Featured Work: Intentionality & Design: Improving Success for Adult Learners in Michigan
Michigan has made significant progress toward meeting its goal of 60 percent degree attainment by 2030; but to continue the state’s growth in attainment and meet its workforce needs, institutions across Michigan will need to prioritize opportunities for adults and working learners to reskill and/or upskill.
Higher education has an opportunity to support regional economic priorities by more purposefully improving the success of a growing student population: adults and working learners. As workplace needs shift, developing a meaningful career with family-sustaining wages increasingly requires a postsecondary credential; yet millions of adults across the country, including over 1.6 million in Michigan, have not earned a credential beyond high school. Further, demographic shifts and a projected 15 percent decline in “traditional age” Michigan college students (the looming “enrollment cliff”) require higher education leaders to think critically about how to best serve adult learners on their campuses in programs that fill regional talent demands.
Leaders in Michigan recognize this challenge and opportunity. In the 2022-2023 state budget, $9.2 million was allocated to establish the Michigan Center for Adult College Success (MCACS) and provide supports and Innovation Investment Award (IIA) grants to colleges for focused work on adult credential attainment. In addition, the 2023-2024 budget included roughly $26 million for a College Success Fund to support retention and completion at Michigan institutions to be released through a competitive grant process in 2024.
Since 2023, Education Strategy Group has worked with the MCACS, SOVA Solutions, CollegeAPP, and other key partners to lead a series of design labs in support of postsecondary institutions’ efforts to improve adult learner attainment. Labs are often spaces for testing and refining ideas and relationships in controlled settings. They also are a place of learning and, with the right protections, a place to fail safely and start again. The Design Lab concept was initially created to provide an opportunity for Michigan postsecondary institutions to learn best practices from peers and national experts, learn about existing and future state funding opportunities, and work with coaches to develop proposals to address adult learner attainment. To date, there have been two iterations of the Design Lab: MI-RAISE and MI-LEARN.
MI-RAISE
Through the generous support of the Kresge Foundation and the Michigan Legislature, ESG launched the Michigan – Regional Adult Initiative for Skills and Education (MI-RAISE) Design Lab to support colleges and universities across Michigan to increase the enrollment and success of adult learners pursuing programs of study that lead to employment in high-demand, high-wage fields.
Between November 2023 and June 2024, 14 colleges and universities participated in the MI-RAISE Design Lab, which included monthly collaborative convenings (virtual and in-person), regional labor market analysis, individualized coaching, and institutional assessments. ESG, in partnership with MCACS, TalentFirst, Sova Solutions, and CollegeAPP, designed a series of informative sessions, including recruiting adult learners, program pathways, holistic student supports, credit for prior learning, competency-based education, faculty engagement, and leading change. On August 8, 2025, MCACS announced the winners of over $6 million in IIA grants, 77% of which were MI-RAISE Design Lab participants. These colleges are poised to impact over 10,000 adult Michiganders. A unique feature of MI-RAISE is that even colleges that did not receive the MCACS grants were supported in seeking Michigan College Success Fund and other grant opportunities, further extending the impact on adult learners and their communities.
MI-LEARN
Recognizing the success of the MI-RAISE Design Lab and an identified need to provide more targeted technical assistance to develop adult student success dashboards and curriculum-related changes, ESG is continuing to partner with MCACS and SOVA Solutions to launch the Michigan Learning Evolution and Academic Restructuring Network (MI-LEARN) Design Lab. Other project partners in this effort include the Council for Adult and Experiential Learning (CAEL) and the Competency-Based Education Network (C-BEN).
The MI-LEARN Design Lab launched earlier this month, offering support to a select cohort of postsecondary institutions seeking to design innovative solutions to address systems change and challenges faced by the adult learner population. Participating institutions will receive:
- High-quality, personalized support, including expert guidance, data analysis, and access to national practitioners and peer networking opportunities.
- Additional institutional capacity through a structured 10-month planning and implementation process, enabling impactful improvements.
- Guidance in utilizing detailed student progression data and institutional analysis to drive evidence-based decision-making and curricular design.
- Assistance with strategic thought partnership and grant proposal development to secure funding for innovative strategies.
- A collaborative learning environment for a cohort of institutions to share best practices, refine solutions, and foster innovation tailored to adult learners’ needs.
- Implementation support for targeted instructional reforms such as Credit for Prior Learning (CPL), Competency-Based Education (CBE), flexible course formats, and career-aligned pathways.
Stay tuned for updates on this exciting new initiative!
