Educating Today’s Adult Workforce: State Indicators—A New Tool

Cheryl BlancoVice President for Lifelong Learning Policy and

Research

CAEL is the Council for Adult and Experiential Learning

Non-profit, international organization; 33 years of experience

Nearly 700 college & university members

CAEL works to expand lifelong learning opportunities for adults

CAEL partners with community colleges and universities, employers, labor organizations and government

Why are adult learners now getting more attention?

Pipeline of young college graduates will not meet workforce skills demands.

Many current entry and mid-level works have necessary skills, but lack credentials.

Baby boomers will "retire" from current job, then launch into “encore” career

Many limitations in the ‘pipeline’ metaphor as it applies to adult postsecondary learning

Adult Workers

In 2000, 110 million American workers were between

the ages of 25 and 64. 60% of them didn’t have a college degree. 40% of adult students (about 2.5 million)

have annual incomes less than $25,000. 7% of low-income adults entering college in

1995 to earn a bachelor’s degree had done so 6 years later.

Source: American Council on Education. 2004. Low-Income Adults in Profile.

What we know about older workers

79% of baby boomers won’t stop working at 65

30% want to pursue a degree/certificate to advance in career

55% want to learn to improve job skills

Source: 2000 American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) Survey.

Mature Adult Workers

The Challenges for American Business:

Anticipated labor shortages in key “graying” industries such as utilities, aerospace, transportation/logistics, and the federal government and more specifically in “graying” occupations such as petroleum and nuclear engineers, transit workers, and nurses.

Anticipated skill and talent shortages as older workers shift from blue collar occupations to white collar and service jobs and as highly skilled, hard-to-replace workers retire.

Anticipated brain drain, triggering the need for new internal human resource management policies and practices in areas such as recruiting, hiring, retaining, and succession planning.

Source: U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Center for Workforce Preparation. Voice of Business on the Mature Workforce. A Summary Report of the Pre-White House conference on Aging Event, June 15, 2005.

Pre-College Adult Learners

Post-High School Adult Learners

Pre-College Programs

Adult Basic Education (ABE) General Educational Development

(GED) examination English Education (ESL) Adult Secondary Education/High

School Completion Workforce Training Adult Literacy

Post-High School

Providers:

Colleges and universities

Corporations & businesses

Consultants

Barriers facing adult undergraduates:

Adult obligations Financing Course choices Self esteem Counseling and advising

An Alternative Pipeline

CAEL/NCHEMS/Lumina Project

Level of educational attainment The current size and shape of adult provision

and participation Barriers to adult participation Policy framework

Deliverables

Monograph with national analyses State-by-state profiles

I. Level of Educational Attainment

1. Population with a high school credential, an associate degree, and a bachelor’s degree as a proportion of the population and the change in this percentage from 2000 to 2005.

2. Percent of the adult population with less than a high school diploma and no college – and the change in this percentage from 2000 to 2005.

3. GEDs awarded as a percent of the population

with less than a high school diploma.

II. Current Size and Shape of Adult Provision and Participation

Who participates in education and how 1. Provision2. Participation3. Completion

Provision

Providers: for-credit and non-credit programs offered by regular colleges and universities, state/public efforts like ABE and vocational training, corporate and contract training, the for-profit sector, etc.

Listing these sources descriptively. Descriptions or diagrams of the “infrastructure” for

adult learning including organization and governance, principal programs and their sources of funding (e.g. ABE, GED, WIA, etc.)

Numbers of providers receiving federal and state grant funds to support adult education (ABE, ESL, ASE)

Numbers of participants by type of provider or provision.

Participation

1. Enrollment in college2. Characteristics of the adult learner

population by gender and race/ethnicity. 3. Enrollment in Adult Basic Education

programs (federally funded)4. Enrollments by adults in non-credit

programs at accredited institutions 5. Enrollments by adults in employment-

related training provided by employers or other providers as a proportion of all adults in the population.

6. Enrollments by adults in literacy, ESL, or similar non-college training provided by public agencies (training centers, prisons, etc.)

7. College-going rates of GED recipients.8. Proportion of non-credit enrollees that

subsequently enroll for credit in a postsecondary program.

9. Reasons for adults participating in postsecondary education.

10. Participation of employed adults in work-related training by selected forms of employer support.

Completion

1. Bachelor’s and associate degrees awarded to students aged 25 and above

2. Completions as a proportion of numbers enrolled in adult non-credit literacy programs (i.e., ABE, ESL)

3. Certificates awarded as a proportion of total enrollment in non-credit job-related certification programs

4. Adult GED completions as a proportion of population aged 25 to 64.

5. Progression by level in basic literacy training.

III. Barriers to Adult Participation

Academic Preparation: What prior educational experiences and basic skills deficiencies serve as barriers to higher education for adults?

Performance on the national Assessment of Adult Literacy (NAAL).

Enrollment in ABE programs. Remedial program availability and support. Recognition for prior learning. Businesses meeting literacy needs.

Affordability: What are the cost barriers for adults?• Percent of family income needed to pay tuition.• Financial aid for less-than-full-time students.• Percent of Pell aid devoted to adults.• State support for ABE, ESL, and other literacy

programs as a percentage of all postsecondary spending.

• State support for ABE, ESL, and other literacy programs as a percentage of the population in need.

• Corporate tuition assistance.• Union contributions to employee training.

Access: Are programs and courses delivered in a manner that allows adults to participate readily?

Employed adults participating in education for work-related reasons.

Proximity to a postsecondary institution. Bachelor’s programs at public universities offered

through community colleges or joint-use facilities. Programs offered in an evening, weekend, or

accelerated format. Programs offered online. Adults participating in online courses.

Aspirations: Why don’t more adults participate in higher education?

?

IV. Policy Framework

How well is the state organized and coordinated to deliver postsecondary education to adults?

Does the state have explicit goal statements or planning priorities for adult learners?

Does the state have accountability or performance measures that address adult education?

What are the state’s policies to fund adult learners? Is financial aid available to them?

A Public Policy Agenda

1. Establish goals for adult learning.2. Increase the level of support for providers

of adult learning3. Increase the amount of financial aid and

tuition assistance for adults4. Increase state commitments to adult

literacy and ESL, and reorganize the delivery of services

Source: Alice Anne Bailey and James R. Mingle. The Adult Learning Gap: Why States Need to Change Their Policies Toward Adult Learners. The Education Commission of the States, Oct 2003).

Policies CAEL supports

Student aid to support life-long learners• Illinois Monetary Award Program (MAP) – requires at least 3 credit hours per

term, are need-based grants Lifelong Learning Accounts (LiLAs) to leverage private

investment in education and training• Demonstration projects—like Northeast Indiana’s, which targeted the public

and manufacturing sectors—serves 150 workers and is sponsored by 8 manufacturers and 5 municipalities

A state-based system for Prior Learning Assessments• Pennsylvania is creating a PLA system to allow working adults to accelerate

education and recognize experiential learning A data-drive approach to inform educational policy

• Kentucky, Louisiana, and other states are collecting more data on adult learners

• CAEL’s “indicators project” to measure state performance in serving adults Strategic partnerships between higher education and business

• Business Leadership Groups to benchmark, recognize and share winning employee learning strategies that build a culture of performance, productivity and pride, enhancing the competitive edge in human capital with positive business results.

New services and programs for older workers• National awareness campaign highlighting older learners