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Decoration for the Workforce Region

Adult Learner Guidebook

A Guide to Recruiting and Supporting Adult Learners in Community Colleges (Third Edition)

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Acknowledgements

The Belk Center for Community College Leadership and Research extends its sincere gratitude to the John M. Belk Endowment for its leadership, vision and stewardship of the NC Reconnect Program. Their guidance and sustained support have been instrumental in advancing this work. We also thank myFutureNC and the North Carolina Community College System Office for their valued partnership, including their support in collecting and providing data that informed this guidebook.

We are deeply appreciative of the continued collaboration of NC Reconnect partners — CRISP Communications, VisionPoint Marketing, InsideTrack and Strada Education Network — whose expertise has strengthened this effort. Special thanks to Jonathan Loss and Lori Durako Fisher for their contributions to the quantitative data analysis featured in this workbook. Finally, we are grateful to Hollie Fleck of Fleck Films for thoughtfully capturing and elevating the stories of adult learners through mixed media.

More about NC Reconnect

Foreward

Marta* is a 32-year-old adult learner enrolled at a North Carolina Reconnect (NC Reconnect) community college. Five years ago, she enrolled at the college with the hope of securing a better future for herself as a nurse aide. But life had other plans. Marta stopped out of college when she became pregnant with her daughter, Sofia. She knew that her priorities had to shift, and she decided to step away from her studies to focus on her family. Like Marta, countless other adult learners in North Carolina are considering enrolling or stopping out of college. As North Carolina continues to navigate a dynamic and ever-changing economy, the role of higher education is helping shape the future workforce of the state.

Photo of an Adult Learner

Our Great 58 community colleges are central to meeting the needs of this evolving workforce, providing educational access to higher education, and helping North Carolina meet myFutureNC’s post-secondary attainment goal of 2 million individuals ages 25-44 holding an industry-valued credential or degree by 2030. To achieve this, actively engaging and supporting adult learners, who bring invaluable experience and enrich our college communities, is not just important — it’s essential. Adult learners bring with them a breadth of knowledge and experiences, enriching the culture of their colleges and communities.

The John M. Belk Endowment (JMBE) launched NC Reconnect in fall 2021 with five pilot colleges with the goal of re-enrolling adult learners over the age of 25 who had previously stopped out of their home college. In 2026, NC Reconnect now includes 29 colleges across the state. Among adult residents in North Carolina aged 25-44, 84% are participating in the labor force. In 2024, more than half (58%) of North Carolina’s prime working-age adults (25-44) had a family income exceeding 300% of the federal poverty line, which for a single adult with no children in the state equated to an annual income of at least $46,745, according to the MIT Living Wage Calculator (myFutureNC, 2026).

The reality for adult learners like Marta, who are trying to balance competing priorities while also attending college, is that accessing and staying enrolled in higher education remains a significant challenge. After Sofia was born, Marta struggled with returning to college, unsure of how to balance the financial burdens of paying for college and childcare for her daughter. But like many adult learners, Marta’s motivations to support her family, advance in her career and have higher earning potential fuel her passion to pursue a community college education.

Community college programs in continuing education and workforce development offer flexible, affordable and quick options to upskill or reskill. This is where efforts like NC Reconnect can make a crucial impact. JMBE designed NC Reconnect to support adult learners as they re-enroll in community college. With a focus on removing barriers, improving access and providing ongoing support throughout their educational journey, NC Reconnect serves as an important element to re-engage adult learners.

The third edition of the Adult Learner Guidebook serves as a call to action for community college presidents and their leadership teams to have important conversations about how to support adult learners. A printed hardcopy is intended to be a workbook for leadership teams to work through together. You will notice critical questions for consideration and areas for note-taking throughout. We invite you to use this workbook on your campus with faculty, staff and administrators, and externally with partner colleges or community organizations. As you use the workbook, keep adult learners like Marta in mind to ensure your planning is more relevant and practical for their unique needs.

The future of North Carolina relies on the prosperity and success of adult learners. By continuing to uplift adult learners in our community colleges, we are laying the groundwork for a more prosperous state that benefits everyone.

Audrey J. Jaeger, Ph.D.
Executive Director, Belk Center
for Community College
Leadership and Research,
W. Dallas Herring Professor
NC State University

Photo of Audrey Jaeger

NC RECONNECT Across the State

Since 2021, NC Reconnect has grown to 29 community colleges in six cohorts across North Carolina. Colleges are initiated in cohorts of five colleges each to build a scalable and sustainable statewide re-enrollment effort specifically for adult learners with some college but no credential.

North Carolina Workforce Development Data Trends from myFutureNC

Using data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey, myFutureNC has measured the state’s progress in reaching the postsecondary education attainment goal of 2 million North Carolinians with a high-qality degree or credential by 2030.

