GED to College

Building On Ramps to Postsecondary Education for Low-Income Young Adults

JFF is working to increase the range and number of high-quality pathways into and through postsecondary education for low-income young people, especially those most in danger of being left behind in our economy. The GED to College initiative is growing a new pathway that provides students who have dropped out with what they need to succeed in postsecondary education.

Background

Many young adults who have dropped out of high school view the GED as a “second chance” to get their diploma and gain access to postsecondary learning and training opportunities that open the door to family-sustaining careers. Yet most GED programming does not prepare young people to succeed in postsecondary education. About 60 percent of the young people who enter a GED program pass the examination and obtain the diploma, but only 10 percent of them ever complete a postsecondary degree or credential.

JFF’s GED to College initiative seeks to change these odds dramatically through supporting the development and scale up of a GED to College pathway that provides students with what they need to succeed in postsecondary education. This includes:

• College-ready academic skills;
• Solid advice and transition counseling to match students with best available postsecondary programs of study and credentials; and
• Habits of mind, personal attributes, and life skills needed for college and career success.

GED to College Pathway Design

GED to College designs show early promise in improving postsecondary connection and success rates. These “beat the odds” designs enrich traditional programming by integrating a broad set of key academic, career development, and non-cognitive skills that are all necessary for youth to succeed in postsecondary settings. Key features of the designs include:

• An explicit focus on the GED credential as a springboard to postsecondary degrees, credential programs, or employment training, rather than as an end in itself;
• A well-structured social, financial, and academic support system through a young adult’s transition from the GED to postsecondary education and during the first year of postsecondary enrollment;
• The acquisition of the academic and non-cognitive skills needed for success in postsecondary education;
• A strong partnership with a postsecondary institution that ensures accountability on both sides and leverages additional resources to better support students; and
• A capacity to collect, track, and analyze data that is used to improve the program and its outcomes.

Activities and Strategies

To help build overall field capacity to support strong program designs, and build on ramps to postsecondary education, JFF is undertaking three sets of activities:

• Assisting YouthBuild USA and the National Youth Employment Coalition to share and strengthen promising practices in their networks of programs and build the technical capability to support the growth of these designs, while also engaging new postsecondary partners and policymakers. Both networks, like GED to College, are supported by the United States Special Initiatives program of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
• Conducting research and development essential to refining and expanding a GED to College pathway. JFF is documenting and codifying “best in class” programs across the country: those that show early success in preparing youth to enter and persist in postsecondary education. In the next phase, JFF will develop products and services for building capacity to scale up such programs across the country. JFF will draw on the embedded professional development and “clinical site” approach of the University Park Campus School Institute for Student Success to inform the scale-up effort.
• Elevating the importance of a GED to College pathway and building demand and conditions to sustain it. JFF will disseminate key lessons, strategies, and implications to the broader field, reaching out to a diverse group of stakeholders, including intermediaries, community agencies, the workforce system, and higher education institutions. In addition, we will partner with state and federal policymakers to remove policy obstacles and create the enabling conditions and resources to support and sustain this work.

Outcomes

Through these efforts, JFF seeks to build the capacity and advance the efforts of youth-serving national intermediaries, community colleges, and community-based youth employment and education programs to develop GED to College models that provide on ramps to college for low-income young adults, leading to a degree or other meaningful credential. Anticipated five-year outcomes include:

• At least two proven GED to College program designs will be available, with appropriate vehicles for disseminating and scaling up these designs.
• At least three cities or states will implement one or more designs at a large scale, restructuring GED programming in a way that reengages young adults and dropouts in education and puts them on a path to a postsecondary credential.
• At least three states will adopt policies to support the scale up of GED to College designs as a coherent strategy to recover dropouts.
• National youth-serving networks will have more capacity to support and scale these designs.
• Public- and private-sector leaders and stakeholders will understand the need for more effective on ramps for disconnected young adults and have a shared policy development, investment, and sustainability strategy.

Funder

United States Special Initiatives of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

For more information, contact:

Terry Grobe, 617.728.4446, tgrobe@jff.org
Mamadou Ndiaye, 617.728.4446, mndiaye@jff.org