — are just part way if students can take only one or of the story. The college has over- two courses a term, they know which hauled its approach to advising, both ones to choose from. programmatically and physically. Stu- In December, to reinforce the rel- dents who enter the airy new LifeMap evance of its academic offerings to Commons find resources for course working adults, Bunker Hill revised advising, transfer planning, and career its general-education standards to development. Rather than assign stu- encourage faculty to draw more in- dents to a single faculty adviser, the tentionally on students’ experience. college has trained whole academic Their personal needs are a priority as departments to offer assistance, and well: The college’s Single Stop office, it regularly schedules evening and where students can get help applying weekend sessions in the new space, for government food and housing ben- so that a department full of advisers efits, also features a makeshift food is available when students are free. pantry. Many students come to Bunker Hill The national conversation about col- with gaps in their academic prepara- lege tends to focus on families trying tion, and they attend part time while to send their children, says Clea An-

the chronicle of higher education t he a d ult s t ud e n t 47 BUNKER HILL COMMUNITY COLLEGE

dreadis, Bunker Hill’s associate pro- heads up the program. 2004 from a technical college, and vost. “What we are really focused on Experts forecast more than 3.5 while he always intended to return for is that people who have children go to million new jobs in advanced manu- his bachelor’s, his family took prece- college.” facturing nationally over the next de- dence. Recently he became a super- cade. But shortages of workers with visor, but to get the next promotion, the necessary expertise mean some to business leader, GE expects him to here’s a theory in adult learn- 2 million of them may not be filled. have a bachelor’s. ing that successful programs With the new bachelor’s program, GE So far, he says, he spends six or sev- meet students where they hopes to avoid a skills gap, and North- en hours a week on his on coursework, are in their lives. The new ad- eastern is eager to extend its reach on top of the two-hour classes. Even if vanced-manufacturing bache- into a high-demand field. the workload doubles as the classes lor’s program that Northeast- Many of the students in the program get harder, he thinks he can manage it. ern University began in the fall work on the engines for F-18 fighter He likes showing his children, he says, of 2017 at two General Electric plants jets and Black Hawk helicopters, and that education “is a top priority.” northT of Boston takes that lesson lit- courses in subjects like inspection Because Patten is a salaried em- erally. The twice-weekly classes for and technical drawing incorporate the ployee, GE covers his tuition, but even GE employees are held in company same precision machinery and high- so, the machinist says he didn’t en- training rooms just off the manufac- tech materials that the students use ter the program lightly. Going back to turing floor. in their jobs. school “is a serious commitment, and “We teach them on equipment, ma- Robert Patten, a 35-year-old fa- it’s not easy to work into your life,” he chinery, and in an environment that ther of two who has worked at GE for says. But the convenience and rele- they already know,” says Krassimir six years as a machinist, is a typical vance of the program ultimately per- Marchev, the professor of advanced student. He received his associate suaded him that this opportunity was manufacturing and engineering who degree in automotive technology in “a no-brainer.”

48 t he f u t ur e of t he d e g r e e the chronicle of higher education Q&A Helping Adults Get ‘To and Through’ College

adass Sheffer, president of the Graduate! Network, says her organization aims to embody a particular prototype in advising adult students: “the big sister.” Why a sister? Because they “tend to be more meddlesome, and knowledgeable, and outreaching,” she says. The ideal big sister ‘“wouldn’t let go of your hand once you got into college”; she’d stick with you until you finished. Fourteen years ago, Sheffer, a linguist with an M.B.A., started the fore- runner to what is today the only major national organization focused on counseling Hadult students. We recently spoke about the “big sister” model and other insights from her experience working with adults, colleges, employers, and communities during a wide-ranging interview at the Philadelphia headquarters of the Graduate! Network. Following are edited excerpts from our conversation.

