Graduating college is a milestone for many, perhaps more so in a pandemic.
For Jennifer Vinalon, the diploma holds even more significance. Vinalon, 37, earned her bachelor’s degree in communications from the University of Rhode Island in the spring, making good on the plans she abandoned more than 10 years ago.
As a 20-something, she was unsure of her career path and left her bachelor’s program a few credits in after earning an associate degree at the Community College of Rhode Island.
It was only after a decade of working at Citizens Bank, being passed over for promotions or open positions because she did not have a bachelor’s, that she found the motivation and direction she needed to crack open the books again.
Vinalon is not alone. More than 130,000 Rhode Islanders age 25 and over started but didn’t complete college degree programs, according to U.S. Census Bureau estimates from 2019, the most recent data available.
As lingering effects of the pandemic keep unemployment rates up and college enrollment down, many say the time to get adults back in the classroom is now.
Indeed, the state remains far below former Gov. Gina M. Raimondo’s goal of having 70% of the state’s adult workforce armed with a higher education degree by 2025. Right now, the number stands at 53%, according to data from the R.I. Office of the Postsecondary Commissioner.
In his spring 2021 address, Rhode Island College President Frank D. Sánchez said expanded access for adult students is a top priority. A $5.9 million spending boost for RIC included in the fiscal 2022 state budget will be crucial to support additional night, weekend and online classes, as well as “infrastructure” such as after-hours financial aid advisers and child care, Sanchez said.
‘Adult learners almost always have more-complex lives.’
SARA ENRIGHT, Community College of Rhode Island vice president of student affairs
While enrollment figures for the upcoming fall semester were not available, Sanchez hoped that targeting adult learners could help boost the numbers, which were falling even before COVID-19.
The University of Rhode Island is also making a bigger effort to draw older students.
Since 2014, URI has helped students finish uncompleted degree programs through its Finish What You Started program, offering mentoring, scholarships and debt forgiveness.
Having helped about 575 students finish their degree programs in the last seven years, the university is looking for other ways to pave what can be a bumpy road for adults to return to or start a college education.
That means not just online or night classes but programs that can be completed more efficiently, such as two newly launched degree programs in URI’s Alan Shawn Feinstein College of Education and Professional Studies: a bachelor’s degree in general studies and the “learner designed major,” which combines any three minors into a bachelor’s degree.
“The idea is to allow students to take courses from a wider range of subject areas so they’re not locked into a formal program of study,” explained Jonathan Kroll, the college director.
While Vinalon opted for a more traditional communications degree, she credited the university for its array of evening course offerings at its Providence campus – allowing her to juggle a full-time job and caring for a sick parent and cutting her commute compared with the travel time to the main campus in South Kingstown.
Getting working adults back to school is often less about convincing them of the benefits, and more about removing the barriers to their participation, said Sara Enright, vice president of student affairs at CCRI.
“Adult learners almost always have more-complex lives,” Enright said, naming child care or caregiving responsibilities, full-time jobs and, in some cases, transportation as some of these barriers.
Adult students have long been a focus at CCRI, much as they are at community colleges nationwide, Enright said. Asked if increased efforts by other state schools to attract adult learners posed competition, Enright said no.
Dean Libutti, URI’s vice provost for enrollment management, agreed.
“If we’re going to move the needle, it’s going to take a lot of players,” Libutti said.
It’s also going to take more financial incentives, administrators said.
A portion of federal stimulus funds awarded to CCRI via the state are being used to offer additional scholarships to adults who started but never completed a college degree. The $4 million in stimulus funds will help an estimated 800 adult learners with COVID Recovery Finish Scholarships, according to Enright.
Continued hiring woes also offer an opening to persuade employers to consider tuition reimbursements to help their workers pay for school, said R.I. Postsecondary Education Commissioner Shannon Gilkey.
Vinalon was lucky that Citizens Bank already offered tuition reimbursement, which covered a portion of her degree in exchange for her continuing to work at the company.
Reflecting on her recently completed academic journey, Vinalon acknowledged that it was certainly not easy, but she felt proud of her success – she was commencement speaker for her class and the first in her family to earn a four-year degree.
“I really struggled academically,” she said of her previous time in college. “It was a big comeback for me.”
Nancy Lavin is a PBN staff writer. Contact her at Lavin@PBN.com.
