This Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP) webinar discussed postsecondary education and credentials for low income populations to help increase economic mobility for this group. Speakers from the Ford Foundation, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and the Joyce Foundation provided information on best serving low-income adults and disadvantaged youth through education.

It is expected that by the year 2018, sixty percent of all American jobs will require at least some college education. It has also been projected that if the current rates of degree completion continue, the American workforce will fall three million workers short of meeting the demands of this changing labor market. In this report from the Center for American Progress and the Council for Adults & Experiential Learning, the authors outline mechanisms and policies necessary to ensure postsecondary success among non-traditional and mobile learners. Among these mechanisms are articulation agreements between institutions allowing for easy credit transfers, methods for awarding credit to learning occurring outside of the classroom, resources that make educational options more apparent to students, and the development of programs based on competencies rather than credit hours. The authors stress that these changes are necessary both to meet the needs of the growing numbers of non-traditional students and to address the demands of the changing American economy.

From the College Board, this annual progress report provides a roadmap for educators and policymakers to increase postsecondary education retention. The United States is currently lagging behind in the college completion rate from other industrialized countries, especially for minority and low-income students. With a goal of reaching a graduation rate of 55 percent by 2025, this agenda provides key recommendations, providing promising strategies to help meet this goal.

While college attendance has increased over the last thirty years, the proportion of students who complete college has decreased. Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago authored this issue brief which provides data on the educational trajectories of Chicago youth from high school to college. Reviewing the paths that youth follow throughout high school and beyond, authors then suggest policies to support these youth as young adults as they pursue their postsecondary educational goals.

From the Center for Law and Social Policy, Maine’s Parents as Scholars (PaS) program provides services to Maine TANF participants who are pursuing two-year or four-year postsecondary degrees. The program is open to all TANF participants who did not previously have a bachelor’s degree in a field with available jobs or do not make 85 percent of Maine’s median income for their family size in their current field. Participants must remain full-time students, maintain at least a 2.0 grade point average, and must be on track to complete their degree programs in the usual two or four years.

In 2005, Achieve launched the American Diploma Project (ADP) Network at the National Education Summit on High Schools. Since 2005, Achieve has been annually monitoring state progress in college and career readiness for its populations. At the inception of the program, only three states had aligned high school standards with postsecondary and workplace expectations, and in 2010, this report reveals that 31 states have college- and career-ready standards.

The Economic Mobility Project authored this report on ways that students can increase their long-term earnings and the role of community colleges. Twenty-six percent of community college students come from low-income families, compared to 15 percent of four-year college students. Research shows that by receiving a community college degree, students can increase their earnings by an average of $7,900 annually, which is an earnings increase of 29 percent over those with a high school diploma.

The Brookings Institution authored this report on how postsecondary education can often be a path to economic mobility. Adults who have degrees from two-year or four-year colleges have far higher family incomes than do adults who have only a high school degree or are high school dropouts. Children from low-income families are less likely to enroll in either two- or four-year colleges, and less likely to complete a degree once they have enrolled. Researchers explain how increasing postsecondary education among this population can alleviate poverty and promote economic self-sufficiency.

This resource is from the What Works Clearinghouse, which is through the U.S. Department of Education, and provides information on the Job Corps program. The Job Corps program is a federally-funded education and job training program for economically disadvantaged youth that offers remedial education, GED preparation, vocational training, job placement assistance, and other supportive services.

Recent research shows that when work and education programs are combined, low-income families have improved outcomes. This research is from MDRC and provides evaluation information from programs that include education components to increase earnings of low-wage workers. Specifically, performance-based scholarships can have a large positive effect on academic achievement among a single-parent student population that faces multiple barriers to completing college.