Adult education — in all its forms — is a vital link to our economic and social well-being.
It connects people to rewarding, good-paying jobs. It promotes productivity and reduces burdens on the social safety net. It provides generational benefits as parents model the value of education to their children. And it contributes to our overall prosperity by meeting the talent needs of employers.
Despite these multiple benefits, adult education too often has been a neglected component of our talent system.
Reversing these shortfalls has been a TalentFirst priority for years — work that has now earned recognition from the Michigan Adult, Community & Alternative Education Association. The MACAE honored TalentFirst’s work with its President’s Award at the association’s fall conference this week.
“From connecting learners in need of support … to supporting literacy initiatives that benefit communities statewide, Talent First’s advocacy has elevated the importance of adult education,” said MACAE President Ted Kroll, director of Adult and Alternative Education for Livingston ESA.
“Through their efforts to underscore its critical role in empowering individuals across Michigan, Talent First has helped place adult education in the spotlight.”
Why that spotlight is needed
For decades, state funding for adult education in Michigan plummeted. By 2022, the state was investing just 1 penny in adult education for every dollar spent on higher education. The result was an adult education system that met less than 4% of the need. At the same time, hundreds of thousands of adults are sidelined from the workforce because they lack the bare minimum of a high school diploma.
Even as the state put a much-needed emphasis on increasing postsecondary attainment, the benefits of tuition programs such as Michigan Reconnect remain out of reach for the nearly 700,000 Michigan adults who lacked a high school diploma as of 2023.
To address these gaps, TalentFirst has:
- Made the case for adult education improvement with research and publication of the Restoring the Promise of Adult Education report in 2023
- Promoted goals to grow enrollment, improve completion rates and eliminate gaps in outcomes for people of color and English language learners
- Successfully advocated for a much-needed state funding increase this year of $10 million for adult education, along with a $15 million grant fund to pilot innovative approaches to better serve adult learners
- Led training for adult education providers and partners to develop new methods to help more adults earn their diploma or equivalency
Complementing these efforts, in 2023 TalentFirst launched The Michigan Center for Adult College Success — supporting the educational trajectory of adults who have earned their diplomas and are now able to pursue degrees and certificates that are in high demand by employers.
Next up: A playbook for employers
As a CEO-led organization, TalentFirst has long recognized the importance of employer engagement in adult education programs. Many of our members in West Michigan have demonstrated how robust employer engagement can offer flexibility and barrier reduction — particularly when workplace learning programs are delivered during the workday and integrated with job-skills training.
Unfortunately, this is not universal: 52% of adult education providers say that very little or no employer input is incorporated into their curriculum. Michigan employers lack clear direction on why and how to engage with the state’s adult basic education system.
To address this gap, TalentFirst is developing an employer playbook to provide a clear role and practical strategies for employers statewide to engage in the adult education system. The playbook will be shared in 2025 across the state, in partnership with local adult education providers, covering key topics:
- The business case for employer engagement
- An improved understanding of the role employers can play in building a more efficient adult education system
- Tactical actions employers can take
- Best-in-class examples of employer involvement in adult education programming
- Tools employers can use to assess their training needs, access training resources, and assess the quality of existing programs
Partnerships to keep advancing
As noted by the MACAE, adult education takes many forms — basic education, English language acquisition, high school completion. All contribute to the economic and social vitality of Michigan and its residents.
TalentFirst is grateful for the recognition and partnership of MACAE. This is a team effort, with contributions and collaboration of adult education providers, workforce development professionals, employers and others.
We must continue working together to realize the promise of adult education, foster more accelerated pathways to postsecondary education, and enable placement in family-sustaining employment for all adult learners.
