Millions of adults need access to postsecondary education and training to advance their careers

and support their families.

National Necessity

Accelerating Opportunity transforms Adult Basic Education to ensure that more adults can access

and succeed in postsecondary education and training.

Innovative Solutions

States and colleges will scale and sustain programs so that many more

adults have access to marketable credentials and family-sustaining careers

Lasting Impact

By 2018, only 36 percent of total jobs will require workers with just a high school diploma or less

Since 1979, investments in adult education and workforce development programs have declined in real terms by more than 70%.

Postsecondary credentials are the gateway to family-supporting wages that those credentials are critical to breaking the intergenerational transmission of poverty in America.

93 million adults with basic or below basic literacy

13% of adults ages 25-64 have less than a high school credential

29% have a high school credential but no college.

A National Need for Pathways from ABE to Marketable

Credentials

No High School

Diploma

Speak English “Less Than Very

Well”

High School DiplomaNo College

18,229,340

5,005,943

5,177,127

51,365,340

8,226,214

Adult Education Population (Age 18–64), 2006Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2006 American Community Survey (Public Use Microdata Samples); prepared by National Center for Higher Education Management Systems (NCHEMS). Unduplicated population = 88,003,964.

From Reach Higher, AmericaThe Report of the National Commission on Adult Literacy (2008)

88 Million Adults Have at Least One Education

Barrier

Programs lack supports and are ill-equipped to meet the needs of non-

traditional students

The “black hole” of developmental education:

Low completion rates for underprepared students

Remediation not customized to career pathway

requirements

Lack of alignment with career/technical credential programs postsecondary entrance requirements

Traditional ABE/GED Programs

Developmental Education

Postsecondary Career

Programs

Multiple Loss PointsLow rates of program completion and credential attainment

Disconnected Educational Pathways

Accelerating Opportunity’s Solutions

• Accelerated skill-building integrated with credit coursework

• Support through gate-keeper courses

• Intensive transition counseling

• Comprehensive supplemental services

• Intensive counseling

• Flexible program options

• Job placement

More Adult Learners Succeeding in ABE to Credential Pathways

Articulated Career Pathways

Stackable Credentials with

Labor Market Value

Accelerated and Integrated ABE and GED programs

• Career exploration

• Contextualized learning

• Skill-building for postsecondary/career success

• College and career counseling

Streamlined Adult Education Pathways

Improving Student Experiences and Outcomes

What low-skilled, non-traditional students typically face:

Emerging Solutions:

Confusing array of career programs Integrated instructional models, college prep & career pathways

General education focus as the default for programs and services

Programs and services specifically geared to career pathways

Long remedial education sequences Acceleration, compression and dual-enrollment strategies

Inadequate or inaccessible support services

Array of support services, including intrusive advising

Programs not designed with career advancement in mind

Programs designed around labor market opportunities and needs