Ford Foundation Community College Bridges to Opportunity

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Ford Foundation Community College Bridges to
Opportunity

• David Prince
• Sr. Research Manager,
• Washington State Board for Community and
  Technical Colleges
• March 22, 2005

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Research Project

• Create a better understanding of low-income
  students
• Identify the state-level policy implications

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Study Approach

• Follow cohort of working age adults, new to
  college for 5 years after start
• Identify those likely to be low-income
• Measure success for educational attainment,
  employment, earnings and access to further
  education and training
• Work backwards from success to identify
  roadblocks and pathways examine issues raised
  by task group last spring and others that emerge

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Societys economic health is directly related to
the economic attainment of its members. How are
we doing?

• More than 1/3 of the working age population
  adults (25-49 yrs) with high school education or
  less, and younger adults (18-24).
• Both have lower socio-economic status and higher
  unemployment.
• Both have lower levels of education and training.

Educational attainment and economic attainment
continue to be closely linked.
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If societys economic health is directly related
to the economic attainment of its members, how
are we doing with the least skilled?

• 1 out of every 4 persons 18-24 has no high school
  diploma.
• More than 1/3 of the working age population in WA
  (25-49 years old) has a high school education or
  less.
• Non-English speakers 25 or older doubled in the
  last census.
• Nearly half of all Latino/Hispanics 25 or older
  have less than high school education. Two-thirds
  have, at best, a high school diploma.

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Societys economic health... working age adults
and relationship to the economy
Total working age adults with high school
education or less and younger people (18-24) with
less than high school diploma (Census 2000)
All high school graduating classes added
together between 2000-2011

Working age adults with less than high school
education or non-English speaking
1 in every 5 labor force participants through
2030

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Economic attainment 1 year of college level
credits a credential is the tipping point for
students needing to find career pathways

• Study tracked 35,000 working age adult students
  who came to CTCs with high school education or
  less, or non-English-speaking
• 6 years after college start, the highest
  value-added for work success
• 1 year credential gives future earnings bump
• 7,000 more per year for ESL students
• 8,500 more per year for an ABE student
• 2,700 and 1,700 more per year (respectively)
  for workforce students entering with a GED or HSD
  only
• Jobs that need 1 year college level credit
  credential are among those in greatest demand

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Up and down the Educational Pipeline, the 2-yr
system is hemorrhaging working age adults with
high school education or less, or ESL
Entering Classes Almost 1/3 of every new
entering class is made up of prime working age
(25-49) - with HSDs or less or non-English
speaking.

• 8 out of 10 ABE/ESL modest skills gains, at
  best earn a GED but go no further
• 7 out of 10 workforce and transfer students who
  enter with GED leave with less (many, a lot
  less) than 1 year of college and no credential
• 2 out of 3 who enter with high school diploma
  also leave with less (some, a lot less) than 1
  year of college and no credential

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One group of students is poised to benefit now
but services to them are full of holes

• 70 of ABE and ESL students who make the
  transition to college level work have HSDs/GEDs
  in hand.

Now eligible for developmental education and
financial aid.

• 2 to 3 times more likely to complete credentials
  and increase their educational attainment (vs
  similar unaided and unsupported students).
• BUT .

at best, only 1/3 receive these services (ESL
less than ABE).
Coulda Dev Ed and Basic Skills could have
identified full need for applied learning AND
filled counseling and other gaps that affect
access to aid.
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Another far larger group of students, seemingly
equally prepared to benefit, never go beyond
basic skills.

• Nearly 6 out of 10 ABE students with HSDs/GEDs go
  no further.
• 8 out of 10 ESL students with HSDs/GEDs go no
  further
• Latino/Hispanic ESL students with HSDs are half
  as likely as other students to transition beyond
  basic skills.
• Males who earn a GED (particularly
  Latino/Hispanics) are less likely than women to
  go further in their education.
• Because they earn relatively more than women, men
  also forgo more wages when they attend.
• Shoulda Programs should have designed and
  marketed services with these factors in mind.

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Many jump start training, but their opportunities
are cut short before real gains are made.

• Short, 1st step training focused exclusively on
  getting a job, with less attention to educational
  attainment results in lower future earnings when
  students dont return and they often dont
• Customized job training plan only
• Students who complete a credential plan (but
  attain less than 1 year of college credit) earn
  4,150 less per year than those who have
  credential 1 year of college credit 7,250
  less per year if they started from basic skills.
• These students are required to focus on
  short-term training for immediate job placement.
  They tend to be more uncertain of their long-term
  goals (and act accordingly).

Woulda The system would have avoided dead-end
starts and false promises by ensuring that
low-skilled students had both short- and
long-term strategies for real attainment.
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To stop the hemorrhaging of students from our
programs, meet student and employer needs, and
improve the economic climate of society, 2 yr
colleges need to re-think and re-design services
for low-skilled working adults.
Every step especially the 1st step must be
additive to the final goal of substantial
attainment.
Students need to see people ahead of them take
the next step, and experience success!
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Overarching Vision

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Build the pathways for commuters. Run it on
their schedules, accommodate lots of on and off
traffic, facilitate good connections to long-term
destinations.

• Provide a full map clearly in view for stops that
  really exist.
• Provide guidance and support so people dont get
  lost.
• Anticipate different types of traffic - Who is
  already waiting at the 2nd stop how many from
  the first stop will go to the 2nd?
• Measure success in terms of a transport - lots of
  riders, lots of trips, all stops meaningful, many
  short trips but always set up to go further and
  faster.

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Findings and Implications for System Discussion

• Educational attainment for the least educated
  adults in society is an important (and often
  neglected) health indicator for our economy.
• Pipeline hemorrhaging working age adults with
  high school education or less and ESL across the
  missions.
• The broader need for applied learning spans (and
  may go beyond) the more parochial missions of
  basic skills and developmental education.
• 1 Yrs of college credential sets a meaningful
  goal to design and market plans for all.
• Operationally, system should resemble a mass
  transit.
• There are groups poised to benefit, but more than
  1st platform needs to be there.

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Data sources and Examples

• College and student level demographics, course
  enrollment and transcripts, degrees
• Employment records
• Welfare Records

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Educational Attainment 5 Years After Start
Detail-by Functioning Educational Level at Start
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Educational Attainment 5 Years After Start
Detail-by Race/Ethnicity
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ABE, ESL and Other Working Age Adults with HS/GED
That Do and Dont Get On Pathway to Tipping Point
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Income Profile for Working Age Adults 1st Time
Students Starting at ESL, GED/High School or Less
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Full report available at

• http//www.sbctc.ctc.edu/docs/data/research_report
  s/resh_06-2_tipping_point.pdf