Wisconsin workers increasingly need a college credential to get a decent job, but are adult technical college students moving on to and persisting in postsecondary studies?
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A new report from COWS and the Wisconsin Technical College System (WTCS) provides a clearer picture of the educational trajectory of low-skill adults in WTCS and makes recommendations for how to support their path to obtaining a college credential.
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The report, Toward College Success for Working Adults: The Pipeline to Credentials in the Wisconsin Technical College System, presents the results of a pipeline data study that followed the progress of working-age basic skills students through WTCS over a multi-year period. Students were assigned to one of four groups, based on the lowest level of course work they took during the study period: 1) An English Language Learning (ELL) group; 2) an Adult Basic Education (ABE) group; 3) a Developmental/Remedial group; and 3) a Postsecondary group. The study then looked at students’ chances of achieving key milestones along the technical college pipeline, from attempting at least three college-level credits to completing a qualifying postsecondary program or apprenticeship.
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One surprising finding of the study is that of all the students who attempted at least one college course, ABE and Developmental/Remedial students did better than Postsecondary students in achieving key milestones. For example, of ABE students who took a postsecondary course, more than 72 percent enrolled in a program, and 28 percent actually completed a program. By comparison, just 43 percent in the Postsecondary group enrolled in a program, and 16 percent completed a program.
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Students from the “pre-college” groups (ELL, ABE, and Developmental/Remedial) were also more likely to successfully complete at least three college credits than Postsecondary students. These findings suggest that colleges’ ABE services are a significant feeder for occupational programs.
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Other less surprising, yet still significant, findings include that program enrollment is important to students’ success as is early credit accumulation. Enrolling in a program may integrate students into a community of students, faculty, and advisors that helps them stay on course to completion. In addition, passing courses early builds students’ confidence and educational momentum.
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“This study reinforces the fact that when Wisconsin adults receive the necessary academic support – whether just a brush-up in math, writing, and language skills or more intensive skill development – they persist and succeed in technical college courses and programs,” said WTCS President Dan Clancy. “The information in the report will be valuable to technical colleges as they use bridge and pathway approaches to increase the skills of workers across the state, including in high-need areas such as manufacturing and health care,” added Clancy.
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Both the report and executive summary are available here.
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COWS is a nonprofit think-and-do tank, based at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, that promotes “high road” solutions to social problems. These treat shared growth and opportunity, environmental sustainability, and resilient democratic institutions as necessary and achievable complements in human development. COWS is nonpartisan but values-based. We seek a world of equal opportunity and security for all. For more information, visit www.cows.org.
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The Wisconsin Technical College System (WTCS) stimulates local economic development by providing the state with hands-on education that brings people and jobs together at incredibly high placement rates. For more information, visit www.wtcsystem.edu.