  • 1.72 million North Carolinians aged 25-44 hold a degree or credential, roughly 278,000 shy of reaching the goal of two million credentialed individuals in the state.
  • 84% of North Carolina residents aged 25-44 are participating in the labor force.
  • North Carolina had an unemployment rate of 3.9% as of December 2025.
  • 58% of North Carolina residents aged 25-44 earn a family-sustaining wage.
CRITICAL QUESTION: How are you using data (institutional data, workforce data, commerce data, etc.) to make decisions about adult learners?

The Impact of NC Reconnect

The Belk Center has an established partnership with the North Carolina Community College System Office to collect data from each NC Reconnect college. To better understand adult learners at NC Reconnect colleges, we examined student demographic information and enrollment trends. Data from cohorts one through four is listed below.

 

Adult Learners’ Alternatives to Re-Enrollment


Adult learners often face competing priorities when considering whether to enroll or re-enroll in community college and — despite growing interest in supporting these students — there remains a significant gap in understanding why these individuals choose not to return. After receiving initial coaching from InsideTrack, a resource provided for NC Reconnect colleges, participants were referred back to their home colleges. Despite this support, not all of the individuals re-enrolled, further highlighting the challenges some adult learners face when returning to college after stopping out.

  • The most significant barriers to re-enrollment and persistence among community college students are financial constraints, the need to step away from paid employment and competing caregiving responsibilities.
  • When making decisions about enrollment, adult learners most often turn to family members for guidance and support.
  • Among adult learners who did not re-enroll, the vast majority (81%) were employed either full-time or part-time, underscoring the challenge of balancing work and education.

Findings

  • 92 participants currently enrolled in a postsecondary program: part-time n=34 (37%), full-time n=48 (52.2%),
    non-credit n=10 (10.9%)
  • 363 total participants (10.7% response rate)
  • 271 non-enrolled participants
Alternative Findings Race, Gender, Age and Employment Status

What are the top barriers to re-enrollment for adult learners?

There are a number of barriers to community college re-enrollment, however, the top barriers center on time and cost — particularly time away from work and family — and college affordability. Notably, relational barriers (i.e., time away from children and spouse) rank as higher barriers than barriers related to basic needs (i.e., lack of childcare, transportation, housing or food insecurity). This suggests that flexible, family-friendly programming and a clear return on investment may be more effective in re-engaging adult learners than traditional support services alone.

CRITICAL QUESTION: How is your college developing a family-friendly culture, where students do not feel the need to choose between being with their family or returning to school?

What are the top barriers to persistence for adult learners?

Top barriers to staying enrolled remained consistent with those cited for re-enrollment. However, on average, adult learners noted fewer barriers to persistence than they did to enrollment. This suggests that the same challenges persist throughout an adult learner’s journey, but their impact may lessen once an adult learner re-engages with the college. By addressing these barriers early in the college journey, community colleges may improve the likelihood of students persisting after they re-enroll.

What are the academic goals of adult learners who stopped out?

Bar Graph for Academic Goals Over Next Two Years
CRITICAL QUESTION: How do advising practices and credential pathways differ for adult learners with varying academic goals?

Adult learners who chose not to re-enroll still hold at least one academic goal and usually multiple goals. More than 65% of respondents are interested in generally improving themselves through education or using education as a means of advancing through promotion or raises in their current career. Nearly half of all respondents are interested in obtaining a two-year associate’s degree and/or are pursuing education as a means of becoming employable in a new field.

It is important to note that a majority of adult learners who stopped out have not met their educational goals and show interest in re-engaging over the next two years in some form. As community colleges continue to reach out to these students, the varying goals of adult learners should be considered in marketing and advising.

What are the relationships that help most with enrollment decisions?

Bar Graph for Relationships that help with enrollment decisions.

When deciding whether to re-enroll, adult learners often consult many different people in their lives. Family members — spouses, parents, siblings and children — are the most important source of guidance and support in this process. College staff, specifically admissions or enrollment specialists and academic advisors, also play a critical role, helping adult learners navigate enrollment decisions.

This finding highlights the important role that advisors play, not only in keeping a student moving forward through their program, but also in guiding them back should they ever stop out. While only 10% of adult learners consider their employer as the most important source of guidance, strengthening relationships between community colleges and local employers could make this support more impactful, helping students feel that returning to school is possible.

The Five P Framework for Adult Learner Success

As our research team interviewed students, college presidents, faculty and staff, they gained valuable insights into the many factors needed to re-engage and support adult learners. As a result, five major themes emerged, leading to the initial conceptualization of the Five P Framework (VanZoest et al., 2023).

This framework serves as a valuable resource for community college leaders as they continue to reimagine their campuses and adopt innovative strategies to support adult learners holistically. Each “P” in the framework encompasses a core concept of the NC Reconnect work and underscores the various approaches to supporting adult learners — public messaging, partnerships, processes, pathways and proximity. Moreover, each “P” includes a set of critical questions that shape each component and guide community college leaders to evaluate their current strategies, as well as design, implement and adjust their campus offerings.

Since its creation in 2022, the Five P Framework has been updated with new language based on what we continue to learn about the amazing work community colleges are doing across North Carolina. The new versions of these components elevate the previous language with concrete examples drawn from work happening across the 24 Cohort One through Cohort Five colleges.

