Removing the Barriers to Postsecondary Education for Adult Learners

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Removing the Barriers to Postsecondary Education
for Adult Learners
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It is important to note that while adult
students face significant challenges, they can
succeed in college and bring broad life
experience and many transferable
skills.National College Transition
Networkwww.collegetransition.org
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63 of those who passed the GED said they took
the test in order to qualify for further
education.GED Testing Service Who Passed the
GED Tests? 2003 Statistical Report

• Only 30 35 actually go on to postsecondary
  education
• Only 5 10 obtain at least a year of
  postsecondary education
• Between 0.5 and 3 acquire even an associates
  degree
• 
  John Tyler, Brown University, 2001

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What Barriers Do Adult Students Face When
Transitioning to Postsecondary Education?
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The following challenges exist for GED students
as well as those with diplomas who return to
college.
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It will take collaboration between many
stakeholders to address these barriers
effectively. Consider what your agency or
organization can do to address each of these.
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1. Inadequate academic preparation 

• Limited exposure to college-level reading
• Lack of algebra skills
• Little experience writing research papers
• Limited computer skills

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2. The need for career, personal, and academic
counseling

• Education in a community college is necessary
  but not sufficient for all this to pay off. The
  student needs to earn a credential, in the right
  occupation area, AND find related employment for
  all this to payoff.
• W. Norman Grubb, Economics of
  Education Review ,2002

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3. Financial Concerns

• Limited knowledge of or access to financial aid
  for part-time students
• Lost wages if full-time workers need to curtail
  hours or give up over-time income
• Hidden costs associated with college including
  transportation and childcare costs

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4. Competing demands of work, family,
relationships, childcare and school

• Working students typically take more time to
  complete a postsecondary program e.g. 5 years
  for an associates degree
• Some single parent students are uncomfortable
  leaving children in daycare or teenagers
  unsupervised beyond their work hours

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5. Lack of familiarity with the college culture

• A gap exists between the services that are
  available to students and students awareness of
  them.
• Matus-Grossman et al, Opening Doors,
  2002

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6. Need for organizational and study skills

• Note taking
• Research strategies
• Time management/task prioritization
• Identifying study time and space
• Reading strategies for college texts
• Dealing with test anxiety
• Overcoming learning challenges

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Transitioning Adults to College Adult Basic
Education Program ModelsZafft, Kallenbach, and
Spohn, 2006 NCSALL Occasional Paper

• www.collegetransition.org

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Five Program Models

• Advising Model
• GED Plus Model
• ESOL Transition Model
• Career Pathways Model
• College Preparatory Model

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There are risks and costs to a program of
action. But they are far less than the long-range
risks and costs of comfortable inaction.

• John F. Kennedy