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Findings show adult motivations combine economic aims with non-economic goals, including being a role model, countering racism and discrimination, serving community, achieving lifelong objectives, and fostering personal growth. Recommendations guide education providers to craft recruitment messages around multiple motives, honor them in advising, bundle alternative credentials with college credit, and measure student success beyond wages and 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","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-11-07","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":39},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",{"@type":106,"mainEntity":107},"FAQPage",[108,114,118],{"name":109,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":111},"What are adult learners’ key motivations for enrolling in postsecondary education?","Question",{"text":112,"@type":113},"Many pursue better jobs and higher wages, but economic aims are often intertwined with non-economic motivations such as role-modeling for children, fighting racism and discrimination, serving others, achieving lifelong goals, and personal growth.","Answer",{"name":115,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":116},"How can education providers use these findings in program and outreach design?",{"text":117,"@type":113},"Providers can use recruitment messages that resonate with both financial and non-economic motives and design adult-focused programs that 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college.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":124,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":126,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":128,"site_id":62},584017,1792209793,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":131},{"doc_id":128,"user_id":132,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":39,"category_name":40,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":39,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":56,"language":139,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":140,"faqs":141,"seo_title":142,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":143,"read_time":144,"preview_page_count":4},137451211410,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/avatar/2000bb0a9246f588df?x-image-process=image/resize,m_fixed,w_180,h_180&k=1786362646172706240","A CA EL RESEARCH REPORT  \nNOVEMBER 2024  \nMultiple Meanings of College:  \nHow Adult Learners Make Sense of Postsecondary  \nEducation & Why It Matters  \nAuthors: Melanie Shimano and Becky Klein-Collins  \nContributors: Holly Custard, Colin Matsinhe, Gloria Mwase, and Mitchell Stevens  \n[cael.org](cael.org)  \nTable of Contents  \nExecutive Summary ............................................................................ 1  \nIntroduction......................................................................................... 2  \nContext: A Changing Credential Ecology ......................................... 3  \nData and Methods .............................................................................. 4  \nFindings: Adult Learners’ Motivations for Postsecondary Enrollment................................................................. 5  \nBetter Jobs, Wages, and Career Opportunities.......................... 5  \nBeyond Economics......................................................................... 6  \nMultiple Meanings at Once .......................................................... 7  \nContributors to Adult Learner Engagement and Satisfaction................................................................................. 11  \nRecommendations............................................................................ 13  \nConclusion ......................................................................................... 15  \nAppendix: Data and Methods.......................................................... 17  \nAbout Us ............................................................................................ 18  \nExecutive Summary  \nA big reason why millions of adult Americans turn or return to college later in life is to be eligible for more jobs and higher wages, but this is hardly the only motivation. Our analysis of in–depth interviews with 120 adult learners found that people commingle economic goals with a wide variety of other motivations, including:  \n• Being a good role model, particularly for one’s own children;  \n• Countering racism and discrimination by pursuing a higher educational status;  \n• Serving others by developing capacities that will make one a better friend or community servant;  \n• A sense of achievement that comes with finishing a lifelong goal;  \n• Fostering personal growth by cultivating new skills and trying on new identities.  \nAdults often entwine economic and non-economic motivations in ways that  \nsuggest their mutual importance.  \nRECOMMENDATIONS  \nUnderstanding adults’ multiple motivations for college can help inform innovative program offerings and new solutions that best support adult students. Education providers should:  \n• Use recruitment messages that resonate with multiple motivations.  \nRecruitment officers should incorporate messaging around both financial and non-economic motivators that might resonate with adult learners.  \n• Recognize, honor, and celebrate multiple motivations in advising practices. Academic success offices and coaches should include personal, community, respectability, and familial motivations for attending and persisting in college.  \n• Bundle alternative credentials with college credit. Purveyors of alternative credentials should link their attainment directly to college progress—for example by bundling alternative credentials with receipt of college credit. Doing so would leverage the symbolic value learners place in college attainment while also offering learners educational products that may have near-term labor-market benefits.  \n• Measure and value alternate indicators of student success beyond just higher wages and employment. In addition to job, wage, and completion metrics, postsecondary institutions should include other measures of success such as community involvement.  \nHow Adult Learners Make Sense of Postsecondary Education & Why It Matters  \n[cael.org](cael.org)  \nKey Takeaways for  \nPostsecondary Leaders  \nAdult college students hav","cbCaifjYFpD9iCUy","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaifjYFpD9iCUy","pdf",4628627,"English","# Executive Summary\n# Introduction\n# Context: A Changing Credential Ecology\n# Data and Methods\n# Findings: Adult Learners’ Motivations for Postsecondary Enrollment\n## Better Jobs, Wages, and Career Opportunities\n## Beyond Economics\n## Multiple Meanings at Once\n# Contributors to Adult Learner Engagement and Satisfaction\n# Recommendations\n# Conclusion\n# Appendix: Data and Methods\n# About Us","[{\"question\":\"What are adult learners’ key motivations for enrolling in postsecondary education?\",\"answer\":\"Many pursue better jobs and higher wages, but economic aims are often intertwined with non-economic motivations such as role-modeling for children, fighting racism and discrimination, serving others, achieving lifelong goals, and personal growth.\"},{\"question\":\"How can education providers use these findings in program and outreach design?\",\"answer\":\"Providers can use recruitment messages that resonate with both financial and non-economic motives and design adult-focused programs that address multiple goals, not only economic ones.\"},{\"question\":\"What do the recommendations suggest about advising and support for adult students?\",\"answer\":\"Advising should recognize, honor, and celebrate multiple motivations, with academic success offices and coaches incorporating personal, community, respectability, and familial reasons for attending and persisting in college.\"}]","Multiple Meanings of College - How Adult Learners Make Sense of Postsecondary Education & Why It Matters | PDF",1792049517,48]