CRITICAL QUESTION: How is your college using the Five P Framework to drive meaningful, sustainable change in support of adult learners?
Number 1

PUBLIC MESSAGING MARKETING AND COMMUNICATIONS
Community colleges are creating personalized marketing and communications to adult learners that highlight specific programs, align with institutional priorities, and emphasize the value of a free or low-cost community college education.

Decisions for College Leaders

  • What does the college’s current communication process look like when marketing to adult learners? How can this process be improved?
  • What types of messaging currently exist at the college that are catered toward recruiting adult learners (i.e., social media, text message, mailers, etc.)?
  • Where is public messaging currently viewed/heard to reach adult learners? How could these communications channels be expanded?
  • Which employees are involved in public messaging? How could the work of employees outside of marketing or admissions contribute to the college’s public messaging?

Insights from Adult Learners and Faculty

“This is my third different college, but the biggest difference that I have seen [with this college] is because of the outreach. Even when I had to drop the class, I got emails, I got phone calls from people saying, ‘It’s okay. Just stay on the course.’ It is just incredibly supportive. You don’t get frustrated. You don’t get overwhelmed. You know that they’re here to help you and they want you to succeed. And that has been a saving grace.” – Adult Learner

“I received a piece of mail with my name on it and it made me actually want to look at it and read it. The terminology was pleasant and easy to understand. It’s exciting when you get something from the college that says ‘we might be able to help you cover your tuition and fees.’” – Adult Learner

“The first question that I ask in my course is how many people have attended college before — and some raise their hands. Then I ask how many people have been out of college for a few minutes, and we talk about how their life experience feeds into what we’re doing with respect to college success. They don’t know that they have studentship skills, but they do. And so we talk about that, and I’ll ask with all of these responsibilities you have, ‘How are you balancing your schoolwork?’ So that all these younger students can benefit from hearing about the work they do.” – Faculty Member

Number 2

PARTNERSHIPS COLLABORATION
Community colleges intentionally collaborate with external partners — including employers, faith-based organizations, government agencies and funders — to expand resources and support for adult learners. College departments and units also partner internally to refer students to resources offered at the college, like scholarships, food pantries, counseling and transportation tokens.

Decisions for College Leaders

  • What external partnerships exist that support adult learner success at the college?
  • What external partnerships does the college hope to build in the future?
  • How will the college foster internal teamwork and buy-in from faculty and staff to support adult learners?

Insights from Adult Learners and Faculty

“We were able to partner with [county transportation], who provides door-to-door transportation services for our students — literally at their homes. So they pick up our students, they bring them to campus and they return them home.” – President

“The [college’s] foundation does a really good job with scholarship opportunities. I’m a single parent, and I like that they have a scholarship strictly for single parents. They also hook you up with a mentor and everything which is beneficial.” – Adult Learner

Number 3

PROCESSES SHIFTING THE APPROACH
Community colleges are streamlining and revising processes and policies to reduce barriers (i.e., financial, caregiving, transportation, housing, etc.) to enrollment and retention for adult learners, enhancing efficiency across the entire student experience — from application to advising to graduation.

Decisions for College Leaders

  • What existing processes may serve as a hindrance to adult learner success?
  • How is your college evaluating its current processes?
  • What shifts in processes and practices are necessary to re-engage adult learners?
  • What opportunities are there to engage adult learners early and during pre-enrollment?

Insights from Adult Learners and Faculty

“For me, more online classes and flexible hours have been a big part of helping me get through the semester, because there’s no way I could come to class every day, it probably would be one or two here and there.” – Adult Learner

“We are rolling out a policy where the instructor can allow a student to bring their child to class. The policy is definitely designed to allow for more flexibility. It’s not something that is meant to be ongoing, but it means your child can graduate with you.” – NC Reconnect College Lead

Number 4

PATHWAYS ACADEMIC AND CAREER ADVISING
Community colleges are designing clear, structured academic and career pathways – especially between continuing education and curriculum programs – that align with labor market needs, helping adult learners navigate their educational journeys more efficiently, reducing time to degree and connecting their programs to high-wage career opportunities.

Decisions for College Leaders

  • What does academic advising for adult learners look like at the college? How is this similar or different compared to students coming directly from high school?
  • What does career advising for adult learners look like at the college? How is this similar or different compared to students right out of high school?
  • How does the college connect continuing education/workforce development programs and curricular pathways?

Insights from Adult Learners and Staff

“I started out on the right foot taking ACA, a college transfer success class, and it ensured that as an online student I touched all the different pieces of what was going on here on the campus…I know how to find this information. I didn’t have that the first time around when I went to school.” – Adult Learner

“We have internal articulation agreements. Continuing education students and curriculum students take the same courses taught by the same instructors. Continuing education students can get credit for prior learning if they want to continue their education in a curriculum program.” – Faculty Member

Number 5

PROXIMITY TO ACCESS AND COMPLETION
Community colleges are strengthening support for adult learners by creating dedicated campus spaces, clearly mapping out the time and steps needed to earn a degree or credential, and fostering meaningful connections between adult learners, faculty and staff. These efforts help adult learners feel more connected, supported and closer to reaching their educational goals.

