Compete LA: Re-Engaging Adult Learners for Our Future

Introduction

Postsecondary education has long served as a bridge to opportunity, empowering graduates to transform their economic and social circumstances. The impact of a college credential on the individual’s economic and social mobility is well-documented, with studies consistently showing a strong, positive correlation between educational attainment and upward mobility (Chetty, Friedman, Saez, Turner, & Yagan, 2017; Ma, Pender, & Welch, 2020). Simply put, college graduates find better jobs, earn more money, and suffer less employment loss than high school graduates. The education-wage correlation continues to strengthen over time. Between 1991 and 2017, the difference between average earnings for adults with a bachelor’s degree or higher and adults with only a high school diploma rose by 24 percent (Saum, 2019).

The economic benefits of postsecondary education extend beyond the individual. Economists and labor market experts make the compelling argument that today’s competitive global markets combined with accelerating technological advances have created a reality where a high school diploma alone is insufficient preparation for nearly all family-supporting careers (Ma, Pender, & Welch, 2020). Moreover, the collective economic benefits of a workforce with greater educational and skill attainment can be traced to enhanced productivity and profits. These productivity gains translate into higher output for employers and often higher incomes for the workers. Non-economic societal benefits in regions with high proportions of college graduates include lower crime rates, greater and more informed civic participation, better health outcomes, and improved performance across a host of socioeconomic measures (Chan, 2016; Ma, Pender, & Welch, 2020; Trostel, 2015).

Given the individual and societal benefits of higher education, it is not surprising that over 45 states during the past decade set ambitious goals to increase the educational attainment rate, the share of individuals who have obtained a college credential (Lumina Foundation, 2019). State and higher education leaders recognize the age-related demographic challenge: educational attainment goals cannot be achieved by focusing on high school students alone. Instead, efforts must be broadened to include older, adult students. In fact, adult learners have been on most state’s college completion agendas for over a decade (Lumina Foundation, 2019). More recently, the discussion has shifted to an even more promising subset of this population: adult students who have already enrolled in postsecondary institutions in the past, but did not earn a credential (Shapiro et al., 2019). According to the U.S. Census Bureau (2019) about one-fifth (20.4 percent) of the national population 25 years and over have some college experience, but no degree, compared to over one-third of the adult population (36.2 percent) who have an associate's degree or higher.

Following, and even trailing, national trends, Louisiana has a significant latent adult learner market, with 71 percent of adults (25 years and older) lacking a postsecondary degree (associate degree or higher). To date, nearly one-fourth (654,347) of adults in Louisiana have college experience, but no degree. Data also indicates attainment gaps when reviewing adult learner subgroups. Only one in five African-Americans and Hispanics ages 25 to 64 hold a degree, compared to 34 percent of whites and 46 percent of Asians (U.S. Census Bureau, 2019).