The Plus 50 Initiative will use its grant to work with 20 community colleges to increase the number of students age 50 and older to complete degrees, certificates or other credentials that can help them get hired.

 

The participating two-year colleges include:

AACC will select another 13 colleges within the first two years of the grant period.

 

The grant will help AACC build on the Plus 50 Initiative, launched in 2008 and funded by the Atlantic Philanthropies. Support from Atlantic Philanthropies will augment the new Plus 50 Completion Initiative, which aims to help workers age 50 and older who are struggling to recover from the economic recession.

According to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, unemployed older adults are the least likely of unemployed workers to find jobs, with only about 15 percent of them finding jobs each month in 2009.

 

“Our participating colleges know the specific needs of plus-50 learners and are eager to expand their work helping older adults complete degrees and certificates that are marketable in the workplace,” said AACC President and CEO George Boggs.

 

 

With 37 million adults ages 25–64—more than 20 percent of the working age population—having attended a college but never earned a degree or credential, Lumina’s new initiative is designed to provide an opportunity for these adults to return to colleges to obtain a credential.

 

“There is growing evidence that adults who have gone to college but not received a degree are looking for a second chance but need the right kind of information and motivation to help them succeed,” says Lumina President and CEO Jamie Merisotis.

 

The initiative aligns with the foundation’s goal to increase the proportion of Americans with high-quality degrees or credentials to 60 percent by 2025. Given demographic trends and attainment rates among young adults, it is highly unlikely that the nation can meet its growing need for college-educated workers only by focusing on recent high school graduates, according to Lumina.

 

Other grant recipients, many of which involve the participation of community colleges, include:  

 

Board of Control for Southern Regional Education ($800,000) will establish a national adult learner portal to provide returning adults with the information, resources and services to help them in completing degrees. 

 

CEO for Cities ($420,000) will expand an effort among urban leaders in 29 cities to encourage strategies for increasing college attainment by 1 percentage point.

 

Council for Adult and Experiential Learning ($1 million) will partner with the American Council on Education and the College Board to launch a national Virtual Prior Learning Assessment Center to help students accelerate the time to earn a degree and expand institutions’ capacity to serve more students seeking assessments of prior learning.

 

Goodwill Industries International, Inc. ($250,000) will scale up 20 new community college/Goodwill partnerships to increase college completion and career success for low-income adults.

 

Greater Louisville, Inc. ($800,000) will work on a regional effort to assist 200,000 employees in 19 Kentucky and seven Indiana counties who have earned some college credits to complete a degree.

 

Institute for Higher Education Policy ($1.3 million) will expand a demonstration project that serves 35 institutions in six states to increase associate-degree completion by identifying degree “near completers” and then helping them complete their degrees.

 

Ivy Tech Foundation ($784,200) will fund the efforts of Ivy Tech Community College’s 28 campuses and several instructional centers to re-enroll former students who left college with at least 45 credits and help them complete their degrees and pursue baccalaureates.

 

Jobs for the Future ($800,000) will work with a network of community colleges in Kentucky, Michigan and North Carolina to encourage policies to boost credential completion in occupational/technical programs for adults.

 

Graduate! Philadelphia ($800,000) will expand a program that mobilizes leadership and regional resources to increase the number of adults earning college degrees.

 

Manufacturing Institute ($800,000) will support 12 states in efforts to align educational and career pathways with the National Association of Manufacturers-Endorsed Manufacturing Skills Certification System. It will receive a separate $650,000 grant to specifically help Indiana join North Carolina, Ohio, Texas, Washington on the project.

 

Minnesota State Colleges and Universities ($800,000) will create a completion program to increase re-enrollment, degree progress and degree completion among prior system students lacking degrees.

 

National League of Cities ($500,000) will develop and share information on how cities can advance a postsecondary success agenda and use learning strategies to connect cities.

 

Rutgers University’s Center for Woman and Work ($799,700) will join efforts in four states to help adults a few credits shy of earning a degree finish credentials online through the state workforce development program.

 

The State University of New York ($800,000) will create a system-wide cooperative education program with business/industry and regional economic development organizations to increase completion rates for adults and prepare them for jobs in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math.

 

University of Wisconsin System Administration ($800,000) will expand opportunities for adults to earn college credit via prior learning assessment. 

 

West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission ($798,400) will create an integrated statewide adult degree completion program.

 

Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education ($1.1 million) will develop a national learning network to support Lumina’s adult degree completion initiative that will include mechanisms for effective networking, communication and dissemination. The network will also serve grantees and others working on adult degree completion strategies.