Decisions for College Leaders

  • How can the college increase access and reduce barriers to education for adult learners?
  • What one-on-one supports are available to students that give them a sense of connection to the college?
  • How can your college redesign programs and supports to accelerate adult learners’ progress to completion?
  • How can the college create spaces and opportunities for adult learners to build a sense of community?

Insights from Adult Learners

“So y’all [the college] are painting a portrait to show students a career pathway, and what you can actually have, and how you can get to it.”– Adult Learner

“I had to leave for a while. I actually just recently got back into school this year, and hopefully graduating in May to finish my degree. My advisor has been with me ever since. She’s made it very easy for me, so I feel like family here.” – Adult Learner

Lessons Learned from NC Reconnect Leadership, Faculty and Staff to Support Adult Learners

Over the past four years, the Belk Center conducted 106 individual and focus group interviews with 391 NC Reconnect college presidents, leaders, faculty, staff and adult learners. Insights from this extensive data collection were aligned with the Five P Framework and categorized by personnel classification. The examples below highlight how these personnel groups have implemented strategies related to the Five Ps within their areas of influence to better support adult learners at their NC Reconnect colleges. These examples can serve as promising practices for others to consider implementing at their own institutions. College names have been removed to preserve anonymity.

Community College Leadership

(e.g., Presidents, Vice Presidents, Associate Vice Presidents)

Public Messaging

  • Colleges have hosted roundtable discussions, focus groups and/or community forums to hear directly from adult learners and ensure programs and/or services align with their unique needs.
  • Many institutions have hired or reassigned recruiters to focus specifically on adult learners, often voluntarily and optionally adjusting their work schedules to include evenings, weekends and over holiday breaks to meet adult learners at times that are convenient for them.
  • Colleges have implemented intentional enrollment follow-up strategies to ensure adult learners who express interest in returning to college receive timely, consistent and supportive communication. These approaches include using personalized outreach tied to a learner’s stated program of interest, sending messages from a designated staff member who can provide direct follow-up and initiating contact within 24 hours. These practices streamline enrollment processes while reinforcing a sense of connection and support for adult learners.

Partnerships

  • Leaders have built strategic partnerships with community groups, workforce development boards, grassroots organizations, industry donors and faith-based organizations to strengthen support networks and expand opportunities for adult learners. These collaborations increase access to wraparound supports, such as childcare, transportation, emergency aid and technology, while creating clearer pathways to employment through internships, apprenticeships and credentials.
  • Administrators have approached external partnerships through relational, trust-building strategies, showing up consistently in local communities, engaging in meaningful conversations and cultivating relationships long before making any funding requests.

Pathways

  • Presidents have actively engaged with legislators and policymakers to influence tuition and enrollment policies that help encourage community college enrollment.
  • Leaders have collaborated with local businesses, government agencies and nonprofit organizations (e.g., NCWorks, chambers of commerce, local employers) to establish clear pathways for adult learners, facilitating their transition from education to employment through internships, apprenticeships and job placement programs.

Processes

  • Colleges have strengthened communication and engagement by recruiting multilingual staff, including senior leaders and faculty, to better serve adult learners and the communities they represent. By reducing language barriers and building trust, this intentional staffing approach improves how adult learners access information and support.
  • Leaders have strategically formed task forces and advisory committees, made up of faculty and staff from across campus, to identify and address the needs of adult learners in a coordinated way.

Proximity

  • Leaders have hired success and career coaches to guide adult learners and remove barriers to completion. These efforts are most effective when paired with a dedicated campus lead, often a senior administrator, who coordinates adult learner initiatives and keeps this work a priority.
  • Administrators have created safe, welcoming spaces where adult learners and their families can connect and access resources, fostering engagement, persistence and progress toward degree completion.

Faculty

(e.g., Deans, Chairs, Faculty, Instructors, Teaching Personnel)

Public Messaging

  • By communicating frequently and in a variety of methods (e.g., email, text message, LMS, verbally in class) faculty ensure information is distributed through the modalities in which adult learners communicate.
  • Faculty have created meaningful lines of communication by regularly checking in with adult learners about academic progress and life outside the classroom — such as work schedules or caregiving responsibilities — helping them feel seen, supported, and comfortable sharing their challenges and successes.
  • Faculty have added personal crisis statements to their syllabi to encourage students to communicate when they need additional resources and support, normalizing help-seeking behaviors. Example: “If a personal emergency, health issue or family responsibility makes it hard to keep up with class, please let me know as soon as you can. We’ll work together to find a way for you to stay on track.”

Partnerships

  • Faculty continue to build stronger connections with local businesses and employers to create networks through which adult learners can obtain internships, apprenticeships and future employment opportunities.
  • Through collaborations with local industry partners and aligning courses and programs to workforce needs, faculty can help increase adult learners’ chances of being hired after completing their credentials.
  • Faculty have familiarized themselves with on-campus resources for adult learners and partnered with the staff who manage them, ensuring adult learners are connected to resources they need in a timely manner.

