We know what works when it comes to helping adult learners of color thrive at college. We know because they’ve told us what they need. The hard part is changing to meet those needs with practical solutions.
Numbers show the problem: about 36.8 million Americans have some college but no degree. Many couldn’t make college work with job and family responsibilities. Black, Hispanic and Latino, and Native American students are disproportionately represented in that population.
But now there’s new evidence that partnerships—both on and off campus—help enroll and retain students. In 2021, Lumina Foundation and the Coalition of Urban Serving Universities launched the Partnerships for Adult Learner Success (PALS) initiative to help colleges build campus collaborations and external community partnerships. A recent brief from our partners at Mathematica tells how these alliances drove cultural, structural, and program changes to support students.
The eight participating urban universities from Fresno to Chicago to Miami used unique strategies to reach adult learners and provide agile, inclusive support, such as personalized advising, expanded holistic services, flexible classes, and logistical help with transfers and prior learning credits.
One student hoped adult learners would be seen on campus in a more positive light, adding, “It’s not that we’re hindered… we just have more responsibilities. We just need a different kind of support.”
In focus groups, adult learners of color said they need colleges to:
- Recognize their identities beyond being students.
- Support their work-life balance.
- Promote their sense of belonging.
- Provide career growth and development opportunities. In particular, external partnerships with employers offer valuable hands-on learning opportunities—and benefit the employers, too.
When universities fall short of these steps, students feel unsupported and excluded. These findings ripple through much of the research from different institutions.
It’s clear that to serve adult students effectively, educators need partnerships to drive these changes:
- Culture: Raise faculty awareness about the unique needs of adult learners
- Structure: Improve recruitment and enrollment processes
- Programs: Establish employer partnerships for career advancement
The PALS initiative wraps up this fall. While our findings might seem obvious, they warrant repeating since it’s easy to get stuck in the status quo due to funding or other crises. Our project was aimed at city schools and learners of color, but the findings apply to all schools and students.
Simply put, partnerships can help colleges be more inclusive and innovative for millions who want to learn, earn, and contribute their talents.
[Wendy Sedlak, Ph.D., is the strategy director for research and evaluation at Lumina Foundation, an independent foundation committed to helping all Americans learn beyond high school. In her role, she uses evidence and data to guide Lumina’s strategic direction, documents effective practices, and measures progress.]