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Adult learners invest in the future
By Karen A. Nicodemus, Ph.D.
Earlier this week, the college kicked off the new academic year with an all-employee convocation. Dr. Vincent Tinto, distinguished professor from Syracuse University (NY), was the keynote speaker. Dr. Tinto has researched and written extensively on higher education, particularly on student success and the impact of learning communities on student growth and attainment. As a member of Pathways to College Network, he is engaged in a national effort to increase access to college.
If the literature is any indication, access and preparation have replaced aspiration as the most critical factor affecting student success in higher education. A recently released study indicated that nine of 10 students in grades six through 12 had parents who expected them to continue their education beyond high school. In a report released several years ago, almost 80 percent of all eighth graders also expected to continue their education beyond high school.
These high levels of expectations are good news. Now we need to find ways to ensure students follow through on their aspirations and also leave higher education having attained their educational goals.
Unfortunately, nationally and in Arizona, expectations have not translated into students actually starting and, more importantly, finishing a degree program. The United States is facing the crisis of not having the educated workforce needed to be competitive on a global basis. It is projected that over the next 16 years, the United States needs to produce an additional one million more baccalaureate degrees annually. In Arizona, Gov. Janet Napolitano has called on the state’s education system to double the number of baccalaureate degrees in the workplace by 2020.
When we consider higher education, we often think of the high school student transitioning from high school. But we find ourselves serving a diverse student population, with a number of adult students either re-entering higher education or entering for the first time. As we look to meet the demand for more highly-educated individuals, we will need to increase both the number of traditional-age students and adult students entering and successfully leaving our institutions.
There exists at the state and national levels a large group of adults who are underprepared for a changing workplace. At a time when more and more job opportunities will require some level of postsecondary education, more than 50 percent of the 150 million Americans (aged 16 years or older) in the labor force have at least one educational barrier. Eighty-eight million adults have either no high school diploma, a high school degree with no college and/or don’t speak English “very well.” In almost all 50 states, including Arizona, this is the first time in history that the generation leaving the workplace (retiring) is better educated than the incoming working generation.
And, although the road to more education is often more challenging for the new or returning adult student, many are making the choice to return to Cochise College. It is often family obligations that motivate adults to return to education – the desire to do more for their children.
Some of these adult students are enrolling in the college’s Adult Education program, completing their GED (high school equivalent degree). In 2007-2008, the college’s grant-funded Adult Education program served 721 students. The program offered more than 56,000 hours of instruction, and 46 percent of the students served continued from the fall semester into the spring. Students may have been involved in any one of several programs, including GED (high school equivalency), citizenship, and English Language Acquisition. The college is especially proud of the 91 Adult Education students who transitioned to Cochise College coursework through funding and support made available by an Allied Health Incentive grant.
Adult students, like their younger counterparts, are pursuing a certificate or associate degree with the intent of improving their career options; others are using the college to jumpstart their goal of earning a baccalaureate or higher degree. Either way, there are multiple indicators that they are making a wise investment in themselves and their futures.
The reality of the 21st century workplace is that those not investing in their education will find their opportunities limited. The college has a vast array of programs and services to help students of all ages and backgrounds to get started on their own personal journey of “Creating Opportunities, Changing Lives.”
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