OP-ED: The 'Higher' Generation: Awareness About Continuing Education Needs to Match Rising Enrollment
By Dr. Mel Schiavelli
Special to Huntingtonnews.net
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The numbers tell a compelling story.
As the economy has forced thousands of experienced professionals to return to college in the hopes of entering a new career field — in essence, starting from scratch and becoming a factor in the new millennium workforce — the value and importance of continuing education programs have increased substantially.
And their significance only figures to grow.
Higher-education enrollments have climbed during this economic recession. Nationally, full-time enrollment increased by 3.4 percent between 2007-2008 to 2008-2009. Meanwhile, unemployment rates continue to hover around 10 percent.
Over the next 10 years, 86 percent of the jobs will require education beyond high school, and 50 percent will require science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education to the bachelor’s level.
However, while colleges and universities offer curricula that prepare incoming high school graduates for their careers, four years and beyond, many institutions now tailor their programs to accommodate thousands of first-time and returning adult students who are re-educating and retooling to meet the needs of a 21st century workforce.
The shift from a manufacturing-based economy to a knowledge-based economy has created the perception that a graduate degree is the new bachelor’s. Undergraduate education contributes to a stable economy because it provides students with foundational knowledge and prepares them for a wide range of job opportunities. But graduate education provides students with advanced knowledge and skills that drive innovation, preparing workers for management and leadership positions—a critical foundation for fueling economic growth and energizing today’s workforce.
Despite this, major publications such as U.S. News & World Report still make a big splash with their “best” rankings—best colleges, best undergraduate schools, best universities. And it’s difficult to ignore the weight and prestige they carry, particularly among their target audience -- recent high school graduates.
Unfortunately, with the rising numbers of adult students returning for a comprehensive education, what rankings ignore are the institutions that cater to adults who are continuing their education and, in turn, populating the talent pool available to regional companies.
Case in point: Each year I am asked, “How large is your entering class of full-time students?”
Although legitimate and fair, this question ignores a growing percentage of students — more than 23 million adults, according to some reports — who are focused on developing and honing skills in the areas that matter most in today’s knowledge-based marketplace and many of whom take classes part-time while juggling the demands of families and careers.
Factor in that these students are more engaged, have more at stake, and possess the motivation to succeed, and it makes the underrepresentation of the benefits of adult education programs even more mysterious.
Taking a more direct route was the editorial board of the University of Michigan School of Education:
“The field of adult education is amorphous, sprawling and rich in vitality. Highly functional, it does not depend on the compulsion of credits to attract its customers; and, disdainful of precedent, it does not conform to the grooved patterns of formal instruction.
“From all points of the pedagogical compass comes a growing recognition of the urgency of adult education in the historic period in which we live. Stress on its importance has ranged from the urgency of making literate the illiterate on the one hand to educating the educated on the other.
“As the field of adult education achieves more structure and grows into self-conscious maturity it should exert a growing influence on education as a whole, especially on departments of formal instruction.”
Although this truly is applicable today, this message was sounded in April 1951!
Nearly 60 years have gone by since then, yet a major theme of adult education remains. That is, a cornerstone of professional and continuing higher education is providing access to education; toward this end, there must be advocacy to make sure these opportunities are preserved.
We’re seeing the evolution of adult education with an experiential academic model prevalent on many higher education university campuses. This model, based on linking education to business needs, is proving successful. At Harrisburg University of Science and Technology, for example, 92 percent of the students are employed in their fields of study at graduation and most took positions in Central Pennsylvania.
In by far the most challenging economic period of our generation, it is vital that we continue to make adult education a priority and to build awareness of our institutions’ capacity to provide life-long learning that contributes to a lasting foundation of economic prosperity.
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Dr. Mel Schiavelli is president and CEO of Harrisburg University of Science and Technology in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Founded in 2001, Harrisburg University is the only STEM-focused comprehensive university between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.