Transcript Ford Foundation Project: “Bridges to Opportunity - Postsecondary Access and Success for Low-Income Students.” Presented to House Higher Education Committee Sept 16, 2005 Tina Bloomer,

Ford Foundation Project: “Bridges to
Opportunity - Postsecondary Access
and Success for Low-Income Students.”
Presented to House Higher Education Committee
Sept 16, 2005
Tina Bloomer, Student Achievement Project Director, SBCTC
David Prince, Senior Research Manager, SBCTC
Don Bressler, President, Renton Technical College
Overview
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The Bridges project provides ways to identify
policy goals to increase education attainment
and workforce success for CTC students.
The Bridges project is helping us learn how
best to serve low income students, in particular
working age adults.
The results are applicable to all students.
The importance of Bridges to our colleges
and state:
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Community colleges are an important entry point to higher education
for adults with no previous college experience.
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Age makes an enormous difference in access and success. (Moving
Into Town – and Moving On, The community college in the lives of
traditional-age students, Adelman 2005).
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Adults between 25 and 64 represent 35 percent of full-time equivalent
enrollments at two-year public colleges compared to 15 percent of
FTE undergraduate enrollments at four-year public institutions (IPEDS
Fall National Enrollment Survey, Fall 2002).
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Research demonstrates that education makes a difference in income
and has a positive impact on the economy.
Today’s Discussion:
Following the Vision- An Integrated
Strategy
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The importance of working age adults to the
health of our economy (research findings)
A ground level view of the issues from a
college’s perspective
Advancing the Bridges framework
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combining literacy and workforce training
applied baccalaureates
WorkFirst
financial aid
Research Findings: Education and
Workforce Outcomes for Low-Skill Adults
Research Goals
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Create a better understanding of working age
adults with high school education or less, or
non-English speaking--the importance to the
economy of having a qualified workforce and
needs for post-secondary education
Identify the state-level policy implications and
identify ways to help colleges enhance results
for students and employers
Educational attainment and economic attainment are
closely linked.
Wa State Population Survey 2002
Earnings
PHd
Prof
Deg
MA
Deg
AA
Deg
BA
Deg
Voc
Cert
HS
20%
15%
10%
5%
0%
< 9th
Grade
$80,000
$60,000
$40,000
$20,000
$0
Unemployment Rate
If society’s economic health is directly related to the
economic attainment of its members. How are we doing with
the least skilled?
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1 out of every 4 persons 18-24 has no high
school diploma.
More than 1/3 of the working age population in
WA (25-49 years old) has a high school education
or less.
Non-English speakers 25 or older doubled in
the last census.
Nearly half of all Latino/Hispanics 25 or older
have less than high school education.
Society’s economic health... working age adultsand relationship to the economy
Total working age adults
with high school
education or less and
younger people (18-24)
with less than high
school diploma (Census
2000)
Working age adults
with less than high
school education or
non-English speaking
=
=
All high school
graduating classes
added together
between 2000-2011
1 in every 5 labor
force participants
through 2030
Economic attainment: 1 year of college level credits plus a
credential is the tipping point for students needing to find
career pathways.
Study tracked 35,000 working age adult students who came to CTC’s
with high school education or less, or non-English-speaking.
6 years after college start, the highest value-added for work success
1 year + credential gives future earnings bump:
 = $7,000 more per year for ESL students
 = $8,500 more per year for an ABE student
 = $2,700 and $1,700 more per year (respectively) for workforce
students entering with a GED or HSD only
Jobs that need 1 year college level credit +credential are among those
in greatest demand.
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To get more to the tipping point
requires fixes..
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Adults with low skills need pathways to greater
educational attainment and higher skill jobs.
Financial aid designed for traditional students
going straight from high school to a college or
university doesn’t suit working-age adults needing
to stop in and out as they follow a path.
Educational steps today aren’t always additive and
for non-English speakers or those with less than
high school education, the first steps to “become
ready” take too long- with little immediate benefits.
Jump start training cuts short
before real gains are made.
Short 1st step training focused exclusively on getting
a job, with less attention to educational attainment,
results in lower future earnings when students
don’t return … and they often don’t.
 Students
who complete short custom training to get a
job (but attain less than 1 year of college credit) earn
$3,800 less per year than those who have credential
+ 1 year of college credit … $6,800 less per year if
they started from basic skills.
Overarching Vision
Applied
Baccalaureate
Associate
Applied Science
1 Yr Credit +
Credential
Less than one
year
Literacy with
workforce
ABE/ESL
Technical
Professional
Skilled
Technician
Entry level Technician
Entry Level –
Skilled Labor
Semi-skilled
Labor
Unskilled
Labor
Findings and Implications
for Policy
Educational attainment for the least educated adults in
society is an important (but often neglected) health
indicator for our economy and for having a qualified
workforce.
 Working age adults with high school education or less
and ESL is a pipeline into the workforce as big as 10
high school graduating classes.
 Entails building and extending educational pathways
leading to high skill/high wage jobs, thinking of financial
aid in new ways, combining steps to remove hurdles.
 Will we have a system to meet the structural and
dynamic demands of this workforce for at least 1yr
college+ credential?
Combined Literacy and
Workforce Training Programs
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Relatively few ESL students transition to workforce training.
If they do transition, it is typically to training for jobs on the
lowest rung on the ladder with few advancing beyond to
higher wage and higher skill jobs.
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The model being used to combine literacy and workforce
training pairs ESL and professional technical instructors to
accelerate transition to skills training by providing
instruction together in the classroom.
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The pilots studied student results and program costs to
bring this model to scale in phase two.
Applied Baccalaureates
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Colleges will be selected based on
analysis of gaps in service delivery,
capacity, and student and employer
demand for programs.
The baccalaureate pilots and
university centers bring education
to people where they need it.
People are able to come and to
finish what they started.
WorkFirst
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75%-80% of TANF adults have a high
school diploma or less when they come on
the case load and no better when they exit.
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WorkFirst doesn't currently emphasize
longer-term education and skill development
necessary for getting and keeping jobs.
WorkFirst Redesign Goals
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Create a shared assessment
process of work and
educational backgrounds as
well as personal circumstances
Provide earlier access to
colleges
Provide longer training where
it fits
House Bill 1345:Part-time student Aid- A
significant new initiative for nontraditional working adults
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Lack of financial aid targeted specifically
to non-traditional working adults is a major
barrier.
This aid needs to attract students who
may not even see themselves as aid
eligible.
The students include part time workforce
students, students in basic skills, and
workers who are not currently engaged in
education.
Financial Aid Policy
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We are working with the HECB to
identify and track two-year
colleges and students utilizing the
financial aid pilots.
We will measure access and
success for non-traditional
students.
Summary:
Today we provided a lens
to view non-traditional populations
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Working Age Adult Research
Project
Combined Literacy and Workforce
Training Programs
Applied Baccalaureates
WorkFirst
Financial Aid
Questions