Near-completers — people who’ve earned most but not all credits needed for a degree — are a key to meeting President Obama’s college completion goal, said participants in an Institute for Higher Education Policy meeting covered by Inside Higher Ed.
IHEPs Project Win-Win has helped nine institutions award nearly 600 associate degrees in only seven months, said Clifford Adelman, a senior associate. Colleges look for people missing an associate degree by nine or fewer credits.
The program, focused on associate degrees, began two years ago and has since expanded, encompassing six states and assisting 35 institutions. As of July, 23 of the institutions identified more than 40,000 near-completer students.
. . . “You’re in for a lot of sweat to see who meets the criteria,” Adelman said. “But if you don’t think this stuff has to be done you are living on Planet Zolar and not this one.”
Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education’s Non-traditional No More also helps colleges identify students close to a degree, said Patrick Lane, a project coordinator.
One strategy used is the “concierge” model of building a path for adult learners back to college. Institutions designate one person to work with returning students, rather then recruit students back and then leave them to wade through all the departments necessary to return. It’s a “one-stop shop” for the student, eliminating bureaucratic barriers, Lane said.
The “ready adults, the near-completers, or what I prefer to call the life learners” are the “lowest-hanging fruits” said Lee Fisher, president of CEOs for Cities, in the keynote address.
