ERIC Number: ED583632
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2018-Jan
Pages: 16
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Creating Opportunity for All: Building Pathways from Continuing Education to Credit Programs
Price, Derek V.; Sedlak, Wendy
Achieving the Dream
Community college students start college with goals including transferring to earn a bachelor's degree and gaining the skills and credentials that have immediate labor market value. These goals are not mutually exclusive. Students deserve access to clear pathways, whether they enroll in short-term education and training programs or in college credit-based programs. But in colleges across the nation, these programs are not connected, making it complex and difficult for students to progress and meet their career and academic goals. The Northeast Resiliency Consortium (NRC), comprised of several community colleges and convened by Achieving the Dream, sought to develop a resilient workforce. One important challenge the NRC colleges took on was aligning continuing education and credit programs along a career pathway to meet student and labor market needs. This brief describes how the colleges made adjustments to articulate non-credit to credit credentials to ensure strong career pathways for students who start on the non-credit ramp. As a result, the colleges are now providing students with stacked credentials, ensuring prior learning and experience is accounted for within pathways, and are formally recognizing key milestones with credentials. All in all, the colleges smoothed the way for students to work toward an associate degree even if they began their studies in a non-credit program. According to the Northeast Resiliency Consortium Final Evaluation Report, a higher percentage of students enrolled in continuing education to credit pathways banked or earned credits, transitioned to credit-based programs, and gained and were retained in employment than a matched comparison group who did not enroll in these pathways.
Descriptors: Continuing Education, Educational Opportunities, Community Colleges, College Transfer Students, Resilience (Psychology), Consortia, Articulation (Education), College Credits, Educational Change, Change Strategies, Prior Learning, Educational Practices, Career Guidance, Transfer Programs, Case Studies
Achieving the Dream. 8455 Colesville Road Suite 900, Silver Spring, MD 20910. Tel: 240-450-0075; Fax: 240-450-0076; e-mail: info@achievingthedream.org; Web site: http://www.achievingthedream.org
Publication Type: Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: Adult Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: Achieving the Dream, Inc.; Equal Measure; DVP-PRAXIS LTD
Identifiers - Location: New York; Connecticut; New Jersey
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A