Adult College Completion in the 21st Century: What We Know and What We Don't

Erisman, Wendy; Steele, Patricia

doi:10.2139/ssrn.2622629

Cited by 18 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…Having a strong connection with the instructor and school facilities is vital for a nontraditional student’s success (Erisman & Steele, 2012). We have found that many of our nontraditional students bemoan the lack of formal campus units that can support the nontraditional community of students such as clubs or organizations focused on them.…”

Section: Practical Strategies For Managing Fearmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Driving Out Fear in the Nontraditional Classroom: Five Practical Strategies From Neuroscience to Build Adult Student Success

Spagnola

Yagos

2020

Adult Learning

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Although enrollment of nontraditional students in higher education is skyrocketing, the failure rate of these students is staggering. They come to a university full of fear and misgivings for a variety of reasons, and it keeps them from succeeding. Referencing the neuroscience of fear, this article offers practical strategies for university educators that will help nontraditional students, not only succeed but also flourish in higher education.

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Section: Practical Strategies For Managing Fearmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Erisman and Steele (2012) posit fear can keep students from succeeding academically. Fear for nontraditional students takes on many forms, including fears caused by a lack of self-confidence (Ross-Gordon, 2011, p. 28).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Driving Out Fear in the Nontraditional Classroom: Five Practical Strategies From Neuroscience to Build Adult Student Success

Spagnola

Yagos

2020

Adult Learning

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“…Among students who drop out for at least a year and then return to college, only about one-third complete a cre-dential compared to over half of first-time students. 50 Despite the fact that high school students from rural areas have strong high school graduation rates (85 percent), only 29 percent of 18-to 24-year-olds in rural areas are enrolled in college, compared with 48 percent of their urban peers. 51 Moreover, the rural-urban gap in college attainment is growing.…”

Section: Limitations and Complexities In Measuring Completion Ratesmentioning

confidence: 99%

20210331

Campbell¹,

Blankenship²

2020

To Improve the Academy

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The Future of Undergraduate Education, The Future of America is published at a critical moment in our nation's history, when so many long-standing assumptions about who we are as a people, and where we are headed, have been called into question.For over a century, we have pursued grand ambitions-groundbreaking scientific discoveries, life-changing technological advances, hard-won social change-and emerged ever stronger, if still imperfect, from our struggles. In recent years, however, we appear to have lost some of that motivating enthusiasm, the optimism that has always lifted us as a people. As we grapple with persistent social inequalities, widening political divisions, prolonged international conflict, and intensifying environmental challenges, we often seem more concerned with the limits of our present capabilities than in the realization of our dreams.If we are to regain our momentum, as we have after so many other challenging moments in our past, we will have to find new ways to channel our inexhaustible creativity, restore a measure of civility to the national discourse, and bridge our differences. In short, we will have to recommit to the promise of education-to study the lessons of the past, analyze the requirements of the present, and imagine the innovations that will brighten our future. Education is not the solution to every problem, but it is often the best tool we have at our disposal, and there is good reason to believe it has been the primary source of our greatest achievements over the past century. This report offers practical and actionable recommendations to improve the undergraduate experience. But in its practicality, it is motivated by the highest ideals: faith that every person, from every background, can succeed in America when given the proper training and preparation; confidence that our existing institutions of higher education can and will evolve to meet the needs of today's and future students; and an unwavering commitment to the free exchange of ideas as the basis of a creative, productive, and democratic society. As stated in the conclusion of this report, "Progress is not guaranteed, and good things will happen only with sustained effort, but if we can sustain focus on the work, combining patience with urgency, we can, through undergraduate education, make great advances as individuals and as a nation. "The Commission on the Future of Undergraduate Education, which authored this report, was created in 2015 by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in response to a suggestion from Dr. Vartan Gregorian, president of Carnegie Corporation of New York. Dr. Gregorian observed that the context and expectations for American undergraduate education had changed dramatically over the past few decades, as our colleges and universities opened their doors to new populations of students (young and old, traditional and nontraditional, immigrant and international) and that it was time for a new study to examine the student educational journey. He therefore asked the American Academy to examine...

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“…Yet, what most distinguishes the ALBA program from the norm, and what makes it worth considering, is its success. The average graduation rate of students over 24 in the United States is 31%, and only 7% of part‐time adult students complete in 6 years (Erisman & Steele, , p. 10). In comparison, 71% of ALBA students graduate with a degree and an additional 7% earn a certificate or diploma even though 60% attend part‐time.…”

Section: Why Look At Alba?mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…While ALBA is worth understanding because of what it has accomplished, it is also an instructive case because of the similarities and differences between higher education in Ireland and the United States. In both countries, there have been efforts to increase the number of college‐educated adults by easing transfer between institutions, educating mature workers, increasing prior learning assessment, and building stackable credentials (Erisman & Steele, ; Ireland, Department of Education and Skills, SOLAS, ). Equity in education is a stated priority of the Irish Government, which sees education and training as enabling a policy of “active inclusion,” which enables “every citizen, notably the most disadvantaged, to fully participate in society and this includes having a job” (Ireland, Department of Education and Skills.…”

Section: Why Look At Alba?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Competency‐based education as a force for equity

Cleary

Breathnach

2017

J of Competency-Based Ed

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In recent publications, critics and advocates of competency-based education (CBE) have raised questions about whether or not CBE advances the cause of equity in education. This article offers a response, by way of a case study, describing an openadmissions CBE program for adult students with graduation rates over double the US national average. Exploring this program's success, the article argues that CBE can advance equity, but doing so requires research-based understanding of, institutionwide respect for, and mission-focused commitment to adult and other "nontraditional" learners. K E Y W O R D Sadult learning, adult students, equity, nontraditional learners, post-traditional learners | INTRODUCTIONCritics argue and supporters worry that competency-based education (CBE) will deepen educational and, by extension, socioeconomic inequity by allowing the already privileged to customize and accelerate their education, while the underprivileged languish in workforce training masquerading as higher education. They are right to be concerned. Not because CBE leads inevitably to inequity, it does not, but because building and sustaining CBE programs that advance equity is no easy task. Outcomes have informed the development of several competence frameworks. Nevertheless, Schneider, 2016 essay "Quality, Inequity, and Disruptive Innovation" characterized some "so-called | THE EQUITY QUESTION

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Adult College Completion in the 21st Century: What We Know and What We Don't

Cited by 18 publications

References 6 publications

Driving Out Fear in the Nontraditional Classroom: Five Practical Strategies From Neuroscience to Build Adult Student Success

Driving Out Fear in the Nontraditional Classroom: Five Practical Strategies From Neuroscience to Build Adult Student Success

20210331

Competency‐based education as a force for equity

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