Promoting Success for Adult Learners

An excellent summary of the challenges that adult learners face and the key ways to promote their success, by senior staff at World Education.

Published on 23 December 2016 at http://www.educationandcareernews.com/higher-education/beating-the-odds-of-college-success-for-adults?utm_source=arrow&utm_medium=next

Beating the Odds of College Success for Adults

There are over 36 million adults in the United States whose limited literacy, math and computer skills are well below what is expected of high school graduates and college success. Their path to postsecondary education or training often begins in adult basic education programs.

Adult students are diverse in race, ethnicity, gender, age, level of formal education and cause for their education being interrupted. For example, Ruth Wilmore is a single mom who worked 26 years as a machine operator making children’s clothes until the company moved overseas; Maria Blanco from Colombia is studying to reclaim her career as a social worker; Melissa Woodrow is a young mom seeking to complete her education to be a better role model and provider; Vania Estanek is now in college and is a peer mentor to Guerda Fevrier from Haiti; Adam Sennott is a GED and college graduate and now a freelance reporter; and David Kabanda is a refugee from the Congo whom a college transition program helped access and succeed in college so he can make a new life for himself and his family.

Against the odds

Adult learners are resilient though their path to further education is typically fraught with obstacles. They resourcefully juggle many responsibilities on low incomes. Many have jobs where schedules change without notice, making regular school attendance challenging. Friends and family tend to be their only safety net when the car breaks down or the child care arrangement falls through.

Statistically, the odds are against them: Students with work, family and financial obligations are twice as likely to drop out of school in their first year as students fresh out of high school — 38 percent compared to 16 percent. If they attend part-time, as most do, their chances are reduced to one in four to make it to graduation — while taking twice as long to complete college.

Attainable alternatives

Adults know education is a path forward. They don’t necessarily know about viable career options or what it takes to train for those careers. They may not have anyone in their family with a college degree. They do not know about a whole host of factors that either make or break their educational path to a family-sustaining job.

Adults cannot waste time or money training for jobs that are not there when they graduate or jobs for which they lack the aptitude. For example, many adult learners have nursing as a goal, but they have not been exposed to various other health care career options that may be more attainable. Career awareness and planning should be part of every student’s preparation for college.

Of the tremendous hurdles adult learners face, there are many that adult education programs and colleges can address. We must strengthen adults’ academic skills to get adults directly into credit-bearing classes or high-quality, technical training programs. We must teach effective study skills so adults learn how to learn. Surveys indicate that most students think they are ready for college, but 68 percent of community college students are required to take at least one remedial class. With every remedial class students take, their chances of completing a credential decrease exponentially.