Considering the enrollment decline that higher education is facing, recruiting and retaining adult learners has become a key strategy in increasing college-goers. First, I want to begin saying that all of our students are “non-traditional” students. As “non-traditional” students, adult learners encounter unique challenges that are difficult to navigate. These challenges are often compounded for Black students and require tailored support for Black adult learners.
Too often, students spend time and money on postsecondary education only to leave without a credential. While 52% of White adults aged 25-64 have a postsecondary credential, only 32% of Black adults have the same1. How do we recruit adult students, while also ensuring that the proper support is in place to promote persistence and completion? Efforts at community colleges can make a great impact and are already equipped to accommodate the unique needs of adult learners. As it pertains to Black learners, more multicultural services and programming that create inclusive and supportive environments for Black students should be incorporated into student services on community college campuses. Institutions of higher education must hire individuals to coordinate this work and not assign it to a taskforce or a committee. Ultimately, gy creating that environment and hiring staff, will persistence and completion among BIPOC adult learners2.
Furthermore, community colleges are often pathways to other credentials and degrees. Strengthening short-term credential to degree program pipelines, as well as partnerships with 4-year institutions can help streamline transfer and pathways. I am really excited about our transfer initiatives at Compton College, not only exploring student housing at CSU Dominguez Hills, but also by promoting Cross Enrollment for our students to take classes at CSU Dominguez Hills. The Compton College ID can be used at the CSU Dominguez Hills Library to utilize for services and for our students to check-out books. At Compton College we are hosting a Summer Scholars Transfer Institute at UC Irvine, where student participants are receiving $1,000 for their participation. When you are talking about adult learners and their time, finding ways for them to be compensated is critical as many of our students have work and family obilgations.
Lastly, as financial strain is regularly cited as a reason for non-completion by Black adult learners, we need to advocate for policies that increase the financial aid available to non first-time students and part-time students. By engaging more adult learners and creating better support for Black adult learners, we are closing enrollment gaps and helping tackle the enrollment declines we continue to face in higher education. With funds from American Rescue Act many colleges, including Compton College were able to provide emergency aid to their students. Emergency aid, increase in financial aid available, and compensating students for their participation is critical to their success, particularly for Black students.
In closing, when we say all students are non-traditional, what’s important is to recognize as leaders, the traditional way of creating inclusive and supportive environments for students, establishing 4 year partnerships, and increasing financial aid support might not work for the student population we are currently serving and it is critical we have leaders who are not just thinking about the traditional way of supporting students. Those traditional ways of providing supports have created new barriers and frankly continue to not work for students of color.
To learn more about how we can support Black learners as they navigate higher education, visit: https://www.community4blacklearnerexcellence.com/publications
References
- Complete College America. Part-Time Students Must Be a Full-Time Priority. (2022). https://completecollege.org/resource/parttimestudentsmustbeafulltimepriority/
- Brock, T., & Slater, D. (2021). Strategies for Improving Postsecondary Credential Attainment among Black, Hispanic, and Native American Adults. Community College Research Center, Teachers College, Columbia University. https://ccrc.tc.columbia.edu/media/k2/attachments/credential-attainment-black-hispanic-native-american-adults.pdf