On how to build broad-based support On ways to improve the effectiveness short-term fixes. But the long-term fix for the work of engaging adults in of employer-paid tuition programs: for communities comes from long- attending college: While we very much applaud term fixes in families, and that comes We come down on it as both econ- employers who do provide tuition from helping more people become omy and equity. When you're talking assistance, we found that a lot of them college educated. with funders, you have to sometimes are not very well organized about choose one. So we have programming completion. So they'll pay out, and On seeing the transformational effect that's broad and can resonate well students can take whatever courses of a degree in action: and answer the needs of some com- they want. But if they don't get good One of our “comebackers” lives in munities that are more focused on an advising, they can be meandering for a horrible neighborhood. Her house economic agenda and other commu- a while. And so that costs everyone would always get broken into. She nities that are more open to an equity more. It costs students more time, and decided she was going back to school, agenda. That's the trick to making its costs the employers more money. and she would make it. When she this stick: not to be dogmatic about When we go and work with employ- graduated with her bachelor's, she put anything except for the fact that adults ers, one of the things that we do is, up a big sign in her front yard saying, need support “to and through.” through the advising, we help stream- “I graduated.” Her neighborhood is line that: make sure that people are full of drugs and burned-down houses On the barrier to enrollment adults on a straight path. They know what and empty holes between the row- face when they can’t get a transcript their goals are. They can schedule houses. Drug dealers use her corner. because they owe money to a college: their courses. They know how to take Nobody touched that sign. It was There's no government policy them. They know how to pass them, not disfigured. Then it was damaged about it. It's a practice. It's an agree- and they finish. in the winter because of snow, and ment among colleges, “Thou shalt not somebody replaced it. She went on, release a transcript to someone else On the benefits of a degree versus a got her master’s. She's not moved out until that person has paid me off.” certificate: of the neighborhood. And you know, Some colleges are beginning to realize Once you have someone who has every time she sees the teenagers that it's to no one's benefit. Students a college degree in the family, it often dealing drugs, she goes outside and are still not going to pay you back. changes the trajectory of the entire she talks to them: “Is this the future They're not going to go to college. family, and in a way that a certifica- you want for yourself? This 20 bucks They’re not going to pay tuition to any- tion typically doesn't. A certificate is not going to last you long, once, you one else. And nobody is going to reap can get you a higher salary. It doesn't know, you're 20 and have a family.” the benefit of them graduating, right? give you job protection when you And you know, she's now pursuing You are making the whole system cross into a different field or a dif- her Ph.D. Still living in the communi- come to a standstill. It's only going to ferent employer. We're not opposed ty, still being an advocate for higher take a couple of really smart college to short-term fixes. Everyone should education in the community that is presidents to unlock that jam. use short-term fixes, and we promote slowly, slowly changing.

the chronicle of higher education t he a d ult s t ud e n t 49 CONCLUSION

The Path Forward

Without a doubt, a new wave of attention to tion plans to be more deliberate than in the adult students is upon us. Here are some of the past in researching how certain policies play major initiatives on the horizon. out for the neediest students, says Julie Ajink- ya, the institute’s vice president for applied • A $4-million Adult Promise grant program research. funded by the Lumina Foundation will link the State Higher Education Executive Offi- • The Lumina Foundation, one of the most cers group with five states — Indiana, Maine, ubiquitous financial backers of adult-student Minnesota, Oklahoma, and Washington — to efforts, clearly has plans to continue in that spend the next three years developing models role. Other foundations and deep-pocketed to help make “free college” programs suc- nonprofits are also showing signs of interest, cessful for adult students. A separate Lumina most notably the Strada Education Network, project called Talent Hubs will help six com- whose spokeswoman calls adults “a priority munities improve adults’ educational attain- population” for the organization. In January, ment by tapping into local civic organizations Strada assumed control of the Council for (one effort in Tulsa is aimed at lower-skilled Adult and Experiential Learning (CAEL), one Hispanic workers). of the two major higher-education member- ship associations that promote adult-serving • Complete College America will also be press- programs. ing the issue. Having just announced a recipe for helping adults to graduate, it is looking for three to five states to work with over the next What’s Next for Colleges several years to demonstrate how the ideas in its report “A Better Deal for Returning Adults” No matter how many foundations or non- can be brought to scale. profits get involved, changes must begin with colleges themselves. Challenges with sched- • This spring the Institute for Higher Education uling and services are obvious, but other gaps Policy will unveil its own three-year, 32-state remain. effort to equip colleges to assist returning Career counseling tops this list. CAEL has adult students. The institute will build on what found, from the institutions that have used its it learned from previous degree-reclamation Adult Learner 360 self-study tool, that career projects to develop a nine-month online train- centers are the greatest source of discontent ing program designed for college registrars, for adult students. They aren’t using them, says marketing officers, institutional researchers, Beth Doyle, the council’s vice president for and government-affairs personnel. The train- higher-education services, and that’s probably ing will focus on correcting practices that can because the centers operate from 9 to 5, when deter returning students. And mindful of the most of the adults aren’t available. fact that low-income students tend to leave To rectify that, colleges must find ways to college without a degree at a higher rate than expand career-center hours, just as they need the overall student population, the organiza- to do for advising and administrative services.

