MILLIONS OF AMERICANS have attended college, accruing significant amounts of college credit, without ever receiving a college credential that appropriately recognizes their learning and effort. In 2015, there were more than 35 million such Americans aged 25 years and older, a group widely recognized as having “some college, no degree.” Millions of Americans enter higher education with the expectation of completing a degree, yet nearly one in five leave empty-handed after investing con- siderable time and resources, and amassing substantial debt. Labor economists project that by 2020, 65 percent of all U.S. jobs will require a college education, thus the higher education system must take greater responsibility for helping the “some college, no degree” population finish what they started and get back on the pathway to economic and social prosperity. Despite labor market demands for a more educated workforce and engaged citizenry, nearly all states are currently below the college attainment levels needed to fill these future jobs.
Degree reclamation deploys evidence-based and equity-focused strategies for institutions and systems to support potential completers—students who have accumulated roughly two or more academic years’ worth of credit and have stopped out of an institution or transferred from a two-year to a four-year institution before receiving a degree—in attaining degrees that are meaningful to their education and career goals.
Chosen excerpts by Job Market Monitor. Read the whole story at The potential of degree reclamation: a path to reclaiming the nation’s unrecognized students and degrees
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