Federal and state governments invest billions of dollars each year into higher education and workforce development programs with the goal of expanding access to education and training opportunities. Modern Learners, who often follow nonlinear pathways in the pursuit of a credential or degree, face barriers not only affording education but living expenses. Yet, many programs that could support their pursuit of a credential limit or restrict access to educational opportunities, undermining federal and state investments and our economy.
Education beyond high school remains one of the best pathways to economic security and mobility. However, Modern Learners face significant challenges after exiting high school. Trellis’ research shows this is particularly true for first-generation students, who are more likely to be financially independent, which means navigating higher education without family financial and educational capital.
Multiple sources indicate that personal financial issues, the need to work and related stressors are one of the leading reasons people do not enroll or stop before they complete a credential. Institutions and states have worked hard to reduce the cost of tuition and fees but living expenses continue to skyrocket, resulting in many people missing out on crucial skill and talent development that could propel our workforce.
Data shows only about 6 percent of people receiving cash assistance through Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) are engaged in some form of educational program and approximately 11 percent of people receiving a child care subsidy are receiving care because they’re participating in education or education alongside work. Similarly, among students currently enrolled in higher education at least part-time, only one-third receive SNAP benefits.
This mismatch between public investments for non-tuition costs and education and training fails to produce meaningful results for individuals as well as the country as a whole.
In a January webinar, experts from Trellis Strategies, the National Skills Coalition and Jobs for the Future discuss the need to create synergy between state and federal workforce policies with access and support for students seeking postsecondary credentials.
The challenges facing modern learners
Postsecondary education in any form can be extremely valuable for learners seeking socioeconomic mobility, but enrolling in and completing a degree remains difficult for many.
Cost is a significant hurdle for potential students, and this goes beyond just tuition rates, Carrie Welton, a senior policy strategist at Trellis Strategies, said during the webinar.
Tuition and fees represent about only 40 percent of costs for students at four-year public colleges and universities and 20 percent for those at two-year institutions, according to data from the Urban Institute. The remaining costs relate to non-tuition expenses, including housing, transportation, and technology.
Between 2020 and 2024, non-tuition costs associated with attending college have all risen, with transportation rising the most at 34.4 percent, followed by food (24 percent) and housing (23 percent), according to an analysis from USDA.
Amid rising costs, Trellis Strategies’ Fall 2024 Student Financial Wellness Survey (SFWS) found 58 percent of students grapple with basic needs insecurity, including limited access to nutritious food or stable housing. SFWS data also showed 15 percent of students have missed class at least sometimes due to a lack of reliable transportation and 25 percent of working students missed at least one day of class due to conflicts with their work schedule. Among parenting students, 24 percent had missed at least one day of class due to a lack of child care.
A lack of basic needs can put a student at risk of dropping out. Over 43 million Americans have completed some college credits but lack a credential of value, many holding large amounts of debt that can further lock them in cycles of poverty.
The need for an educated workforce
Data from Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforce found, between now and 2031, there is an anticipated 17.1 percentage-point gap between the number of adults who will hold a postsecondary credential and the number of jobs that will require a credential. That gap widens for individuals holding a bachelor’s degree and the number of roles requiring a baccalaureate.
“We are facing converging challenges, in which people… say they value credentials… employers also increasingly demand workers with more education, but public programs limit their ability to move into stable, higher-wage work…contributing the middle-skills gap,” Welton said.
Data from the National Skills Coalition shows a majority of Americans only have skills training and slightly more hold a high school diploma, making them ineligible for job opportunities.
“There’s this mismatch here of folks who don’t have the skills that they need to enter these ‘good’ jobs,” said Caroline Treschitta, senior government affairs manager at National Skills Coalition.
“We have 92 million Americans who are facing barriers to economic advantage and do not have a quality job,” said Jennifer Stiddard, senior director in policy and advocacy at Jobs for the Future.
Alignment between higher education, public benefit, workforce programs can help learners stay enrolled and progress toward a degree, while also advancing individuals’ earnings potential and improving economic stability for the state.
The current landscape
Many states have policies that address basic needs of low-income individuals who are pursuing work, which include child care subsidies, food, or transportation assistance programs. But not all these policies are structured in a way that includes the modern learner.
“There’s opportunity in a lot of workforce policies at the state and federal level, for folks to get those supportive services like child care, transportation, career navigation, etc. that folks need to enter and complete their credential,” Treschitta said.
Welton categorizes policies as either “Work First” or “Workforce First.”
Under “Work First” policies, individuals must hold employment in some form, regardless of the role’s wages, stability, or growth opportunities. These policies also deter individuals from educational activities, which can “trap people in a cycle of low-paid work, hinder their own educational attainment and state educational attainment goals,” Welton said.
Conversely, “Workforce First” policies prioritize credentials and degree attainment which reduces unemployment and increases wages by improving people’s ability to complete postsecondary credentials sooner than they would without non-tuition supports, Welton said.
One example is Kentucky’s Child Care Assistance Program. Modern learners who are caregivers may qualify for child care assistance if they are enrolled full-time at an accredited institution or certified trade school and part-time learners are also eligible if combine attendance with work.
“Public benefit rules often treat education as a problem rather than the solution,” Welton said.
“When our benefit systems make it harder to go to college, they undermine our own education and workforce investments. But when we align them, that same dollar works twice.”
“You don’t have to support traditional higher ed at the detriment of workforce; and you don’t have to support workforce at the detriment of higher ed,” Stiddard said.
Stiddard pointed at current conditions as an example, “We’ve seen a lot of winners and losers lately in the ways that policies are developed” …that could make aligning credentials of value with employment opportunities for graduates more challenging.
“What we’re seeing in states right now and federally is a big focus on labor participation, on employment, on work,” Stiddard said. “How can we talk to states that are really interested in, ‘we want to get more people to work,’ and understanding that it’s not just putting people into the system but putting them into quality jobs within that.”
Welton will continue the conversation of how states can engage SNAP, TANF and child care to support student success in higher education in a series of webinar sessions that are included on the Trellis Strategies event page.
Ashley Mowreader is a freelance data journalist. Previously, Ashley worked for Inside Higher Ed covering barriers to student success nationally, with a focus on evidence-based solutions. She holds a bachelor’s in journalism from Pepperdine University and is currently pursuing her master’s in journalism from the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY.