Adult Learners in New England: By the Numbers (2021)
August 2021
New England Guide to Adult Serving Colleges and Universities: Results from Fall 2019 Survey
April, 2020
This brief details the results from the New England Guide to Adult Serving Colleges and Universities Survey, issued to all colleges and universities in New England in summer 2019. Ninety-four of 250 institutions responded to the survey. Highlights from the Guide Survey include:
- 30% of institutions offer weekend courses
- 46% offer hybrid program options (partially online, partially in-person)
- 66% offer fully online programs
- 42% have an on-campus food pantry
- 48% have an emergency fund available to students in need
- 56% do not have time limits on credits eligible for transfer
- 42% offer adult degree completion programs
Giving Due Credit: A Guide to Military Credit for Prior Learning in New England
March 2020
This report provides an overview of existing opportunities and challenges for the region’s military and veteran students in terms of assessing and awarding credit for their prior learning (CPL) in the military. Five New England states – Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island – have legislation requiring a state agency, college system, or individual institutions to develop and adopt a policy on academic credit for a student’s military occupation, military training, coursework, and experience.
Even so, there is room for improvement in the region’s existing policies:
- Half of New England lacks a uniform state-wide military CPL policy. Among existing military CPL policies in the region, Connecticut and Maine require system-wide procedures, whereas laws in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island stipulate that such procedures ought to be established by each individual institution. Vermont does not have an official policy regarding military CPL.
- The Region Lacks Clear Communication About Its Policies and Their Impact. States could benefit from requiring their college and university systems to provide status updates on their CPL assessment policies to the legislature, as well as making these policies easily accessible to the public online.
- Affordability Remains Problematic. Many CPL options available to service members are costly and provide no guarantee that they will be accepted by institutions for credit.
Adult Learners in New England: By the Numbers
February 2020
State fact sheets detailing data about adult learners in the region. Each fact sheet includes:
- Age distribution of college students
- Educational attainment of adults
- Unemployment rates of adults by attainment level
- Top adult-serving institutions