CRITICAL QUESTION: How can community colleges think about teaching evaluation differently? What transformative evaluation methods are being used with other educational institutions that could be adapted for your community college?

Pathways

  • Faculty have held career pathway events in community spaces — meeting prospective adult learners where they are — and highlighting how courses and credentials within their subject area connect to learners’ career goals and aspirations.
  • Faculty and departmental leadership have surveyed adult learners to understand which course structures and schedules work best, using that feedback to improve program and course design and flexibility. While the needs of adult learners vary, online asynchronous, hybrid and HyFlex courses are popular course formats.
  • Experiential learning opportunities, including paid internships with local employers and on-campus work-study roles tied to academic programs, have been encouraged and supported by faculty, allowing adult learners to gain hands-on experience while financially supporting themselves and their families.

Processes

  • Faculty have conducted “secret shopper” experiences — placing themselves in the role of a student by navigating their own course, using the learning management system and completing assignments — to ensure materials are easily accessible and instructions are clear.
  • Through facilitated group work and active learning strategies, adult learners share their knowledge and lived experience with peers, leverage those experiences as classroom assets, and more easily identify where additional support is needed to understand and apply course content.
  • Faculty have used multiple assignment modalities (e.g., writing assignments, oral recitation, poster presentations, film, song, art, etc.) to assess learning in ways that separate concept mastery from comfort in a specific assignment format.

Proximity

  • Faculty have balanced opportunities for adult learners to collaborate with younger students — such as through mixed-age group projects — while also creating dedicated cohort meetings or study groups where adult learners can connect with and support one another.
  • Faculty have attended community events, demonstrating support for adult learners’ lives beyond the classroom and strengthening relationships built on trust and shared experiences.
  • Faculty have taken time to identify adult learners’ educational and career goals and align their coursework, advising, and pathways to help them most efficiently reach those goals.

Staff

(e.g., Admissions Staff, Enrollment Management, Success Coaches, Professional Advisors, etc.)

Public Messaging

  • Marketing and communications staff have used targeted outreach strategies to ensure that recruitment materials, website content and social media posts reach adult learners.
  • Staff have designed family-informed, community-centered marketing campaigns that resonate with adult learners’ support networks by highlighting course flexibility, affordability and pathways to career
    advancement.

Partnerships

  • Staff have collaborated with employers to develop customized training pathways aligned with workforce needs, supporting adult learners in upskilling or transitioning into high-demand fields.
  • Colleges have implemented cross-departmental coordination, where workforce development, advising and financial aid staff provide adult learners with more seamless, comprehensive support.

Pathways

  • Staff have worked in concert with faculty to develop accessible and flexible coursework options — such as hybrid formats, multiple entry points and embedded academic resources — that support adult learners with varying levels of academic preparation and scheduling needs.
  • Staff have created targeted, career-aligned training programs with clearly defined pathways — such as stackable certificates leading to a degree or specific job roles — ensuring adult learners can see a direct connection between their education and employment opportunities.

Processes

  • Orientation and onboarding experiences for adult learners have been intentionally redesigned to reflect their specific needs, making registration, financial aid and college navigation more accessible. Colleges have streamlined these processes to reduce time and complexity — for example, offering short applications for returning students and providing flexible, one-hour orientation options that can be completed in person or online.
  • Building on existing support structures, staff have intentionally expanded academic tutoring, mentoring and wraparound services to align with adult learners’ schedules and needs. These supports are embedded within high-demand programs such as healthcare and business.

Proximity

  • Colleges have expanded access to hybrid, evening, weekend and online learning options, supported by staff who guide adult learners in selecting clear pathways, planning course sequences, and leveraging prior learning to reduce time to degree or credential.
  • Staff have established designated spaces and hubs for adult learners to access resources, build community and receive specialized advising.
  • Staff have facilitated peer-led support groups and learning communities that help adult learners cultivate connection, persistence and shared motivation.

Zooming In: Supporting Adult Learners in Continuing Education and Workforce Development Programs

Adult learners are increasingly pursuing short-term credentials at North Carolina community colleges as a strategic pathway to meet immediate career goals. This shift is clearly reflected in recent enrollment trends. While the overall number of adult learners in the North Carolina Community College System (NCCCS) grew by 10% between 2020 and 2022, the most significant growth occurred in workforce development and continuing education programs, which increased by 19% during the same period (NCCCS, 2023).

This focus on rapid upskilling is widespread, with 70% of all adult learners in North Carolina prioritizing workforce and continuing education programs (NCCCS, 2024). Among the 5,421 adult learners in the initial four cohorts of NC Reconnect, almost 40% are enrolled in these workforce and continuing education tracks, underscoring the importance of short-term training in re-engaging the adult learner population.

