The Edge: More On-Ramps for Adult Students

Readers share how educational leaves of absence and other approaches could help adult learners. ADVERTISEMENT [The Edge Logo]( Did someone forward you this newsletter? [Sign up free]( to receive your own copy. I’m Goldie Blumenstyk, a senior writer at The Chronicle covering innovation in and around higher ed. This week I share readers’ responses to last week’s newsletter on supporting adult students, and highlight new ideas for campus “career closets” and promoting the student vote. I also pass along some examples, from my colleague Maura Mahoney, of colleges that are working with high schools to build student pipelines. ADVERTISEMENT SUBSCRIBE TO THE CHRONICLE Enjoying the newsletter? [Subscribe today]( for unlimited access to essential news, analysis, and advice. Your ideas for better supporting adult students. New approaches to help adult students, described in [last week’s newsletter]( struck a chord with readers. Several endorsed the idea of educational leaves of absence, in which employers offer time for workers to pursue short, intensive educational programs. Notably, a few of those fans were adult students who work in higher education. That got me wondering whether colleges themselves might be good laboratories to experiment with this idea. The biggest reality check came from Stephanie Hebert, a business analyst at a Missouri community college with a spouse and two children who is taking six credits a semester right now to earn a certificate that would qualify her as a systems administrator or project manager. “All told, I am working 45+ hours a week, working on classwork 21+ hours a week,” she wrote, “and attempting to use the remaining awake time to take care of personal and family obligations.” Leave is not a ready possibility for her. “Because I am a staff member and not a faculty member,” she said, “I don’t have an option for a sabbatical.” Such leaves would help employers, too, another reader pointed out. “Companies need to take more action to fill their positions and skills gaps by partnering with higher education,” the reader said, “rather than just demanding reform without offering commensurate policies and support for workers.” As for the more general call in the newsletter from Higher Learning Advocates for better on-ramps for adult students, the president of the Maine Community College System, David Daigler, wrote in to highlight the educational pathways that employers and colleges have established via the [Harold Alfond Center for the Advancement of Maine’s Workforce](. “One year in,” he said, “the center is ahead of its plan to train and educate an additional 24,000 people in Maine.” The state has the oldest work force in the nation, so yes, I am seriously considering Daigler’s suggestion that I go to Maine “for more than a lobster roll” and see this in action. Jack MacKenzie, who had proposed the leave-of-absence idea, also got back in touch and shared an early glimpse of data his company, CollegeAPP, which helps colleges identify and recruit adult students, will soon publish. It analyzed 150,000 interviews to better understand what drives people to enroll or re-enroll in college. Guess what? Income and anxiety about job security are still powerful motivating factors. People who are unemployed or concerned about losing their jobs are more likely to say that they intend to enroll in college. So yeah, the public doubt about higher ed in the headlines doesn’t necessarily reflect the feelings of real folks who still need a leg up. Although Black and Hispanic students are underrepresented among older learners, interest in enrolling in college was higher among those respondents than among their white peers, CollegeAPP found. “Knowing this information, along with barriers and motivations to action,” the analysis says, “may help policy makers and institutional leaders respond.” On the lighter side, I also heard from a British reader who was initially confused by Higher Learning Advocates’ use of Chutes and Ladders to depict the challenges adult students face. Across the pond, and elsewhere, the game is known as [Snakes and Ladders](. Either way, ladders are definitely better. High-school partnerships and pipelines. Improving access for local high-school students — particularly those from traditionally underrepresented groups — is a priority for Purdue University. For example, the diverse Indianapolis Public Schools enrolled 23,000 students in 2016, but only 12 went on to Purdue that year, and only five of them were Black. “Instead of pointing the finger at K-12 and saying, ‘Do better,’” said Keeana Warren, campus leaders “decided to take action and start their own high school.” Purdue Polytechnic High School now enrolls nearly 1,000 students across three campuses, with a fourth to open soon, Ms. Warren, the associate executive director, described during a recent Chronicle [forum](. About 60 graduates are now at Purdue, and the university’s in-state Black enrollment has