Hendricks Adult Learners Conference presentation

Study Overview

• Focus: demographic, educational, & financial characteristics of undergraduate students who:

• Applied for federal financial aid in 2010-11

• Lived in PA

• Were adult learners (age 24+) or GED graduates

• Rural-urban differences

• Data sources

• 610,925 FAFSA applications

• Interviews

• 2 policy experts (Mark Lafer at PHEAA; Ron Cowell at Education Policy & Leadership Center)

• financial aid administrators at 6 rural postsecondary institutions

• Funding: Center for Rural Pennsylvania

• In-kind support: Institute for the Study of Adult Literacy at PSU

• FAFSA data: Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency (Mark Lafer)

Higher Education Context in U.S. & PA

• Rising cost
• +375% since 1980s (3x growth in median family income)

• Out of reach for low-income families
• 6 of 12 most expensive U.S. public institutions for low-income students are in PA

• Lower college enrollment & educational attainment in rural PA

• enrollment (2004)
• 18-24 yrs.: 27% rural vs. 37% cities & suburbs

• 25-29 yrs.: 8% rural vs. 10-11% cities

• attainment
• 25-64 yrs. with college degree: 1 in 5 rural vs. 1 in 3 urban (2006)

• Rural PA adults have fewer--and more expensive--higher ed options

• Community colleges concentrated in urban areas

• Scarcity & expense of community colleges mostly affect adults & GED graduates “because community colleges represent the lowest priced as well as...lowest risk educational portals” (Education Policy Leadership Center, 2006, p. 29).

• Adult learners: growing proportion of U.S. undergraduates

• 2011: 42% of undergraduates age 25+

• 2000-2010: adult enrollment +42% vs. +34% for younger students

• 17 million U.S. adults with GED (General Educational Development) diploma (2009)

• Adult postsecondary enrollment in PA

• 4% (age 25-49) vs. 9% in states with highest enrollment (NCPPHE, 2008)

• 1.5% (age 25+): 48th in U.S. (PA Business Council Education Foundation, 2014)

• 1 in 5 working-age adults (PA & U.S.) has some college credits but no credential: untapped audience

• Known characteristics of GED graduates

• Lower college enrollment & completion
• 17% enroll in college (age 18-29) vs. 34% HS diploma
• 5% have BA/BS (vs. 33% HS diploma)

• 2-year institutions

• <4-year degree

• Part-time study

• High poverty rates: 44% (GED) vs. 17% (HS diploma)

Findings:

Adult Learners

Findings:

GED Graduates

Findings:

Interviews

• Increase in students' unmet financial need:
• "One, because the cost has gone up. Two, in many instances, family income has declined. And in the face of that, we have not had a big increase, or any increase, in state funding for the grant program."

• Increased adult learner enrollment at the 2-year & public 4-year institutions, not the 4-year private
• lost job or unemployment benefits expired

• Adults have different financial situations & enrollment patterns, so require different types of financial aid
• Not financially dependent
• Raising families
• Take classes intermittently
• Many aren't getting a 4-year or 2-year degree (certification, specialized training, professional development, retraining)
• “A lot of them are in employment circumstances where there’s not the certainty of work six months from now, or even six weeks from now."

• Adults’ financial situations shape degree completion:

• "I find that the adult learners have more difficulty with…the ability to complete their degree, because of their…financial responsibilities outside of school. So if they come to school and they are full-time…they’re studying and…their academic performance is not affected, but their financial responsibilities for the home are not being able to be covered. They can’t meet their financial responsibilities outside of school, so it…deters them from completing in a timely fashion….They’ll stop and start. They’ll stop and start."

• Woman took 20 years to complete BA/BS: “And it’s because she has three children…She has to work a regular job, and she stops and she starts, and she stops and she starts, and she stops and she starts.”

• Highlights prevalent "stopout" pattern

• Many adults ineligible for state grants: take too few classes, <2 year degree, study part-time

• "Again, your people in the workforce are often just looking to improve their skills, so they take a course here or a course there. The students who are opting not to go from high school to full-time secondary ed are possibly again looking for job preparation training, where again it may not be a program of 2 years’ duration…. Actually, the Commonwealth has recognized this. They had asked us to initiate a new grant program this year called [Pennsylvania Targeted Industry Program], which focuses exclusively on programs of study of less than 2 years, although we still maintain the enrollment intensity requirement." (at least half-time at non-profit and full-time at for-profit institutions)

• "Now there is some [state] aid to part-time students, but it is still a limited piece of the [state] grant program….I would think that we probably have more part-time students, and we don’t necessarily have a student grant program that is responsive enough to that changing dynamic."

• State online learning policies adversely affect adults
• Ineligible for state grant if >50% classes online
• PA = only state to maintain such restrictions
• $10 million pilot program (2013-18) at selected institutions
• BUT students must be enrolled at least half-time in program of 2+ years
• excludes many adult learners & GED graduates

• Findings challenge conventional image of college students

• Need to re-calibrate image of who they are

• GED graduates & adult learners were far more disadvantaged than peers

• 60-77% poverty rates (highest for urban GED & adult learners)

• More likely to be dislocated worker

• More likely to study part-time, attend non-4-year institution, pursue <2-year degree

• Some college credits, but still in 1st year

• Lower parental education (esp. rural)

• Less likely to be single, more likely to have dependents (esp. rural)

• Characteristics mirror the “risk index for non-persistence” in higher education (Reder, 2007)

• Older age, part-time enrollment, financial independence, dependent children

• Non-traditional students need targeted, multi-faceted support to complete degree (financial, social, academic)

• Need to tailor financial aid to marginalized students
• Change aid eligibility requirements
• Expand aid for part-time study & short-duration programs

• Understand & respond to rural-urban differences
• E.g., lower rural educational attainment, higher urban financial need

• Read the full report at the Center for Rural PA website: www.rural.palegislature.us (select "reports" under publications tab)

• For more information, contact Esther Prins: esp150@psu.edu

Characteristics of adult learners and GED recipients:

A rural-urban analysis of Pennsylvania postsecondary students

Findings

Why does this matter?

• Growing interest in supporting “transitions to postsecondary education”

• Post-recession analysis of student characteristics

• First statewide analysis of all federal financial aid applicants, with focus on adults & GED graduates

• Few studies provide rural-urban analysis

Dr. Cathy Kassab

By the Numbers

Kimeka Campbell

Adult Education Program, PSU

Dr. Esther Prins

Adult Education Program, PSU

Adult Learners & GED Graduates

Implications