Collaborating for Increased College Degree Attainment

1. Collaborating for Increased College Degree Attainment December 15, 2011 Gabi Zolla

2. Talent

3. Talent Dividend Prize: $1 million for your city. Made possible with generous support from:

4. Why Does College Completion Matter? Source: Help Wanted: Projections of Jobs and Education Requirements through 2018, Georgetown University, Center for Education and the Workforce, June 2010 U.S. position as a world leader in education has slipped to 11th place in 2009 By 2018, 62% of jobs will require some college or above But only 40% of adults 25-34 have attained a post secondary degree Increasing the percentage of postsecondary degree holders in your city will bring economic benefits, according to CEOs for Cities

5. CAEL Connects Learning and Work CAEL is the Council for Adult and Experiential Learning A 501(c)(3) non-profit organization with 37 years of lifelong learning and workforce development experience Mission to remove barriers to learning for the adult workforce National network of hundreds of colleges and universities

6. CAEL’s Intermediary Role CAEL is unique in its knowledge of adult/employee learning practices and in its ability to work as an active intermediary among:

7. Principles of College Completion • Define the Value Proposition of completing college • Value Prior Learning and Promote its Assessment • Increase Institutional Capacity • Increase Student Guidance and Support • Create a College Culture

8. Define Value Proposition • Identify industries poised for economic growth • Document career opportunities • Show impact of degree attainment on advancement and earnings improvement

9. Increase Institutional Capacity • Engage both adult workers and young people • Attract, serve, and graduate adult learners with CAEL ALFI framework, assessment, and consulting • Inventory educational offerings to see if they are aligned with economic development targets

10. Value Prior Learning and Promote its Assessment Many workers have learning that is college level that could count toward their degree attainment. This is largely an unknown fact. Increase awareness by: • Identifying local institutional capacities • Creating regional policy alignment and promoting prior learning regionally • Promoting access to prior learning

11. Student Guidance and Support • Provide career and education advising for students to help them make the right decisions about their education • Train career counselors and job center staff to help them effectively guide students

12. Create a College Culture • Be an effective advocate for education • Form a business leadership group to promote degree completion, develop business/education partnerships, and support college credit awards for workplace learning and corporate training

13. Achieve your Talent Dividend Goals Engage public workforce development organizations

14. Achieve your Talent Dividend Goals Engage the business community

15. Achieve your Talent Dividend Goals Engage higher education

16. PLA (Prior Learning Assessment) Students can earn college credit for what they already know: • On-the-job learning • Corporate training • Military service • Open source courseware • Civic activities • Volunteer service

17. CAEL’s History with PLA For 37 years, nationally recognized as the leader in the assessment of learning from life and work experience Wrote the standards and best practices followed by colleges and universities Trained hundreds of faculty and colleges in how to assess learning Recognized by regional accrediting bodies

18. Results of Assessment When adult students earn college credit for what they already know, THEY ARE MORE LIKELY TO GRADUATE.

19. Why CAEL Created LearningCounts.org Not enough colleges granting credit for prior learning Need for consistent standards across regions and states Adult learners are not aware of PLA so they often take courses that repeat what they already know Need for a national, online approach with easy access Ability to use faculty experts nationwide to review learning portfolios in various subject areas

20. New initiative of CAEL: National online service to help students earn college credit for what they already know Includes: • On-line course to help students prepare a portfolio • Expert faculty assessors review portfolios and make credit recommendations • Credit transcription service to colleges chosen by students • In most cases, substantial savings on tuition

21. Foundation support

22. Next Steps Facilitate your planning committee/task force and create a blueprint for your Talent Dividend initiative Work with colleges in your region on becoming more adult learner friendly Work with companies in your region to become more employee learning friendly Create career pathway information to use with adults Share best practices from other regions and states Embed LearningCounts.org and the concept of Prior Learning Assessment into your local efforts with colleges and companies where appropriate

23. Contact Us Pamela Tate, President & CEO, CAEL ptate@cael.org 312-499-2680 Mark Campbell, Vice President of LearningCounts.org, CAEL mcampbell@cael.org 312-499-2360 Joel Simon, Vice President of Government Services, CAEL jsimon@cael.org 312-499-2678