A New Avenue for Community Colleges: Serving ‘Adults’

Today’s colleges are attracting whole new communities of learners, many of whom are over 25 years old, have jobs and families, and are juggling all the responsibilities those realities entail. For some of these ‘first time on campus’ explorers, attending college at any level is a lifelong dream; for others, completing a program launched long ago is the attainment of a long-held goal. This populace – the now identified generation of ‘adult’ learners – is growing on college campuses across the country, and the support they need to succeed is decidedly different from that of their younger, less encumbered classmates. Schools that offer the services necessary to accommodate this community will be certain to help them attain their unique constellation of academic and career objectives.

Different Perspectives Require Innovative Supports

Most higher education schools today were designed to support the ‘typical’ college student: someone who

• recently graduated from high school,
• is perhaps still living with their parents
• with few, if any, other time or resource obligations and
• (most significantly) has an unfettered opportunity to choose their future from among many academic options.

Accordingly, most schools’ services are geared toward helping these younger learners navigate the myriad of selections to a certification or degree.

Not so with the incoming classes of 2024 and beyond,  half of whom qualify as ‘adult’ learners (over 21 years). These students appear on campus with a completely different set of objectives and expectations:

• They have a definite goal in mind, whether it’s upgrading their current skill set, achieving a new credential, or launching the career path they’ve been dreaming of for years.
• Many also have a more focused approach to the mechanics of their course of study. They want to know who their professors are and to ensure they’ll have the time they need with those professionals to glean maximum value from their educational activities.
• They’re more self-aware than their younger cohorts, too. Their relative maturity versus that of less experienced learners informs both their academic choices as well as the processes they must follow to achieve those.
• And many are very, very ‘consumer savvy.’ Because they’ve already experienced real-world finances – they’ve made large purchases (houses, vehicles), balanced budgets, and lived within financial constraints – they seek value for their education dollar. They are more pointed in their support requests than their younger, less accomplished cohorts.

Not surprisingly, the support systems in place for a less sophisticated population aren’t sufficient to meet the needs of these older, wiser educational adventurers. Even while they’re more experienced with ‘real world’ realities, they may not be so in tune with today’s college outreach and connection systems. A recent survey offers insights on the challenges schools must overcome just to get them on campus:

• Communications that are geared to today’s digitally-immersed students might not work for the older population. Web-based information and resources may not be as intuitively easy to follow for the adult learner as they are for younger students. Communication channels may require modifications to ensure that all learners can find the information and guidance they seek.
• Like their younger classmates, this group is also unfamiliar with all the school’s resources. Colleges today provide both academic and career-focused training options; too many learners (of all ages) don’t know about or know how to explore available Career and Technical Education (CTE) opportunities.
• Inadvertent barriers may impede their progress, too, and schools can offer incentives to help them avoid losing their dream to an unnecessary challenge. Reduced tuition, financial support for books, child care, food, etc., flexible class times (including online options), and even access to academic and health-based counseling are attractive enticements for people who may find the effort required to juggle these elements too daunting to overcome.

Adding or modifying existing systems to accommodate these concerns will help both the learner and the school achieve their respective successes.

Acknowledge Accomplishments

Another avenue to academic success is available to this cohort group that is not in play with their younger classmates. Most of the adult student population arrives on campus with an existing panoply of skills, talents, and experiences. Some may have been attained in a school setting, but most of their inherent academic assets have been gained simply from living their lives. They’ve managed home, child, and family obligations; they developed occupational skills while actually on the job; they’ve paid taxes, bills, and debts. They enter the classroom with many foundational skills in place. Schools seeking to enroll more of them might consider offering acknowledgment, credit for, or certification for their varied accomplishments.

In some cases, these learners have attended college or upper-level educational resources but have not achieved a credential for doing so. As of July 2022, over 36 million adult students identified as “Some College, No Credential” (SCNC). These ‘re-enrollees’ are coming back to finish what they started. Data shows they persist better than other learner groups, and those entering to complete a program earn credentials at twice the rate of those who re-enter earlier in the program’s progress. It is critical for these learners to receive credit for those previous educational efforts as they move toward achieving that aspiration.

Those without prior college experience also arrive with a unique set of skills and abilities gleaned from living a busy life. Often, these skillsets were learned on the job, and they retain their value for future employment, too. Most students appreciate having the opportunity to receive “Credit for Prior Learning,” and schools can assess their enhanced capacities by providing specialized testing in some cases or simply acknowledging the attainment of those assets through prior occupations, such as military service.

This crowd also benefits when the school helps them align their career objectives with existing labor market realities. In some cases, training focused on attaining digital skills is all that’s needed to connect a particular adult learner with their optimal occupation and employer. In other instances, retraining is necessary to bring the skill base current with today’s labor force demands. Adult learners are more apt to engage and complete such programs when they also receive credit for bringing with them the elements that are the foundation for that new perspective.

Today’s busy global, national, and regional markets are in flux as technologies and industries evolve. Many older workers seeking a new path forward are considering going back to school to upskill their talents. Those who will find the most success will do so by connecting with colleges that have adapted their support services to meet the needs of this unique and diverse population.