Advancing Innovation in Work and Learning | may 26, 2021
Community colleges are often viewed as the postsecondary system’s workhorses of economic growth and mobility.
They’ve seen their enrollments dip over 10 percent during the months of the pandemic. But new, hyperlocal demand-mapping research shows that across the country, millions of adults — despite dealing with the pandemic’s ramifications on their careers — have strong intentions to enroll in community college or technical school over the next two years.
The task now for education leaders and local and state policymakers is clear: How can they convert this overwhelming intent into real enrollment?
Recent Strada research pointed to several promising ways institutions can mobilize on the strong intent to enroll. Insights include:
Guidance and coaching are essential to addressing the challenges many adult learners experience with self-doubt and a lack of access to clear information.
Many adults’ ability to persist in their postsecondary education programs depends on access to basic needs such as food, transportation, and housing.
Adult learners need to be able to earn while learning and provide for their families.
Implementing supports through a lens of racial and social equity is crucial to supporting students of color from enrollment to career.
DEGREE COMPLETION AT HISTORICALLY BLACK SCHOOLS United Negro College Fund has tapped student coaching pioneer InsideTrack to help students who left college before graduating re-enroll in a network of nine historically Black colleges and universities and predominantly Black institutions across the country. Through this collaboration with student success nonprofit InsideTrack, UNCF will provide personalized success coaching to 4,000 former HBCU and PBI students to help them navigate the complexity of college re-enrollment, resume their studies, and develop a plan to complete their degrees.
CAREER VALUE IN HIGHER ED Join Strada Senior Vice President Dave Clayton and other expert panelists for “Metrics That Matter: Establishing Career Value in Higher Education,” a virtual session that is part of Handshake Access 2021. The session will focus on assessing and demonstrating career progress as students, families, and policymakers seek common measures to determine the employment returns from higher education institutions. Among other topics, the panel will discuss Strada research that connects college completion and the perception of value.
POSTPANDEMIC SUPPORT FOR WOMEN
Women over age 25 are staying enrolled in college at three times the rate of men, yet three million women left the workforce in the pandemic, and the disruption of COVID-19 left many mothers without the support of child care or in-person school. InsideTrack President Ruth Bauer White, a first-generation college graduate and a working single mom, outlines for “The Hill” how institutions and policymakers can prevent the pandemic from festering into a long-term economic setback for women in college and the workplace. “Underneath the surface,” White writes, “there are millions of women kicking like hell just to stay above water.”
ALIGNING EDUCATION AND WORKFORCE
Earl Buford has spent most of his career in workforce development, serving as chief executive officer of Pittsburgh-based Partner4Work and, before that, Employ Milwaukee. In his new role as president of CAEL, Buford is working to align the needs of adult learners and employers with the offerings of postsecondary institutions. In an interview with “The EvoLLLution,” Buford advises institutions on making their curriculum relevant to adult learners and shares his vision for the future of CAEL.
GRANTS FOR ADULT LEARNING PROVIDERS
CAEL is joining the Hewlett Foundation and other partners to design a new framework that improves how education providers serve adult learners. The partnership will award a $2,500 stipend to 10 selected programs that participate in an intensive study. Viable candidates include accredited higher education institutions as well as short-term, nontraditional education and training providers, such as coding bootcamps that prioritize adult degree completion or work-relevant training. To be selected, organizations and institutions must express interest by June 11.
Lessons Earned
In our podcast, we explore bold ideas to help Americans navigate between learning and earning throughout their lives.
