Summer 2025
The Many Faces of Adult Learners
OCCRL Associate Director's Note
Community colleges are essential for adult learners. According to the American Training Survey (2020), community colleges were the third most popular place for adults to get training, second only to online programs. Adult learners, once called "nontraditional learners," are usually students 25 years or older who are going to community colleges for the first time or returning while managing responsibilities such as work, parenting or even parole. Community colleges’ nimbleness allow such institutions to serve a variety of needs adult learners bring—whether it’s reskilling or wanting to move beyond a high school diploma or GED, or even trying to make sense of credits already earned. In fact, in June 2023, the Illinois Board of Higher Education (IBHE) said that almost two million people in Illinois had gone to college but hadn't earned a degree yet, with 85,000 identified as potential completers.
Read more from Dr. Baker and view the Summer 2025 UPDATE briefs via the sidebar above.