In response to this growth — and with the introduction of Workforce Pell grants in 2026 — community colleges are thinking creatively about how to adapt their programs to meet the needs of adult learners and their region’s workforce. To support leaders at NC Reconnect colleges, the Belk Center developed a community of practice that allows practitioners to share knowledge around the topic of adult learners in continuing education and workforce development programs.

The ReConnectEd Community of Practice launched in fall 2025 with practitioners from the 24 NC Reconnect community colleges in Cohorts One through Five. Throughout the 2025-2026 academic year, ReConnectEd convened to discuss topics related to supporting adult learners in continuing education and workforce development programs, including foundational knowledge of the postsecondary education landscape, funding to support adult learners, stakeholder engagement, effective data and tracking strategies, and marketing and communications to appeal to adult learners in short-term credentialing programs.

CRITICAL QUESTION: How is your college creatively adapting or shifting continuing education programs to meet the needs of the future workforce while ensuring compliance with Workforce Pell program requirements?

Key Takeaways

Community college leaders have an immense responsibility — and opportunity — to change the trajectories of their communities by educating adult learners. Insights from community colleges in North Carolina and across the country show that supporting adult learners in continuing education and workforce development programs requires a collective, campuswide effort. The following decisions and recommendations, highlighted in the Belk Center’s impact brief, titled On the Ground: Insights from the Field—Supporting Community College Students in Workforce Development and Continuing Education Programs, reflect effective strategies implemented by college presidents and leaders who are making a meaningful difference on their campuses.

Economic Mobility and Outcomes-Driven Programs

The primary goal is to ensure a college education directly leads to high-wage, high-demand careers, effectively moving graduates out of poverty.

  • Curriculum for high wages: Colleges are updating their course offerings, eliminating outdated programs and creating new ones based on direct employer feedback. This requires leaders to be adaptable and ready to replace old methods with modern, relevant credentials.
  • Integrated experiential learning: Experiential learning is now a continuous part of the student experience, from initial exposure through tours to advanced skills gained through apprenticeships. Colleges are also practicing what they preach by hiring students for on-campus jobs (e.g., in marketing or IT) that use their academic skills.
  • Closing the feedback loop: Graduation is no longer seen as an endpoint. Colleges proactively seek feedback from employers and transfer universities to keep programs relevant and identify skill gaps. They also maintain contact with alumni, inviting them back to upskill or pursue further education.

Student-Centered, Holistic Support

Colleges are taking responsibility for student success by adjusting their systems to meet the complex needs of adult and at-risk learners.

  • Holistic planning and support: New students receive individualized success plans that cover career goals, financial aid and access to comprehensive support services (e.g., food pantries, mental health services and transportation). This approach ensures students are cared for throughout their educational journey.
  • Targeted reengagement: Institutions are launching focused campaigns (e.g., NC Reconnect) to connect with students who stopped out and provide the necessary support to help them return and complete their degrees.
  • Continuous program review: To accommodate adult learners, colleges are offering flexible learning models (e.g., hybrid and/or self-paced options).
  • Celebrating student success: Colleges recognize all students by holding separate graduation ceremonies for continuing education and curriculum students.

Inspiring Change Through Collaborative, Transparent Leadership

Effective leaders are building trust and driving innovation by using data, being ethically consistent and ensuring changes are a collaborative effort rather than a mandate.

  • Modeling ethical behavior: Colleges are striving to be “employers of choice” by raising salaries for all employees — from maintenance staff to executives — to eliminate low wages on campus, set a regional standard, and reduce staff turnover, even if it means making bold or costly operational decisions, like operating an on-campus childcare center for employees and students.
  • Fostering collaboration and transparency: Leaders actively seek input from faculty, students and employers to ensure decisions aren’t top-down. They use data from climate surveys to facilitate open, productive discussions about organizational improvement.
  • Implementing change effectively: New continuing education initiatives are introduced thoughtfully, often beginning with pilot programs tailored to the needs of local adult learners and workforce partners. Having a dedicated internal champion to guide the process ensures these programs are well-supported and positioned for long-term success within the community college context.

From Story to Strategy

Since 2021, the Belk Center has met with 110 adult learners across 24 NC Reconnect colleges, learning about their incredible lives and stories in and through their community colleges. In the pages ahead, you’ll meet three of these outstanding adult learners. As you read, consider what these stories reveal about your college’s policies, practices and culture, and where action to support adult learners is possible.

CRITICAL QUESTION: How is your college leveraging adult learner stories like these to connect with prospective students and showcase programs in marketing materials?
CRITICAL QUESTION: What is one action you could take within your role to help adult learners overcome technology literacy barriers?

Reconnecting Through Photos

Adult learners at the four Cohort Five colleges shared photos that illustrate what it means to be an adult learner at an NC Reconnect community college. The images highlight their motivations for completing a degree or credential and the support services, people and places that have shaped their journeys. Practitioners are invited to use these reflections as a catalyst for action – examining where adult learners feel supported, where barriers persist, and how advising, teaching and institutional practices can be redesigned to better meet adult learners where they are.

