Workforce systems around the country are facing labor shortages. Forty-two states have more available jobs than workers, and since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, nearly a third of workers younger than 40 have considered changing their occupation or field. Consequently, the number of workers who might require training and services is at a unique high.

Community colleges are in a distinctive position to fill this gap. They often serve many adult learners and offer educational programs designed to prepare the workforce. To address the mismatch in the pandemic and post-pandemic labor market, equipping community colleges with a better understanding of who adult learners are and what their needs are will be key.

In 2020, the City Colleges of Chicago (CCC) began working with the Urban Institute to develop a comprehensive picture of adult learners in Chicago. CCC aimed to better understand the numbers and needs of adult learners across the city so it could support regional economic growth and maximize the college system’s capacity to serve this broad population.

Through this work, a team at Urban developed a comprehensive definition of adult learners that other jurisdictions seeking to better serve or expand services for these learners can use. Using American Community Survey (ACS) data, we defined an adult learner as anyone who is 25 years or older, or anyone who is 18 to 24 but assumes an adult role, such as a parent, spouse, full-time worker, or veteran.

This baseline definition was helpful, but CCC needed more specific information to be able to design effective services and programs to meet the diverse needs of this group. So after developing this definition, we disaggregated data for these groups by characteristics like race and ethnicity, educational attainment, household income, employment status, marital status, foreign-born status, military status, and parent status. For example, we assessed how many parents were between ages 18 and 24, the educational attainment of foreign-born adults, and the employment status of all adults older than 18.

Read the full article about adult learners at community colleges by Madeline Brown at Urban Institute.