50 t he a d ult s t ud e n t the chronicle of higher education Institutions might also consider a version of outside the classroom. Such research needs the “career mapping” project now being devel- to take into account the diversity of adult oped at National University. There the univer- students; what suits the one-time homemaker sity is identifying specific employment oppor- may not apply to the military veteran. State tunities in the San Diego region along with the leaders and other policy makers have a key academic preparation required for those jobs. role to play because they control the levers — That way prospective students can get specif- and in many cases the data — to make such ic guidance on what courses or majors they research possible. might pursue. National hopes eventually to The impending renewal of the federal map the jobs data against students’ prior work Higher Education Act will present an import- experience and transcripts. Many institutions ant opportunity. Advocates are asking Con- may not have the resources or interest to take gress to change provisions in the law that now career mapping to that level, but nearly all are make it hard for students who are considered likely to face greater pressure to provide better financially independent to obtain the finan- information about adult students’ return on cial aid they need. (The formula treats income investment. they earn as money available to pay for college As the numbers of traditional-age students costs, without recognizing that most indepen- decline, institutions in hard-hit regions will dent adult students depend on that income have to broaden their notions of their market to provide for themselves and their families.) and their product, even though they may not Advocates are also seeking greater flexibility embrace such corporate terminology. Whom in the federal rules on academic progress that are colleges serving? Workers on the factory can disqualify returning students from grants floor? And what exactly is the product? A bach- and loans if they had a poor academic record elor's degree? A set of stackable credentials? during their previous time in college. These changes won’t come easily. As Karen Given the growing national focus on adult M. Whitney, the former president of Clarion students, the likelihood of success for these University and now interim chancellor of the changes is strong. But the legislation could Pennsylvania State System of Higher Educa- create new competition for colleges, too: A tion, puts it, “Nobody can afford to be arrogant version of the act backed by Republicans anymore.” would allow students to use federal financial aid at non-accredited education organizations that form partnerships with accredited insti- What’s Next for Advocates tutions. Would such a proposal serve as an and Policy Makers incentive to profiteers with shoddy offerings or as a catalyst for creative new ideas? Beyond institutions, the agenda is no less With or without the measure, the argument daunting. for allowing new approaches to educate adults is Foremost is the need for more research hard to dispute. A few experiments are emerg- on the strategies and practices that truly work ing. For example, the college-access group best for today’s adult population, inside and College Unbound, discussed in Section 1,

the chronicle of higher education t he a d ult s t ud e n t 51 An Adult-Student Agenda

