This report examines how higher education institutions define and describe undergraduate-adult learners, why it matters, and explores creating a common definition for the undergraduate-adult learner. The survey upon which this report was based was conducted to benchmark U.S. higher education and the American Association of Collegiate Registrars…

Over the past decade, Tennessee has invested in several policies addressing the educational attainment of adult learners. One of these policies, Tennessee Reconnect, is a last-dollar scholarship for eligible adults to attend community college free of tuition and mandatory fees. In 2021, two community colleges participated in a year-long pilot…

Using the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) 2012/17 Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study (BPS:12/17), this research study explores the persistence to bachelor's degree attainment of adult students. Specifically, this study looks at adult students who expected to earn a bachelor's degree or higher, and analyzes whether…

Over the past decade, 113,000 adults with some college but no degree (SCND) have reconnected with higher education at Tennessee community colleges. Most of these students reconnected at community colleges after attending elsewhere, and many had made substantial progress toward a credential before stopping out. However, after reconnecting, fewer…

More than 100,000 adults with some college but no degree (SCND) have reconnected with higher education at Tennessee community colleges over the past decade. However, only 21% graduated within three years of reconnecting. In Pathways to Success for Students with Some College, No Degree, the Tennessee Board of Regents (TBR) seeks to build a body of…

Each year from 2018 to 2020, roughly 16,000 students participated in Tennessee Reconnect at community colleges across the state. However, fewer than half of those Reconnect students persisted to the following year as grant participants. To promote Reconnect students' reapplication and persistence, Nashville State and Southwest Tennessee Community…

While statewide initiatives like Tennessee Reconnect have lowered the barriers to higher education access for many some college experience but no degree (SCND) adults, these efforts alone may be insufficient to ensure adults' success. The Pathways to Success for Students with Some College, No Degree project seeks to build a body of evidence about…

This data brief is intended to shed light on the scope and scale of the disparities in college attainment across New York City. The analysis is conducted on data from the U.S. Census Bureau's 2008 and 2018 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates. More specifically, it looks at educational attainment for working-age (age 25-64) residents of the…

With support from the California Community Colleges Chancellor's Office (CCCCO), Educational Services Division, the Research and Planning Group (RP Group) conducted a mixed-methods analysis of noncredit English Language Learners' (ELL) transition to credit courses, such as transfer-level English (TLE), to inform the work of a statewide committee…

Guided Pathways is a comprehensive reform model focused on student success by designing clear pathways for students, helping them to make informed decisions, and stay on their chosen path while striving to increase attainment in credentials with labor market value. The population of students that will provide colleges the best evidence of the…

In 2017, the government launched Career Learning Pilots in order to test the design and provision of various training approaches for working adults with low to intermediate skills. As part of this initiative, the Department for Education provided approximately £11.3 million in funding to pilot projects that offered flexible and accessible ways of…

For more than 25 years, thousands of colleges and universities have used the Ruffalo Noel Levitz (RNL) Satisfaction-Priorities Surveys to assess their students, strengthen the student experience, increase student success and completion, and prioritize campus planning initiatives. The surveys are valued so highly because they reveal where…

This brief focuses on the population aged 25-34. The sample includes data from OECD member, OECD accession and G20 countries, for the years 2005-16 for OECD member countries and 2005-15 for non-OECD countries. The share of young adults (aged 25-34) with a tertiary education has grown over the past decade in OECD and G20 countries, and it is…

This report captures motivational data from students at the end of 2020--students who were in the thick of the pandemic and the pivot to online and hybrid learning, along with historic levels of social and economic upheaval. Starting strong is crucial to student retention. When entering students get off to a strong start, they are more likely to…

The "Final Impact Report for Accelerating Opportunity" study examined the effect of Accelerating Opportunity (AO) on education and employment outcomes for underprepared adult learners. Designed and led by Jobs for the Future and national partners, AO allowed adults with low basic skills to enroll in integrated career pathways at…