 

Implications for Practice and Policy

Review existing programs to see how many would meet standards for
Workforce Pell

As adult learners reconnect to education, colleges can take a new look at short-term, continuing education and workforce programs. This can happen by reviewing existing continuing education offerings and becoming intentional about supporting adult learners who enroll. The emergence of financial support for continuing education and workforce programs via new Workforce Pell Grants presents opportunities for adult learners to reduce costs of returning to college (Bipartisan Workforce Pell Act, 2023). Reviewing short- term continuing education programs with a critical eye toward supporting adults can provide learners with training that has a positive return on their investment.

Workforce Pell will allow high-quality continuing education programs meeting a 150-clock-hour requirement to be eligible for federal grant funding (Bipartisan Workforce Pell Act, 2023). As of January 2026, rulemaking and negotiations are underway; however, initial indications show that for programs to be eligible they must have run for at least one year, contain between 150-599 hours, meet for eight to 15 weeks and lead to a credential. Program outcomes must also have 70% or greater completion and job placement rates, and the projected median earnings for employees with the credential must be greater than the tuition/fees + 150% federal poverty level. In North Carolina, the North Carolina Community College System Office has provided a toolkit for colleges to use as they implement this new funding source.


These short-term programs align with the industry workforce needs and states’ priorities. Upon reviewing existing continuing education programming, colleges can benefit from reviewing existing short-term offerings to evaluate which qualify for Workforce Pell. This is also an opportunity to consider creating stackable credentials for short-term programs to enhance their value, maximize students’ training experiences and increase their potential to become Workforce Pell eligible.

Providing Pell Grants to students in continuing education and short-term workforce programs opens the door to financial support and reduces barriers to program completion — often in as little as eight weeks. Signed into law on July 4, 2025, Workforce Pell will become available starting July 1, 2026.

Ensure students are enrolling in programs of value

Adult learners are re-enrolling in college with a specific goal in mind. This goal involves a clear path to a stable career with a family-sustaining wage. College leaders must ensure that the programs they offer lead to these high-demand and high-wage fields. Using available labor market tools, like those highlighted here in North Carolina, can help ensure that these data inform strategic program planning and understand whether their graduates are achieving economic mobility (Belote et al., 2025). It is also important for college leaders to examine what living and family sustaining wages are in their region to ensure that the wages allow their graduates to support themselves and their families (Newhouse & Nichols, 2025). While using these publicly available data sources, leaders should be mindful to crosscheck multiple data sources and validate the findings with local employers (Belote et al., 2025).


Additionally, some of the high-demand and high-wage programs are expensive for colleges to administer. North Carolina community colleges can consider partnering together to support these programs. For example, Fayetteville Technical Community College’s regional truck driving center enables students from Bladen and Robeson Community Colleges to also earn their commercial driver’s license (CDL) certificate. This recommendation directly aligns with North Carolina’s Council on Workforce and Apprenticeships strategy to “further align the state’s industry-valued credentials list with employer demand and expand access to relevant credentials. Leverage the list to support implementation of Workforce Pell.”

Embed experiential learning in all programs to address skills and
experience gaps

In the past five years, there have been two major disruptions in higher education and in the labor market: the COVID-19 pandemic and the emergence of generative artificial intelligence (AI). The impact of COVID-19 on the United States’ economy was both unprecedented and historic. The labor market experienced significant disruption, and recovery was slow and uneven. These disruptions to education and the workforce exacerbated an already existing skills gap where there were not enough skilled job seekers to meet employer demand (World Economic Forum, 2020). Since the release of OpenAI in 2022 and with labor market trends showing AI taking on entry-level tasks, a growing ADULT LEARNER GUIDEBOOK | 3rd Edition41
experience gap has emerged. Employers now often expect college graduates to have the skills and experience of someone with five to seven years of post- graduation work. Experiential learning can help bridge this gap by providing students with hands-on, practical experience.

Today, signs of a turnaround are beginning to emerge. The connection between education and job placement is well established and adult learners are increasingly selective about the educational pathways they pursue. Factors such as cost, time commitment, and return on investment (ROI) are critical considerations for community colleges seeking to attract and support students (Staff, 2022). Adult learners want to see economic benefits early and are gravitating toward short-term programs offered in flexible formats, including hybrid and online options (Ashford, 2020). Students also value employer engagement that extends beyond traditional guest lectures, while employers emphasize the need for job seekers to possess both the skills to obtain and to retain employment.

To fully prepare workers, community colleges must ensure that students build both technical abilities and employability skills. Students and employers alike highlight the importance of experiential learning, including work-based learning (WBL) experiences, internships and apprenticeships. As community colleges continue to emphasize the value of short-term workforce credentials in terms of cost, time and ROI, embedding experiential WBL opportunities is essential. Doing so equips program-completers with practical, hands-on experience that strengthens their technical skills and enhances their (re)entry into the workforce and their long-term job sustainability. This implication directly aligns with North Carolina’s Council on Workforce and Apprenticeships’ goal around work-based learning and apprenticeships.

