Adult Education :: An Investment in America’s Future via Educate & Elevate

Adult Education An Investment in America’s Future

Educate & Elevate: June 2017

America is at a crossroads.

We need every person in our nation ready to contribute to America’s competitiveness.

Our 55,000+ adult education leaders stand united in a national campaign to move learning opportunities forward for all Americans to achieve economic mobility. If we educate, then we elevate–our students, workers, businesses and our economic growth.

Investing in Adult Education is good for the economy.

It’s an investment in America’s economic engine - - we reach adults who struggle with literacy, numeracy, and problem solving getting them into the workforce pipeline so they can contribute to a company’s bottom line.

Everyone needs a return on their investment. Whether it’s the U.S. companies investing in their workforce, the workers investing their time and energy learning in-demand skills, or funders that want to ensure their investments are moving the economy forward.

Adult Education is a smart investment. We need all available workers ready to help our country compete.

How Adult Education is Uniquely Situated to Address the Needs of U.S. Employers

By 2020, the American Action Forum projects that the United States will be short an estimated 7.5 million private sector workers across all skill levels. Adult Education brings businesses options by preparing existing workers with families and competing life responsibilities with the skills that companies need through flexible classrooms and curriculum.

How Adult Education Addresses the Skills Gap

In a recent survey, 92% of business leaders thought that U.S. workers were not as skilled as they needed to be. And they are probably right. By 2018, 63% of all U.S. jobs will require education beyond high school. Yet, nearly half of the U.S. workforce—about 88 million of 188 million adults aged 18 to 64—has only a high school education or less, and/or low English proficiency. Educating motivated students with the skills that companies need provides qualified candidates for hard to fill positions.  READ MORE @