Advancing Adult Attainment provides no-cost, tailored technical assistance to community colleges, universities and private colleges to help adult learners overcome barriers and complete a degree or certificate
Grand Rapids, MI – The Michigan Center for Adult College Success today announced a new offering to all Michigan institutions of higher education: a partnership with experts in strategies that help adult learners complete post-secondary education through technical support and customized planning.
Support through the new initiative, Advancing Adult Attainment, is available at no-cost to all institutions of higher education in Michigan: community and tribal colleges as well as public and private four-year universities, many of whom the Center already partners with on efforts to increase adult postsecondary attainment. The Advancing Adult Attainment program deepens the capacity of the work by providing individualized, technical assistance to support institutions’ efforts to redesign and implement changes to their programs and services to support adult learner attainment.
“Partnering with national organizations who specialize in tailored strategies allows us to better serve all institutions of higher education within Michigan,” said Jeremy Hendges, Executive Director of The Michigan Center for Adult College Success. “Colleges and universities across Michigan are working on better serving adult learners. The Advancing Adult Attainment program provides an opportunity for our postsecondary institutions to accelerate the work already underway, so we can more quickly address the barriers facing adult learners in completing the credentials they need to get a better-paying job.”
Michigan’s Sixty by 30 goal, set in 2019 to increase the number of adults in Michigan with a higher education degree or certification to 60 percent, has shown moderate progress, with 51.8 percent at the last measure. In 2019, it was 45 percent. The Center specializes in identifying specific challenges faced by adult learners, and supporting colleges and universities to implement evidence-based solutions that help adult learners from enrollment through completion.
Advancing Adult Attainment is a technical assistance partnership with Student Ready Strategies and C-BEN Consulting. This targeted form of support involves temporarily integrating into an institution as a quasi-team member to undertake tasks that demand specialized knowledge or time resources, alleviating the burden on the institution. Some topics include: identifying barriers in curricular pathways, employer-aligned stackable credentials, and updating credit for prior learning policies.
More information is available at https://mcacs.talentfirst.net/technical-assistance/.
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About The Michigan Center for Adult College Success
The Michigan Center for Adult College Success is the state’s primary resource to improve the enrollment and completion of postsecondary education by adults. As an initiative of TalentFirst, The Center’s goal is to meet the statewide need for a skilled workforce. The Center collects research, shares best practices, funds innovative pilots and provides technical assistance. The Center partners with a wide range of educators, business leaders and policy makers toward a shared goal of helping more adults get the credentials they need to reach their full potential, so Michigan can thrive. Learn more: https://info.talentfirst.net/mcacs
About TalentFirst
TalentFirst is a premiere alliance of West Michigan CEOs who are joined by HR leaders, educators, workforce leaders, and policymakers to collaborate on an unmatched scale for the benefit of all who live and work in the region. As a data-driven organization, TalentFirst provides practical, proven resources, strategies, tactics, advocacy and accountability to improve the recruitment, development and retention of talent in West Michigan. Learn more at http://www.talentfirst.net/