increased by more than 5 percent (look out for a case study coming soon to our [student-success resource center](. Opening a high school is a big undertaking — and it’s not the only option to strengthen ties to the local community. The Chronicle forum, moderated by Alexander C. Kafka, a senior editor, and Paula P. Pando, president of Reynolds Community College, in Virginia, examined several other approaches as well. The conversation was part of our yearlong [series]( on student success, which has been produced with support from the Ascendium Education Group. Here are two models for building pipelines of high-school students: Flexible attendance options. For its [High School Academy]( Post University offers college-level courses in one of three formats: eight-week online terms, 16-week terms taught at high schools by specially trained instructors, and 16-week terms on Post’s campus, in Waterbury, Conn. The academy now enrolls 350 students from 27 partner schools — 24 in Connecticut, one in Massachusetts, and two in Texas. “Our program model is, we don’t have a model,” said Chad McGuire, director of the program and of continuing education at Post. “Let us work with you and see what makes sense.” Summer sessions. Colorado College’s [Stroud Scholars program]( offers academic mentoring from the college’s faculty, staff, and students, and campus sessions over three summers. Students who complete the free program and meet a GPA requirement are admitted to the college with comprehensive financial aid. The goal is to support students who “maybe didn’t see a college on their horizon,” said Jim Burke, director of Colorado’s Summer Session. And even if students decide on a different college, he said, “we’re happy.” —Maura Mahoney Check these out. Here are some education-related items from other outlets that recently caught my eye. Did I miss a good one? [Let me know](mailto:goldie@chronicle.com). - About half of eligible voters ages 18 to 24 cast ballots in the 2020 election. But as The Hechinger Report [highlights]( some students are pushing their colleges to do more to promote voting. Even in states that have made it harder for students to vote, colleges could organize in-person and virtual information sessions, organizers say, and encourage professors not to schedule exams or set deadlines for Election Day. Still, the headwinds are depressingly strong, according to a poll of students by the Campus Vote Project. “Even if they plan to vote,” the Hechinger piece says, “only about half of those surveyed said they felt their vote had the power to make change.” - The banking products that colleges are promoting to their students in partnership with financial-services companies often are more costly than what is otherwise available, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said in its 12th annual [report to Congress on “College Banking and Credit Card Agreements]( The report also found that many colleges “do not appear to prominently post the requisite disclosures” about their banking arrangements on their websites. Nevertheless, the number of agreements, overall payments from charge-card issuers to colleges, and open accounts pursuant to agreements has continued to decrease since 2009, when Congress passed the [Credit CARD]( accountability act. - “Professional dress codes may be falling out of fashion in the era of virtual meetings,” but for students interviewing for jobs, business attire can still make the best impression, Inside Higher Ed reports in [this piece on the rise of campus “career closets.”]( Some colleges are using grants to stock the closets, but donated clothes are also filling out the racks. “Many workers who have switched to remote work schedules have piles of professional clothes lingering in their closets and drawers,” the story notes, “and they tend to feel more comfortable giving it to students than to a random thrift shop.” Got a tip you’d like to share or a question you’d like me to answer? Let me know, at goldie@chronicle.com. If you have been forwarded this newsletter and would like to see past issues, [find them here](. To receive your own copy, free, register [here](. If you want to follow me on Twitter, [@GoldieStandard]( is my handle. Goldie’s Weekly Picks MEETING THEM WHERE THEY ARE [Making a Home for Students With Autism]( By Kelly Field [STORY IMAGE]( New programs meet a range of academic, social, and emotional needs for people on the spectrum. SPONSOR CONTENT | University of South Florida [How one small team launched a lead-generating, timely certificate program in less than three months]( THE REVIEW | OPINION [Student-Loan Debt Is a Crisis for Black Borrowers]( By Jason Houle and Fenaba Addo [STORY IMAGE]( Racial disparities in student debt are at an all-time high. ADMISSIONS [When Considering the Fairness of Race-Conscious Admissions, Don’t Forget to Get Over Yourself]( By Eric Hoover [STORY IMAGE]( We’re obsessed with individual achievement. 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