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College Choices for Adults

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Adults: The New Face of Higher Education

"My program has had a life-changing effect on me. For the first time in many years, I was doing something just for me. I was able to manage the time for it, in spite of my hectic schedule, because it was online and asynchronous."
-Carol McCreary-Maddox

Research has shown that only about 15 percent of people enrolled in higher education programs still fit the traditional definition of "college students": young adults age 18 to 22 who live on campus and go to school full time. Many more are working adults, often with families, who want to advance in their careers.

Adults make college decisions differently than traditional-aged students. There is little or no interest in "campus life," which can be an important consideration for younger students. Instead, the top priority for most prospective adult student is whether the time and money they spend on pursuing a degree program will help them reach their professional and personal goals. Before College Choices for Adults, that information was difficult to find, because most resources provide institutional information only. College Choices for Adults offers program-level information, including the expected learning outcomes for each degree program, the success of students in achieving those outcomes, and the post-graduate experience of program alumni.

ABOUT US

College Choices for Adults is an information-rich, online resource geared towards informing prospective adult students about degree or certificate programs suited for the busy lives of adults. The site was created by Transparency by Design (TbD), which is a groundbreaking initiative undertaken by regionally-accredited institutions that focus on serving adult learners.

Launched in August 2009, the College Choices for Adults website is initially featuring program-level information including statements about what students will learn in each program, how each program measures what students learn, and how recent students performed on those measures. Program-level outcomes and performance measures are often difficult to find, but are key for individuals as they identify a program that matches their goals. In the coming months, additional data, programs, institutions, and functionality will be added to the site.

Discover... distance programs that work for busy adults
For the College Choices for Adults website, the participating institutions have supplied a wide range of informative data about certificate and degree programs. Institutions selected a few programs to highlight and will add more programs soon.

Explore... what you will learn in each program
Each certificate and degree program has a set of learning outcomes, which are statements of knowledge and skills that students are expected to acquire and demonstrate as they move through the programs.

Learn... how other students performed in these programs
As an indicator of a program's success in helping students achieve its stated learning outcomes, each program provides information about "How does the program measure what students have learned?" and "How have recent students performed on these measures?" Sample learning outcomes measures include: course- and program-related tests, projects, competency exams, capstone projects, portfolio reviews, or other demonstrations of the knowledge and skills expected of a successful student.

Trust... information reviewed by leading organizations in distance higher education
In choosing a college, adults want clear information that they can trust. WCET, a unit of the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE), is an independent, third-party organization entrusted with data quality assurance on the site. WCET assures that the institutions have met the common reporting definitions that WCET and the institutions jointly developed.

Arrive...at an informed choice about your education
The information on this site is designed to help adults become informed consumers of distance higher education. If the site can be improved, the College Choices for Adults staff invites you to Tell Us What You Think.

History of Transparency by Design and College Choices for Adults Transparency by Design can be traced back to the Presidents' Forum first held by Excelsior College in 2004. The Presidents' Forum is a collaboration of regionally accredited, adult-serving institutions and programs that have embraced the power and potential of distance education. The mission of the Presidents' Forum is to advance the recognition of innovative practice and excellence in serving adult students. In late 2008, Lumina Foundation for Education provided a grant to fund the development of the Transparency by Design initiative and the College Choices for Adults website. The Transparency by Design initiative supports Lumina Foundation for Education's mission of increasing the number of adults with some post-secondary education.

The Charter Institutions:

The charter institutions of Transparency by Design joined together to create this innovative resource because they believe that adult learners should have access to in-depth information to help them choose an educational institution and degree program that best meets their professional and personal goals.

The charter institutions are all regionally accredited and focused on serving adult students via distance or mixed modality education. They represent a rich mix of higher education institutions, including community colleges, graduate-only, public, private not-for-profit, and private for-profit institutions.