s the adult-student movement Lifelong Learning Accounts: This idea, which has gains traction, several items — just been called the tuition-benefit equivalent of a emerging now or worthy of revival 401K retirement account, isn’t new; the Council — should have a more prominent for Adult and Experiential Learning began test- place on the agenda. The following ing it 15 years ago. The concept behind LiLAs, ideas grew from interviews with the as they’re known, is that employers match the more than 100 college presidents, money that employees set aside for their own policy makers, scholars, consul- educational expenses. Unlike a traditional tuition tants, entrepreneurs, business benefit, the employers’ contribution goes with leaders, community advocates, and employees who change jobs. The CAEL experi- students who informed this report. ment found that having a LiLA encouraged more adults to consider college, and that employers Disaggregated data: Advocates for low-income valued it as a retention tool. State and federal Aand minority students have been making a con- lawmakers remain interested, and CAEL reports vincing case that the only way to fully measure that with employers finding it harder to attract the impact of policies on those populations is and retain talent, there is new momentum behind to disaggregate data on enrollment, retention, the idea. graduation, and other key indicators. That allows researchers, policy makers, and institutions to Academic forgiveness: Many college officials study differences by income and race, among agree that returning adult students shouldn’t be other factors — and to adapt services or advo- overly penalized for academic missteps years cate for reform. Very little higher-education data or decades ago. Yet there’s little consensus on today isolates students by age or other catego- how many grades from how far back might be ries that could reflect it. As more colleges serve reasonably omitted from a new GPA. Forgiveness, adults, disaggregated data would make it easier though, is becoming more common: Colleges in to measure outcomes. Tennessee and Mississippi have recently made some version of it a feature of campaigns to More philanthropy and fund raising: Beyond recruit former students. While it’s certainly insti- the Bernard Osher and the Charlotte W. New- tutions’ prerogative, guidelines — or at least best combe Foundations, and recently the Crankstart practices — would make it easier for institutions Foundation, colleges report very few sources of to adopt transparent forgiveness policies. funding for scholarships specifically for adults. And those three charities together reach only a Learning communities: In residential college couple of thousand students a year, at about 150 settings, organizing courses and activities institutions. Some donors seem to question the around a theme is regarded as a high-impact merits of giving to students who “blew it the first practice. Some campuses even recognize these time,” college leaders say, and don’t see adults experiences, after some prompt for self-reflec- as a sympathetic cause. Deliberate efforts to tion, with badges for skills such as communica- change those perceptions might help open more tion and leadership. At least one adult-serving coffers, which could be a welcome development institution, Empire State College, is exploring especially where policies limit adults’ access to how that might work for older students, with the government aid. goal of helping develop skills between work and the classroom.

52 t he a d ult s t ud e n t the chronicle of higher education is converting itself into an institution of value of higher of higher education may start higher education: Its unorthodox, work-based to shift. One can at least hope. education model is under review for accred- One thing is certain: With automation and itation by the regional accrediting body for other technology-driven innovations continu- New England. Louis Soares, vice president for ing to devour lower-skill jobs, over time the strategy, research, and advancement at the economy will grow even more unforgiving American Council on Education and a cham- toward those with less education. The urgency pion for innovation, says he’d love to see more for educating more adults beyond the high- such models, especially if they can bridge the school level will only increase. dual roles of college education and workplace Economic arguments, while obviously training. “We have not done that at scale yet,” important, sometime swamp other reasons he says. “Maybe we just need a hybrid of a these efforts matter to American society. union and a community college.” David Scobey, a senior scholar at the Graduate! Network, says the “it’s-just-a-job mentality” that has so strongly defined the adult-learning The Economy and Beyond scene for the past three decades doesn’t reflect the wide range of aspirations that students History shows that when the economy have for themselves. Just as for traditional-age is humming, adult enrollment drops. At the students, education can be about more than same time, with employers now facing what simply getting a job. Pamela J. Tate, the presi- many are calling a “battle for talent,” those dent of CAEL, wonders if the argument, while same economic forces might spur more com- popular with employers and state leaders, is panies to boost their tuition-benefit programs simply too narrow. “It may be that the message to attract and retain employees. And perhaps, needs to change,” she says. More postsec- as more colleges are seen as active in solving ondary education for everyone means a more their communities’ economic and social chal- informed and capable citizenry — a worthy lenges, negative public sentiment about the goal for our nation's democracy.