State Higher Ed Policy Recommendations Conclude Series of AARP-Backed Briefs

With the publication of Age is Just a Number: State Policy Approaches to Supporting Older Adult Learning, CAEL has released the final title in the series of briefs it has produced with support from AARP. The concluding brief reviews barriers older adults face to educational attainment and the benefits to improving their access to upskilling and reskilling opportunities. It also provides policy analysis and recommendations that address these challenges and opportunities.

The brief shows that more than half of households between the ages of 55 and 64 have less than $25,000 in retirement savings, with 41 percent having none. This sobering statistic indicates that pressure is increasing on older adults to upskill as they seek to remain in the workforce longer, the brief suggests.

However, like all adult learners, they face financial and time constraints. Moreover, the brief explains, older adults often struggle to navigate uncertain education pathways, which lack clearcut professional or financial outcomes, creating additional hurdles to credential completion.

The brief also illustrates that the inclusion of older adults in education and training programs is growing in importance as more states realize that they will be critical to meeting credential attainment goals. For example, it cites research finding that about 30% of the Comebacker population is aged 45–64, or more than 11 million people.

But even previous forays into higher ed can be an impediment to upskilling, the brief reveals. For example, adult learners may face the punitive effects of academic suspension. Or they may have exhausted federal financial aid maxima. In other cases, their failure to meet satisfactory academic progress (SAP) requirements, even decades ago, can make adult learners ineligible for additional financial aid.

Underscoring the urgency of overcoming these challenges, the brief stresses the many advantages of upskilling older adults. These include their contributions to higher ed learning environments, improved employment prospects, and even broader benefits to the overall economy. 

The brief offers examples of state policies that address some of these challenges. For example, Indiana extends grants to qualifying adults regardless of SAP status. The Tennessee Reconnect Grant - and other states that have followed suit like Michigan and Massachusetts - gives last-dollar tuition grants to adult students attending community college. 

The brief concludes with several policy recommendations states can adopt to support both older adults and regional workforce ecosystems. CAEL invites educators, workforce developers, policymakers, and any stakeholders interested in using CPL to improve education-employment pathways for older adults and veterans to read Age is Just a Number: State Policy Approaches to Supporting Older Adult Learning in full, along with the other briefs in the series. All three are available in CAEL’s research collection.