Increasing Adult Learner Completion and Persistence Rates

This course is based on material from Increasing Adult Learner Persistence and Completion Rates: A Guide for Student Affairs Leaders and Practitioners, published and copyrighted by NASPA in 2014. The book was funded by a grant from the Lumina Foundation. Developed by NASPA–Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education. Supported by the West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission and the West Virginia Community and Technical College System.

This course is designed to increase the ability of student affairs professionals to develop, implement, and assess the effectiveness of processes, programs, and services for undergraduates between the ages of 25 and 64. The course includes nine modules that explore options for supporting adult undergraduates at both 2-year and 4-year institutions of all types. Further, it offers practical strategies and advice from higher education leaders who have successfully implemented programs and services for undergraduate adult learners.

The course may be purchased as individual modules or as a course bundle. To purchase the individual modules, use the list below to navigate to their registration pages.

Although the nine modules available in this course bundle focus on different topics, they send five consistent messages:

• Colleges and universities need to build on the knowledge and experiences that adult learners bring to their institutions;
• no one can do it alone: collaboration, both internal and external, matters;
• student affairs must partner with adult learners to determine what they know, what their goals are, and what they need to succeed;
• support services must be intentionally designed, intelligently delivered, and thoughtfully assessed; and
• the future of student affairs may well depend on its ability to understand and effectively leverage technology.

Embedded in each module is another powerful message: The time for incremental change is over.