Adopt a ‘no wrong door’ approach

Students do not always know or differentiate between curriculum and continuing education programs, they are just interested in getting better skills and better jobs. When reconnecting adult learners back to the college, staff should be curious about the student’s goals, asking questions and connecting them to the program that is the best fit for their goals. This may involve reimagining how the application to college and registration for courses are structured to enable students the flexibility to enroll in the right program without the administrative burden of navigating multiple systems.

Embed supports so they are unavoidable

Adult learners balance many commitments while attending school, so embedding supports like tutoring, basic needs and opportunities for connection need to be unavoidable for students to be able to take advantage of them. Given that many community college students spend their time on campus in the classroom, the classroom serves as an ideal venue through which to embed these supports. Adopting common syllabi templates that outline services available, having a designated “supports” tab in the learning management system, and highlighting key services like the writing center around a large paper deadline ensure adult learners are made aware of and can access these supports.

Resources for Support

Belk Center for Community College Leadership and Research

The Belk Center has served as the research and evaluation partner of NC Reconnect since its inception in 2021. As such, the Belk Center has conducted an on-site visit with each NC Reconnect college, meeting with the college’s president, faculty, staff and adult learners. This research has culminated in more than a dozen practice-based deliverables with promising practices for community colleges to remove barriers for adult learners and support their academic success. These resources range from the Faculty Perspectives Guide that supports faculty andragogy in the classroom, to practice briefs about funding, strategic leadership decisions and promising partnerships that benefit adult learners.

myFutureNC

myFutureNC’s goal is to increase educational attainment in North Carolina in support of the statewide goal that two million North Carolinians aged 25-44 hold an industry-valued credential or postsecondary degree by 2030. Colleges can use myFutureNC’s data dashboards and county and regional profiles to make informed decisions about institutional changes.

North Carolina Community College System

The North Carolina Community College System (NCCCS) Office is a hub of postsecondary innovation that offers data dashboards, adult-learner-focused events and other valuable resources. The NCCCS Office provides policy and legal support, useful data and reporting information and professional development opportunities for North Carolina community college leaders. Additionally, the NCCCS’s Student Success Center helps community colleges implement large-scale, institution-wide change to increase degree and program completion rates across the state.

North Carolina Student Development Administrators Association

The North Carolina Student Development Administrators Association (NCSDAA) is a community of senior-level student affairs officers of the North Carolina community colleges who lead various functions related to enrollment management and student services within the system. The association promotes student development, raises awareness about the role of student services leadership, and facilitates communication and collaboration among community colleges and with the NCCCS Office. NCSDAA hosts an annual joint conference with the NC Association of Community College Instructional Administrators (NCACCIA), in addition to regional meetings which provide members with opportunities to discuss current federal, state and state board code updates, share how colleges implement changes and exchange promising practices.

Teaching and Learning Hubs

The North Carolina Teaching and Learning Hubs are faculty-led, regional centers of professional learning designed to strengthen instruction and improve student outcomes across the state’s 58 community colleges. Initially developed through statewide collaboration in 2021, the Hubs continue to grow as spaces created by faculty, for faculty. Today, the Belk Center for Community College Leadership and Research at NC State University provides critical support to ensure faculty leaders have the tools, resources and information needed to be successful. With support from the William R. Kenan, Jr. Charitable Trust, the Belk Center is stewarding a new phase of strategic growth, building capacity through five pillars: ensuring statewide sustainability, building local capacity, strengthening the Hub strategy, measuring student and faculty impact, and by sharing the model nationally.

New America

New America is a national think tank that operates as a civic platform. Its core work revolves around five key thematic areas: education and work, family economic security and well being, global politics for people and planet, political reform and civic engagement, and technology and democracy. New America advances its mission through its Higher Education program and Center on Education and Labor, focusing on the intersection of education, workforce development and economic opportunity. Their work includes research and policy recommendations to strengthen community colleges, improve equal access to opportunity and affordability and address governance and funding challenges. They also prioritize adult learner re-enrollment by promoting streamlined return pathways, improved financial aid for non-traditional students and statewide strategies to help “some college, no degree” learners complete their credentials.

About the Belk Center

About the Belk Center

As a trusted resource for North Carolina’s community college leaders, the Belk Center for Community College Leadership and Research delivers actionable research and tailored leadership programming to advance college and student success. We support leaders at every stage of their careers, equipping them with timely insights and practical tools focused on improving the experiences and outcomes of their students. Our work is both nationally informed and deeply focused on North Carolina’s unique community college landscape.

The Belk Center was launched in 2019 as a research center within the College of Education at NC State, a land-grant university that shares our commitment to community colleges and the critical role these institutions play in creating and expanding opportunities for all North Carolinians.

Authors

Suggested Citation

VanZoest, E. R., King, J., Harry, D. T., Deal, S., Lewis-Sessoms, M., Burris, K., Spencer, N. & Jaeger, A. J. (2026). Adult Learner Guidebook: A Guide to Recruiting and Supporting Adult Learners in Community Colleges (3rd ed.). Belk Center for Community College Leadership and Research. Raleigh, NC.