Educating Today’s Adult Workforce: State Indicators—A New Tool Cheryl Blanco Vice 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 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 Percent of the adult population with less than a high school diploma and no college – and the change in this percentage from 2000 to 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.Provision 2.Participation 3.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 college 2.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 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 learning 3.Increase the amount of financial aid and tuition assistance for adults 4.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