Not Too Late for School

1. Not Too Late for School CAEL Conference November 7, 2012 Becky Klein-Collins

2. Working Longer Recent studies on retirement show: • 24% of all workers planned to increase their retirement age in 2010 • 24% of workers intend on waiting until at least age 70 to retire while 9% predict they will never retire, due to lack of financial security • 70% of workers intend on working for pay while retired (mostly for financial reasons) Source: Ruth Helman, Mathew Greenwald and Associates, and Craig Copeland and Jack VanDerhei. Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI). The 2010 Retirement Confidence Survey: Confidence Stabilizing, But Preparations Continue to Erode. March 2010 2

3. Aging Worker Initiative Sites

4. Learning Supports that Made a Difference for AWI Participants • Transition workshops with attention to social/ emotional component • Computer training • Short-term training for high-demand industries • Career navigation • Internships • Peer support

5. “They say you’re busier when you retire than you were when you’re working, and it’s true.” KEVIN PITZER Age 57, from Galveston, Indiana Was forced to retire from the United States Air Force in 2009 at the age of 55 Was not ready for retirement mentally, physically or financially Felt lost after the loss of his job with too much free time Began attending Career Transition Hub networking meetings With the help of his Veterans Administrative benefits he and his wife have both enrolled in college at Ivy Tech Community College He is enjoying his classes for his computer information technology major

6. “The last thing in the world you think you're going to do at 60 is go back to school and rebuild your life!" ALTA REYNOLDS 60 years old from Baltimore, Maryland Held a series of jobs from veterinary assistant to store owner Store closed during the recession Divorced and could not find a job Back in school with the help of the AWI grant studying to be a surgical technician

7. Mature Learners Are No Different? • Need information, opportunity, and support • Willing to invest in their own education and training • Want to have their existing skills and competencies count towards postsecondary degree

8. Lifelong Learning Accounts (LiLAs) • Matched savings for employee learning and development • San Francisco pilot with 4 employers, targeting 55+ • 24% were 55 or older • 89% of participants who were 55 years or older were also lower-income and/or minority group members.

9. What Happened • On average, participants 55 years or older saved $860 of their own funds • Participants made progress toward their goals. • Age may be a factor in goal achievement. • Participants believed that LiLAs played an important role in meeting goals.

10. Prior Learning Assessment

11. PLA and Graduation Rate by Age Group

12. CAEL Publications Not Too Late for School: Winning Strategies to Help the Mature Learner. http://www.cael.org/pdfs/Mature-learners---AP New Approaches for Supporting the Mature Worker: The Experiences of the U.S. Department of labor’s Aging Worker Initiative Grantees. http://www.cael.org/pdfs/TMT_New_Approaches_AWI_Grantees The Learning That Maturity Bring: An Analysis of the Value of Prior Learning Assessment for Mature Learners, February 2012 http://www.cael.org/pdfs/PLA_Mature_Learner For additional TMT publications, please visit http://www.cael.org/How-We-Help/Older-Workers

13. Becky Klein-Collins CAEL bklein@cael.org