Key points:
- Research finds states lack comprehensive statewide re-enrollment strategies
- Why the old enrollment playbook no longer works
- The hidden cost of college isn’t money–it’s time and opportunity
- For more news on adult learners, visit eCN’s Campus Leadership hub
Most states still rely on fragmented, short-term initiatives to support adult learners rather than coordinated statewide strategies, according to new research from ReUp Education.
The organization’s new Adult Learner Engagement Index introduces a framework designed to help state policymakers assess how well their states are engaging adult learners and identify opportunities to improve enrollment, completion, and workforce alignment.
Adult learners, typically defined as students aged 25 and older, represent one of the most significant untapped opportunities for states seeking to expand their skilled workforce. Today, as the report notes, over 43 million American adults have earned some college credit but never completed a degree or credential.
“More states are starting to recognize that engaging adult learners has surpassed being a niche higher education issue and is now a fundamental workforce strategy,” said Dr. Kimberly Walker, Vice President for Government Strategy at ReUp Education and author of the report. “States that build coordinated, sustained, learner-centered systems will be better positioned to strengthen their economies, fill critical talent gaps, and help more residents unlock the value of a postsecondary credential.”
The Adult Learner Engagement Index evaluates state efforts across three core areas: Student Incentive Support, Institutional Innovation, and Outreach and Engagement. Within those categories, the index examines specific strategies that contribute to successful statewide adult learner engagement, including scholarships, institutional debt review, student-centered policy review, institutional incentives, communities of practice, data, analytics, marketing, and coaching.
Key findings from the report include:
- Most states support adult learners through individual programs, but few have comprehensive statewide strategies. The report finds that higher-performing states tend to execute multiple strategies at once, creating a more coordinated environment for adult learner success.
- Data and analytics are the most common starting points for state action. Many states are developing stronger data capacity, but data alone is not enough unless paired with coordinated outreach, institutional support, and learner-centered policies.
- Institutional incentives are underused to drive change. Only 19 states offer incentives for institutions to more effectively enroll and serve adult learners, limiting colleges’ ability to build sustainable adult learner programs.
The report offers four recommendations for state leaders:
- Harness data and analytics to drive statewide improvements by aggregating postsecondary and workforce data to identify enrollment trends, workforce needs, and opportunities for investment.
- Identify existing programs and potential gaps by conducting a statewide inventory of adult learner initiatives across agencies, systems, and institutions.
- Centralize adult learner initiatives with a coordinating state agency leader to reduce fragmentation, improve efficiency, and align postsecondary and workforce strategies.
- Build value in the workforce pipeline by creating sustainable programs for adult learners that reduce barriers, avoid overly restrictive eligibility rules, and reach learners early in their consideration of when and where they might return to college.
“States cannot meet their future workforce needs by focusing on traditional college students alone,” said Terah Crews, CEO of ReUp Education. “Adult learners are already in our communities, connected to the workforce, and often close to completing a credential that can accelerate their careers. Innovative states are combining existing scholarship and reconnect programs with the personalized outreach and coaching necessary to enroll and graduate adult learners at scale.”
This press release originally appeared online.
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