Pellissippi State participates in national study of adult learners

As a college campus where the students’ average age is at least 25, Pellissippi State might know a thing or two about why older students embark on a college education later in life.

More study is needed, however, to ensure that the learning experience works for such “non-traditional” students.

But something else, something more serious, must be studied, too: Why is the enrollment of adult learners in the Tennessee system of higher education down about 10,000 students from a few years ago?

Pellissippi State is joining several other community colleges around the country to measure the effectiveness of programs and services designed mainly for older students. In so doing, the College also hopes to uncover factors that have contributed to the statewide decrease in older college students.

National research shows that only one in six students is an 18-year-old who enrolls at a residential campus, stays four years and graduates with a bachelor’s degree.

Adult students—those at least 25 years of age—are becoming the norm, rather than the exception, on some college campuses.

Yet the number of adult students attending college in Tennessee has declined in recent years. “Pellissippi State is quite interested in learning why this is occurring,” said Jim Bruns, vice president for Academic and Student Affairs.

Older students come to a college campus under a variety of circumstances: they are going to college for the first time, they might have had an earlier college learning experience that was interrupted, or they might be seeking different job skills after having already started in one career. Such problems as language barriers and often inadequate academic preparation often confront older students as they pursue a degree, however.

The Council for Adult and Experiential Learning has selected approximately 20 community colleges nationwide to help find out what works and what doesn’t work for students who are well into their 20s and might attend college part time while juggling the demands of family and job.

Research shows that these students need programs and services different from traditional students. They have greater financial needs, and retention rates among adult students are lower.

The council, a national nonprofit organization that creates and manages learning strategies for working adults through partnerships with employers, higher education, government and labor, is using a grant from the Lumina Foundation to learn more about this kind of college experience.

Areas to be examined in the study include outreach to adult learners, life and career planning services and programs, financial aspects of attending college, assessment of learning outcomes and the teaching-learning process. Other areas are support systems for adult learners, the use of technology and strategic partnerships between the institutions of higher learning and local employers.

Participating in the national study could enable Pellissippi State also to find the evidence needed to determine why Tennessee is losing adult learners, Bruns says.

“The state of Tennessee has recently identified this segment as being underserved and has established a state goal of increasing education levels in this age group,” he said.

“This new study project also provides the college with resources and expertise to allow us to more closely meet the needs of students 25 years or older.”

Mike North, assistant dean of the Magnolia Avenue Campus, will head the College’s fact-finding effort. The process will involve interviewing about 500 older students (at least 24-25 years old) to determine the effectiveness of Pellissippi State’s programs and services.

The results of Pellissippi State’s study are to be turned over to the Council for Adult and Experiential Learning in mid-March, Bruns says.

The College already is involved in a national study on how to help freshmen get through their first year.

The Policy Center for the First Year of College is studying ways to enhance the learning and retention of students who are starting the college experience, and Pellissippi State is one of 10 “Founding Institutions” across the country that will help shape a national model for two-year institutions.

“We hope that the results we find in the adult learner study will feed into our work on the first-year student study,” Bruns said.

"Inside Pellissippi" is a bi-monthly electronic publication produced by the Community Relations Office for the faculty and staff of Pellissippi State Technical Community College, 10915 Hardin Valley Road, P.O. Box 22990, Knoxville, Tennessee 37933-0990. All suggestions and comments should be sent to Julia Wood (jwood@pstcc.edu).

For past issues, visit the Inside Pellissippi Archive.