The Michigan Center for Adult College Success has awarded a grant of $720,680 to support Wayne State University’s efforts to help more working-age adults obtain the postsecondary degrees that open doors to opportunity in a knowledge-based economy. The grant was one of nine awarded through the center’s competitive $6.4 million Innovation Investment Awards program.

Wayne State will use the funding to develop a policy and infrastructure for providing credit for prior learning, targeted academic advising, cohort-based learning models and robust career services.

“Wayne State is committed to providing all students access to top-tier education and transforming the experience of adult learners,” said Laurie Lauzon Clabo, Ph.D., provost and senior vice president for academic affairs. “Creating accessible pathways to opportunity through education is critical to the mission at Wayne State University. Importantly, this program includes strategies for enrolling and retaining more adult students and increasing our number of partnerships with community colleges.” 

These efforts support the first pillar in Wayne State’s Prosperity Agenda to accelerate mobility for its students by preparing adult learners for successful careers and fostering their societal advancement.

Funded by the legislature and administered by the center, the Innovation Investment Awards support bold advances toward Michigan’s Sixty by 30 goal to increase the number of working-age adults with a skill certificate or college degree from 51.1% today to 60% by 2030.

“Congratulations to Wayne State University and all the grantees for recognizing that knowledge and skills are the currencies of the modern employment market,” said Kevin Stotts, president of TalentFirst, which launched the center in 2023. “Employer demand for well-trained workers is only going to grow. Helping more adults obtain postsecondary credentials is how we open the door of opportunity for Michigan families.”

As detailed in the center’s 2023 landscape analysis, “Adult Postsecondary Education in Michigan,” adult students face more complicated obstacles to completion than recent high school graduates, including balancing family and work responsibilities.

The center will continue to work with grantees as they launch their initiatives and to share insights that can benefit adult students and postsecondary institutions statewide.

Learn more about the Innovation Investment Awards and see the full list of grantees at mcacs.talentfirst.net/news/.