FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Jeremy Hendges
Director, Michigan Center for Adult College Success
j.hendges@talentfirst.net
tel: 517.303.6026
Grand Rapids, MI (November 13, 2024) — The Michigan Center for Adult College Success today announced $6,442,506 in grants for 11 colleges and universities to develop innovations that help working-age Michiganders obtain the postsecondary credentials that are essential in a knowledge-based economy.
Successful proposals for the Innovation Investment Awards (IIA) include partnerships between four-year institutions and community colleges, guided career pathways, credit for prior learning, flexible enrollment and instruction, and competency-based learning. All are intended to help adult learners overcome obstacles and reach the finish line in their education.
Funded by the Legislature and administered by The Center, the grants support bold advances toward Michigan’s Sixty by 30 goal to increase the number of working-age adults with a skill certificate or college degree from 51.1% today to 60% by 2030.
“Knowledge and skills are the currencies of the modern employment market,” said Kevin Stotts, president of CEO alliance TalentFirst, which launched The Center in 2023. “Employer demand for well-trained workers is only going to grow. Helping more adults obtain postsecondary credentials is how we open the door to opportunity for Michigan families.”
An emphasis on students 25 and older is necessary due to population trends. The state cannot reach the 60% target without significantly increasing enrollment and college completion by adults. At the same time, as detailed in The Center’s 2023 landscape analysis, Adult Postsecondary Education in Michigan, these students face complicated obstacles to completion, including balancing family and work responsibilities.
“It was exciting to see how these grant proposals took systemic approaches to addressing the barriers adult learners face,” said Jeremy Hendges, executive director of The Center. “These evidence-based, innovative approaches are what we need in order to provide adults with a college environment that will support them in obtaining the degrees and credentials that are essential for economic prosperity.”
The Innovation Investment Award grantees and a summary of their projects:
Central Michigan University: $822,497 to develop flexible in-demand learning experiences and replicate a model for dual enrollment with Lansing Community College.
Glen Oaks Community College and the University of Olivet: $800,000 to launch a new “GO2UO Partnership,” which will co-enroll students in high-demand career paths and support them through career placement.
Grand Valley State University: $855,000 for the Omni Prior Learning Accelerator and Competency-based Elevator initiative to identify skills and learning already mastered and create competency-based microcredentials that bridge the gap between prior learning and required coursework.
Jackson College: $317,477 to promote competency-based education by piloting a manufacturing certificate program and expanding a Medical Insurance Coder Biller program with an open-entry, open-exit online model.
Monroe County Community College: $766,702 to create a resource hub in the county’s most underserved neighborhood, Orchard East, with an array of academic and social supports, counseling, and coaching.
Muskegon Community College: $634,400 to implement an adult learner navigator program that will take a case-management approach with adult learners, providing mentorship and guidance.
Northern Michigan University: $905,750 to integrate education throughout the learner’s lifetime, including with competency-based education; prior learning assessments; flexible scheduling; accelerated programs, and guided career pathways.
Wayne State University: $720,680 to develop seamless and easy-to-follow pathways with prior learning assessments, targeted academic advising, cohort-based learning models, and robust career services.
Western Michigan University and Kalamazoo Valley Community College: $620,000 to recruit, identify, and support working-age adults in the Kalamazoo area who have unused Promise funds for tuition and fees.
Many of the proposals got their start in another innovation: the Michigan-Regional Adult Initiative for Skills and Education Design Lab, created by The Center to provide an environment for college and university leaders to devise systemic improvements to the ways they serve working-age students.
The Center will continue working with grantees to support the launch of their initiatives — and to collect and share insights that can benefit adult students and postsecondary institutions statewide.
“These awards are just the beginning of a transformation we need to continue driving across Michigan,” said Todd Gustafson, chair of The Center’s Governing Council and president and CEO of Kinexus. “This is an opportunity for everyone to win: postsecondary institutions, employers, and the families across Michigan.”