Promising Strategies in Completion for “Near Completers”

1. Promising Strategies in Completion for “Near Completers” Heather McKay Rutgers School of Labor and Management Relations Patrick Lane Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE) November 7, 2013

2. What is WICHE? • Promotes access and excellence in higher education for all citizens of the West

3. The Adult College Completion Network • Overarching goal: Share promising policies and practices among all stakeholdersto increase degree and certificate completion by adults with prior college credit

4. The Adult College Completion Network • Nationwide collaborative learning network • Partnering with: • State higher ed agencies • Metropolitan-based projects • Workforce-focused organizations • Economic development organizations • Institutions • Non-profits • “Etc.” • Funded by Lumina Foundation • www.adultcollegecompletion.org

5. The ACC Network assumption • We can’t reach our ambitious attainment goals through improvements in the traditional education pipeline alone. • Data show looming “degree gap” even with HUGE improvements in the traditional pipeline

6. Adults with Significant College Credit

7. “Near completers,” “stopouts,” “ready adults,” etc. • “Significant college credit” but no degree • Specific definition depends on city, state, institution, organization, etc. • “Low hanging fruit”

8. What do we know about near completers? • Census data limited to “some college, no degree” category • Not “first time, full time” students • Institutions and state systems may not track near completers separately from adult students In short, data are limited.

9. Background Demographics: National Longitudinal Survey of Youth Source: WICHE Analysis of National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, 1979

10. Near completers: Background demographics Source: WICHE Analysis of National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, 1979

11. What conclusions can we draw from this? • First the caveats: One data source, preliminary analysis, etc. • Depending on the year, near completers (as defined!) are 6%-10% of the sample • Near completers “fit” with many access/success predictors

12. WhaT Shows Promise in Helping Bring Near-completersBack?

13. Outreach approaches • Adult students are a diverse bunch…no one size fits all approach • No single message reaches all near-completers Three common outreach “strands” • Data mining and direct targeting • Publicity-based campaigns • Formal advertising campaigns

14. Outreach approaches: Messages that resonate • Intrinsic: • Others are in the same situation • You can find a school that’s the right fit for you • You can finish what you started / You’ve started, it’s time to finish • Schools empathize with the sacrifices of returning • Schools care about returning students (Sources: Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, University System of Georgia, Minnesota State Colleges and Universities)

15. Outreach approaches: Messages that resonate • Extrinsic: • There are personal financial and economic benefits to returning to complete a postsecondary degree • “The more you learn, the more you earn” • Your degree may be closer than it appears • College might be more affordable than you think (Sources: Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, University System of Georgia, Minnesota State Colleges and Universities)

16. Employer partnerships: Promising strategies What support can businesses provide throughout the path to completion? • Identifying students, conducting outreach • Classroom space • Flexible work schedules • Education goals in employee reviews • Promoting completers • ACE CREDIT program • Tuition assistance $

17. Return on investment • Tuition assistance • Tax-free • Lowers recruitment costs • Increases retention • Verizon: Estimates $25 million savings through LearningLink • “Assistance” > “Reimbursement” • 14% usage rate vs. 5% Sources: Corporate Voices for Working Families, CAEL, Chief Learning Officer

18. Internships and Co-ops • Data show high job placement • Lower costs of returning • Can be beneficial for companies as well

19. Examples of employer partnerships • SUNY Works www.suny.edu/educationpipeline/sunyworks/index.cfm • Maine Employers Initiative www.mdf.org/mei_overview.php • WorkforceChicago www.workforcechicago.org/Exemplary-Practices.html • Greater Louisville Degrees at Work www.greaterlouisville.com/degreesatwork

20. It Takes a village: Collaboration and Coordination

21. What do we know about collaborative efforts? • Collective Impact: The hot topic The commitment of key stakeholdersfrom different sectors to a common agenda for solving a specific social problem. Source: Stanford Social Innovation Review, 2011

22. Why do some collective efforts succeed, and others fail? Factors associated with success: • Common agenda & metrics • Continuous communication • Backbone support organizations • Establishing “professional” trust and cooperation • Joint planning • Interacting with the target population (Sources: Stanford Social Innovation Review, 2011;Turrini, et al., 2010)

23. Adult Postsecondary Stakeholders Economic Development Agencies Local Government Local employers National employers Business organizations Education providers Community Organizations National Organizations Chambers of Commerce Workforce Agencies State Higher Ed Agencies Institutions of Higher Ed Increased credential completion

24. Linking Higher Education and the Workforce Investment System • Funded by the Lumina foundation for Education • Local Workforce areas had an influx of people into the workforce investment system post 2008 Great Recession • New national emphasis on degree completion • Adult clients need resources and assistance from both systems • New realities of job placement

25. Rutgers/NAWB Adult College Completion Project Our Goal: Better link higher education and Workforce Investment System towards the goal of college completion State Partners: • PA • MS • OK • IN

26. State Approaches • Indiana and Mississippi - Top down implementation states - In state policy - State support – financial and other • Oklahoma and Pennsylvania – Bottom up implementation states - Local policy changes -Local system changes

27. College Completion and the Workforce System • Whether a client gets directed to college varies One-stop to One-stop. • Many workforce centers think they do this. On further inspection they might not! • State and local policy matters - High Priority Occupation Lists - ETPL • Data Collection plays an important role • Assessment and case management are the keys

28. The Workforce System and Higher Education • How the workforce system and higher education are connected varies? - Co-located - Representatives in the other location - Know a contact – likely on non-credit side - Don’t work together • Training front-line staff is essential • Building a strong relationship with one and other is key to success in college completion goals

29. Lessons Learned • Defining a college completion goal • Understanding how college fits into existing policy ie. “High Priority Occupations” • Does college completion really matter in the labor market? • Cultures in both systems are strong • Data systems can be a barrier • Policy/practice changes official and unofficial can be essential to success

30. Project Accomplishments to Date • Policy Briefs • Pre-assessment flow • Data system changes • Recruitment information and findings • Training for frontline staff Webpage launching in December 2013 -- Theadultlearner.org

31. Next Steps • Continue to work with state partners • Special populations: veterans • Other tools such as Prior Learning Assessment • Information dissemination • Wage data analysis • Focusing on sustainability • National Training - April

32. Resources & contact info Education and Employment Research Center School of Management and Labor Relations Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey Heather McKay – 848-445-4735 hmckay@work.Rutgers.edu WICHE’s Adult College Completion Network www.adultcollegecompletion.org Patrick Lane -- 303-541-0266 plane@wiche.edu