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Adult Learners
How Guided Pathways Reforms Can Improve Support for Adult Students

Lessons From Three Tennessee Community Colleges

Jan. 11, 2021
Guided pathways reforms are emerging as a promising strategy for improving student outcomes and closing equity gaps at community colleges, but little is known about how the guided pathways approach can help address challenges facing adult students. Drawing on interview data, this report from the Community College Research Center discusses strategies that three guided pathways…
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Adult Learners
COVID-19 Transfer, Mobility, and Progress: Fall 2020 Final Report

Fall 2020 Final Report

Dec. 21, 2020
A new report from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center shows that the total number of transfer students fell slightly more than 8 percent this year compared to fall 2019. Reverse transfers—four-year college students transferring into two-year colleges this fall—decreased the most, by 19.4 percent.
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Adult Learners
Pushing Toward Progress

Early Implementation Findings From a Study of the Male Student Success Initiative

Nov. 19, 2020
Many colleges have tailored campus programs to provide academic and social support specific to the interests and needs of male students of color to overcome gaps in success rates. A report from MDRC examines one of these programs: The Male Student Success Initiative (MSSI) at the Community College of Baltimore County (CCBC) in Maryland.
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Adult Learners
A New Era of Student Access at California’s Community Colleges

English and Math: Access, Outcomes, and Racial Equity

Nov. 17, 2020
Until recently, the vast majority of California’s community college students started in remedial courses that slowed down or halted their academic progress. In 2017, a landmark law transformed placement and remediation at the state’s community colleges. This report from the Public Policy Institute of California examines how AB 705 transformed student access, outcomes, and racial equity. 
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Adult Learners
The PLA Boost

Results From a 72-Institution Targeted Study of Prior Learning Assessment and Adult Student Outcomes

Oct. 22, 2020
Adult students who receive college credits for prior learning are more likely to complete academic programs than their peers without prior learning assessment (PLA) credits, suggests this report from the Council for Adult and Experiential Learning and the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education. Students with PLA also save time and money in earning their degrees, according to the study.
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Adult Learners
Fulfilling the Promise

Re-Enrolling America’s College Stopouts

Sept. 22, 2020
Personal obligations prevent many students from completing their degree on their first attempt. Life gets in the way and too often these students are left with debt and lack the benefits afforded to those with college degrees. This working paper from EAB explores how colleges and universities can help “stopouts” re-enroll.
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Adult Learners
Unseen Costs

The Experiences of Workers and Learners in Los Angeles County

June 23, 2020
Workers and learners are well aware of the benefits of postsecondary degrees and the value of work in developing useful skills. But they face a disconnect between their jobs and their career goals, and one that is only furthered by the challenges in obtaining internships and work-study programs that move them further toward their future…
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Adult Learners
Helping Older Students Make Good Decisions When Borrowing for College
March 3, 2020
Adults returning to school after time away face unique challenges, such as determining how much to borrow to finance their education. Overborrowing can cause significant problems, but borrowing too little can be just as much of a problem. This report from the Urban Institute aims to help counselors and other advisers better understand how borrowing…
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Adult Learners
Policies Impacting Today’s Part-Time Students

Boosting College Access and Completion for All

Feb. 21, 2020
The current higher education system—and the policies that govern it—can result in barriers for some part-time students, such as the inability to access student support services and the misalignment between higher education and workforce systems. But, this doesn’t have to be the case. Policies and institutions of higher education can better support part-time students by…
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Adult Learners
Some College and No Degree

How individuals who attend and don’t graduate feel about education

Dec. 17, 2019
In a collaborative study of more than 40,000 Americans who started attending college, but did not finish with a degree, this report provides insights into the reasons they stopped out of college, and what could help them return.
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