Collaborating for Increased College Degree Attainment December 15, 2011 Gabi Zolla

Talent

Talent Dividend Prize: $1 million for your city. Made possible with generous support from:

4  U.S. position as a world leader in education has slipped to 11 th place in 2009  By 2018, 62% of jobs will require some college or above  But only 40% of adults have attained a post secondary degree  Increasing the percentage of postsecondary degree holders in your city will bring economic benefits, according to CEOs for Cities Source: Help Wanted: Projections of Jobs and Education Requirements through 2018, Georgetown University, Center for Education and the Workforce, June 2010 Why Does College Completion Matter?

CAEL Connects Learning and Work  CAEL is the Council for Adult and Experiential Learning  A 501(c)(3) non-profit organization with 37 years of lifelong learning and workforce development experience  Mission to remove barriers to learning for the adult workforce  National network of hundreds of colleges and universities 5

CAEL’s Intermediary Role 6 CAEL is unique in its knowledge of adult/employee learning practices and in its ability to work as an active intermediary among: Colleges & universities Corporations Associations Government, community & philanthropic entities Public Policymakers Military Groups

 Define the Value Proposition of completing college  Value Prior Learning and Promote its Assessment  Increase Institutional Capacity  Increase Student Guidance and Support  Create a College Culture Principles of College Completion

 Identify industries poised for economic growth  Document career opportunities  Show impact of degree attainment on advancement and earnings improvement Define Value Proposition

 Engage both adult workers and young people  Attract, serve, and graduate adult learners with CAEL ALFI framework, assessment, and consulting  Inventory educational offerings to see if they are aligned with economic development targets Increase Institutional Capacity

Many workers have learning that is college level that could count toward their degree attainment. This is largely an unknown fact. Increase awareness by:  Identifying local institutional capacities  Creating regional policy alignment and promoting prior learning regionally  Promoting access to prior learning Value Prior Learning and Promote its Assessment

 Provide career and education advising for students to help them make the right decisions about their education  Train career counselors and job center staff to help them effectively guide students Student Guidance and Support

 Be an effective advocate for education  Form a business leadership group to promote degree completion, develop business/education partnerships, and support college credit awards for workplace learning and corporate training Create a College Culture

13  Engage public workforce development organizations Engage Workforce Development Identify dislocated workers for creditable experiential learning Train and equip case managers in career counseling, career pathways, and PLA Map career paths for regional and target industries Achieve your Talent Dividend Goals

14 Achieve your Talent Dividend Goals  Engage the business community Degree Completion Agenda Develop internal career pathways Coordinate business leadership groups Assist companies to leverage tuition assistance and training programs Form partnerships between corporations and educational providers Provide career and education advising

15  Engage higher education Achieve your Talent Dividend Goals Graduate Adult Learners Improve programs and policies that support adult student success Certify college counselors and advisors Help adults accelerate degree completion through Prior Learning Assessment

Students can earn college credit for what they already know:  On-the-job learning  Corporate training  Military service  Open source courseware  Civic activities  Volunteer service PLA (Prior Learning Assessment)

 For 37 years, nationally recognized as the leader in the assessment of learning from life and work experience  Wrote the standards and best practices followed by colleges and universities  Trained hundreds of faculty and colleges in how to assess learning  Recognized by regional accrediting bodies 17 CAEL’s History with PLA

Results of Assessment 18 When adult students earn college credit for what they already know, THEY ARE MORE LIKELY TO GRADUATE.

Why CAEL Created LearningCounts.org 19  Not enough colleges granting credit for prior learning  Need for consistent standards across regions and states  Adult learners are not aware of PLA so they often take courses that repeat what they already know  Need for a national, online approach with easy access  Ability to use faculty experts nationwide to review learning portfolios in various subject areas

20 New initiative of CAEL: National online service to help students earn college credit for what they already know Includes: On-line course to help students prepare a portfolio Expert faculty assessors review portfolios and make credit recommendations Credit transcription service to colleges chosen by students In most cases, substantial savings on tuition

Foundation support 21

Next Steps 22  Facilitate your planning committee/task force and create a blueprint for your Talent Dividend initiative  Work with colleges in your region on becoming more adult learner friendly  Work with companies in your region to become more employee learning friendly  Create career pathway information to use with adults  Share best practices from other regions and states  Embed LearningCounts.org and the concept of Prior Learning Assessment into your local efforts with colleges and companies where appropriate

Contact Us Pamela Tate, President & CEO, CAEL Mark Campbell, Vice President of LearningCounts.org, CAEL Joel Simon, Vice President of Government Services, CAEL