Going to a community college is one way to reduce the cost of college. The Lumina Foundation provides the following statistics:
◦ Forty-six percent are 25 or older, and 32 percent are at least 30 years old. The average age is 29.
◦ Fifty-eight percent are women.
◦ Twenty-nine percent have annual household incomes less than $20,000.
◦ Eighty-five percent balance studies with full-time or part-time work. More than half (54 percent) have full-time jobs.
◦ Thirty percent of those who work full time also attend classes full time (12 or more credit hours). Among students 30-39 years old, the rate climbs to 41 percent.
◦ Minority students constitute 30 percent of community college enrollments nationally, with Latino students representing the fastest-growing racial/ethnic population.
Source: The American Association of Community Colleges, based on material in the National Profile of Community Colleges:Trends & Statistics, Phillippe & Patton, 2000.
Many of those attending community college will need a variety of assistance to be successful in their academic career. This same demographic who find community college can further their education dreams may find the alternative credit project may be useful to them in getting a college degree.
Andy Thomason reported in the Chronicle of Higher Education article, 25 Institutions Sign Up for Project to Ease Path to Degree:
Twenty-five colleges have signed up for an alternative-credit program created by the American Council on Education and financed by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the council announced on Monday.
As part of the pilot program, announced in September, students can complete courses from a designated list of about 100 and then earn credit from the participating institutions, which include community colleges, four-year institutions, and for-profit colleges. The institutions will provide data to the council about students’ progress, and more colleges will be recruited to participate in 2015…..
Here are the colleges:
American Public University; Capella University; Central Michigan University; Charter Oak State College; Colorado Community College System; Colorado Technical University; East Carolina University; Fayetteville State University; Fort Hays State University; Goodwin College; John F. Kennedy University; Kaplan University; Lakeland College; Metropolitan State University of Denver; National Louis University; Northern Arizona University; Northwestern State University; Notre Dame College; SUNY Empire State College; Texas Woman’s University; Thomas Edison State College; University of Baltimore; University of Maryland University College; University of Memphis; University of North Carolina. http://chronicle.com/blogs/ticker/25-institutions-sign-up-for-project-to-ease-path-to-degree/91235
See, Project Seeks to Ease Path to 4-Year Degree for Nontraditional Students http://chronicle.com/blogs/ticker/project-seeks-to-ease-path-to-4-year-degree-for-nontraditional-students/85801
Here is the press release from the American Council on Education:
ACE Alternative Credit Project to Increase Attainment Levels for Nontraditional Learners With Some College, No Degree
September 10, 2014
ACE today announced a groundbreaking effort to form a next-generation alternative credit system that will boost the ability of nontraditional learners to gain a college degree.
ACE, which has decades of experience issuing credit recommendations for military and corporate training and experiences, will create a pool of about 100 low-cost or no-cost, lower division courses and general education online courses across 20 to 30 subject areas. In turn, 40 colleges and universities will agree to accept transfer credit for these courses, allow students to enroll with up to two years of credit toward a four-year degree, and track their success rates.
Many of the courses in this alternative credit pool will be drawn from existing courses that already had received ACE credit recommendations, while others will be newly created classes that have been assessed as credit worthy. Some will be taught by traditional accredited colleges and universities, while others will come from non-accredited education providers. ACE also will expand its credit recommendation work by developing guidelines for digital credentials, certificate programs and competency-based education programs.
The project is made possible with the assistance of a $1.86 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Its initial focus will be on the more than 31 million adults who have completed some postsecondary coursework but lack a degree or credential; but many of these students represent first-generation, low-income students, so findings from this investment likely will apply to younger students from this population, as well.
“ACE has for many years been a leader in developing quality mechanisms for determining the credit worthiness of education, training and life experiences outside of a formal higher education classroom setting,” said ACE President Molly Corbett Broad. “This generous investment will advance that work and promote a more flexible and cost-efficient way for more Americans to earn the high-quality postsecondary degrees and credentials needed in today’s global economy.”
“This project will serve as an incubator and ecosystem for alternative credit and encourage greater acceptance of such credit by higher education institutions and systems,” said Cathy Sandeen, ACE’s vice president for education attainment and innovation. “It will help us develop a system that more intentionally connects the various providers and accepters of alternative credit, creating a transparent marketplace where students may find high quality, low cost, lower division online courses with the knowledge that passing them will lead to credit toward a degree or credential.”
MEDIA CONTACT: Jon Riskind ▪ 202-939-9453 ▪ jriskind@acenet.edu
Colleges are recognizing that the ranks of nontraditional students are growing.
Frederick Hess wrote in the Atlantic article, Old School: College’s Most Important Trend is the Rise of the Adult Student:
The media’s “typical” college student lives on a campus at a four-year institution. But that describes no more than a sixth of the total college population. In fact, there are more college attendees over the age of 30 than such “typical” students. The most significant shift in higher education is the massive growth in the adult-student population…. http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2011/09/old-school-colleges-most-important-trend-is-the-rise-of-the-adult-student/245823/
Educating and providing affordable credentials to the adult or nontraditional student is the focus of the Alternative Credit Project.
Related:
Helping community college students to graduate
https://drwilda.com/2012/02/08/helping-community-college-students-to-graduate/
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