News & UpdatesAchieving the Dream (ATD) is partnering with Lumina Foundation to identify and support community colleges committed to increasing the enrollments of adult learners aged 25 and older. Through the Prioritizing Adult Community College Enrollment (PACCE) initiative, 20 institutions will be supported in scaling promising efforts that intentionally address improving their enrollments of adult students, particularly Black, Latinx, and Native American students.
The average age of community college students is 28, and students are more likely to be balancing employment, parenting, and other commitments. Technical assistance will consist of a monthly curriculum, personalized feedback, open office hours, and other individualized coaching supports. Technical assistance providers include Achieving the Dream, Ideas42, and rpkGroup.
“As open access institutions, our community colleges are pivotal to helping increase the enrollment, re-enrollment and success of adult learners,” said Dr. Monica Parrish Trent, ATD vice president, Network Engagement. “The colleges who will be the recipients of this grant already show that they have a deep understanding of the needs of adult students and include racial equity as an explicit goal. This direct support will help them accelerate, scale, and sustain their efforts.”
“We are excited to provide this opportunity in support of helping more adults access higher education. We are looking for community colleges that have great ideas and want to go further, faster with help,” said Shauna Davis, strategy director for community college participation at Lumina Foundation.
Public two-year institutions located in the following states are eligible: Alabama, California, Colorado, Florida, Michigan, New York, North Carolina, Texas, and Virginia. The project will run from Oct. 2021 through May 31, 2023 when all enrollment strategies should be fully scaled at participating colleges. Learn more about the initiative here.