Duan, Yiwei, Feinberg, Iris, Greenberg, Daphne, Kouwe, Thomas, Ribar, David, and Smith, Jonathan
The Technical College System of Georgia (TCSG) oversees Georgias public technical colleges, workforce development programs, and adult basic skills education (adult education) system. Classes in this system help adult students (adult learners) improve literacy, numeracy, communications, and other skills. A goal for some learners is to develop the skills needed to enroll and succeed in a two- or four-year postsecondary institution. This report, by researchers in the Adult Literacy Research Center and the Child & Family Policy Lab, examines the number and characteristics of these learners in Georgia who subsequently enroll in the states public technical colleges, colleges, and universities and their postsecondary academic outcomes. It analyzes administrative data from the TCSG adult education system, TCSG technical colleges, and the University System of Georgia (USG). It also compares the characteristics of technical college and USG students who had and had not previously enrolled in this system. A quarter of learners who enter with advanced secondary education skills subsequently enroll in public postsecondary institutions. Enrollments are lower if learners enter with fewer skills. Learners who are younger, attend more hours of classes, earn high school equivalency credentials, take integrated education and training classes, make measurable skill gains, or have more experienced or full-time teachers have higher postsecondary enrollment rates than other learners. Compared to other students in public technical colleges, students with adult education backgrounds are more likely to be women or Asian and slightly less likely to be Black or Hispanic.