Returning adult learners juggle work, family, and community responsibilities. Our commitment is to ensure these students can complete their credits faster and more efficiently. By focusing on flexible, innovative course offerings, institutions can directly support the timely completion of degrees and credentials.

Stackable Credentials & Pathway Sequencing
Implementing stackable credentials allows learners to progress through sequential, short-term certifications that accumulate toward associate’s and bachelor’s degrees. This structured modular approach not only supports momentum but permits short-term wins on the path to long-term goals.

• Education Strategy Group’s Stackability Guide
• Credential As You Go’s Incremental Credentialing Framework

Leveraging Toolkits and State Policy Resources
Institutions can use comprehensive resource collections to design flexible, policy-aligned course structures that support accelerated credit accumulation and timely completion.

• Council for Adult and Experiential Learning (CAEL) Resource Kit
• Lumina’s State Policy Toolkit

Credit for Prior Learning (CPL)
Recognizing and awarding collegiate credit for students’ prior experience—through workplace learning, military service, or community involvement—can substantially shorten time to credential completion. CPL initiatives reduce redundancy, lower costs, and affirm adult learners’ valuable experiences.

• American Council on Education’s Credit for Prior Learning: Charting Institutional Practice for Sustainability
• Learning Recognition and the Future of Higher Education – A Vision for a Post-Pandemic Learning Ecosystem
• Equity Paradoxes in the PLA Boost
• American Council on Education’s CPL Implementation Framework
• American Council on Education’s Additional Resources
• American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers’s 2024 Landscape of CPL in the U.S. and Canadian Higher Education

Work-Based Learning and Holistic Supports
Embedding work-based learning opportunities into curricula connects academic coursework with real-world application, reinforcing relevance and motivation for adult learners. When paired with holistic supports like advising and flexible scheduling, these strategies keep learners on track.

• Strada’s The Power of Work-Based Learning Report
• The Aspen Institute’s Unpacking the Work of Work-Based Learning
• Rand’s How Work-Based Learning Can Bring Employers and Students Together
• JFF’s Center for Apprenticeship & Work-Based Learning
• Strada’s Building Better Internships Report
• The Project on Workforce’s Strengthening College-Employer Partnerships
• The Project on Workforce’s Preparing Students with the Skills to Navigate the Future of Work
• National Association of Colleges and Employers’ Report on Faculty Attitudes Regarding the Integration of Career Readiness into the Curriculum

Guided Pathways & Corequisite Models
Clear, intuitive guided pathways help learners understand exactly which courses to take and when, reducing confusion and unnecessary delays. Corequisite models allow students to engage in foundational and gateway courses simultaneously, accelerating their academic journeys.

• Jobs for the Future (JFF) Guided Career Pathways Framework
• Inside Higher Ed’s A Deeper Look at Guided Pathways (March 14, 2024)
• Education-to-Workforce Indicator Framework’s section on Intentionally Designed Career Pathways Programs
• Competency-Based Education Network’s Programs Framework