Some 37 million Americans — more than 20 percent of working adults –have some college credits, but no degree. Persuading dropouts to try again for a degree is a popular strategy to increase the number of college graduates, notes the Hechinger Report. But college can be just as hard the second time around.
The Center for Adult Learning in Louisiana (CALL) offers intensive courses that let students earn credits twice as quickly as traditional courses. Via a “prior learning assessment,” students can earn credit for what they know, whether they’ve learned in college, from independent studying or life experience.
One of CALL’s success stories is John McGee, who had spent seven years in the military and more than a decade as a manager at a Louisiana casino when he went back to college as a working adult. Despite his experience, McGee had to take the same introductory courses as an 18-year-old, leaving him bored and frustrated.
Through CALL, McGee tested out of five introductory courses by passing a series of exams. He took the rest of his classes online in the accelerated format, and finished an associate degree in less than a year.
But colleges and universities often don’t focus on helping students complete a degree, said Sallie Glickman, co-founder of a Philadelphia program that helps dropouts return to school.
“All the money, all the resources, all the energy” have been focused on getting more people to go to college, said Glickman. For those who drop out, she said, there has been no organized effort to get them back.
But Bryan Cook, director for policy analysis at the American Council on Education, said tracking non-graduates and luring them back to campus is very costly. “If you’re only going to increase your graduation rate by a tenth of a percent, is it worth spending $10,000 to do that?”
Many students who return to college end up quitting yet again, said Stan Jones,president of Complete College America.
In addition to rejecting transfer credit or refusing to give credit for professional experience, “The colleges that we have now were designed for traditional students that lived on campus, went full time, and had resources,” Jones said.
Most of today’s college students don’t fit that profile. Three-quarters commute to class, 40 percent attend part time, a third are 25 or older, and most have jobs. At community colleges, where close to half of all college students are enrolled, more than 40 percent of students work full time.
Jones said that colleges need to schedule classes in ways that work for people with busy lives, provide better counseling to help students navigate choices about courses and degrees, and make it easier to transfer credits. They also need to offer more online and accelerated-degree programs, he said. And Jones said colleges should give students course credit for professional experience.
There are many ways for adults to acquire knowledge, skills and competence. What they need are tests to prove what they know.
