Encore Colleges

The online community of innovative "Encore Colleges" that are pioneering new ways to prepare baby boomers for second (or third!) careers in education, health care and the nonprofit sector. This is an opportunity to share your successes and challenges and learn from colleagues who are also pioneering new ways for adults 50+ to transition to their encore careers -- work that matters in the second half of life.

Discussions

Log in to start a discussion

Discovering What's Next Career Counseling With Career Moves at JVS

Take advantage of Discovering What's Next's one-on-one free consultation service provided by Career Moves at JVS.

Start: 06/16/2011 - 9:30 a.m.
End: 06/16/2011 - 11 a.m.

Discovering What's Next Career Counseling With Career Moves at JVS

Take advantage of Discovering What's Next's one-on-one free consultation service provided by Career Moves at JVS.

Start: 05/19/2011 - 9:30 a.m.
End: 05/19/2011 - 11 a.m.

This audio seminar, created through the Encore College Initiative, provides tips to help community college administrators adapt programs to the unique needs of 50-plus students interested in encore careers. In this seminar, two community college administrators share their experiences creating programs that successfully train encore learners and place them in jobs.

To see a tip sheet on program adaptations for plus 50 encore learners, click here.

Scholarships for Women Returning to School in "Later Life"

Launching an encore career, and thinking about returning to school to give you a head start?

Check out these scholarships from Talbots Charitable Foundation, available only to women who completed high school at least 10 years ago and who have not already earned an undergraduate degree.

Applications are due by January 3rd, 2011.

Education Encores in New York Times

The New York Times published two items of interest to the Encore.org community on October 15: Elizabeth Olson's article on "Taking the Fast Track to a Second Career In Teaching," and Nicholas Kristof's column on "Democrats and Schools."

Obama Seeks Billions for Community Colleges

President Obama unveiled a proposal July 14 to seek $12 billion for community colleges. The funding would be spent during the next decade to increase graduation rates, better prepare students for jobs, modernize facilities and develop Internet curriculum. It would be paid for with savings from the president's plan to end the role that private banks in the federal education lending system.

Top 10 reasons to return to full time college life.

1. It is pragmatic. You will extend your ability to function and contribute to society.
2. It is inexpensive. The cost of living as a student is very inexpensive(<$10,000/yr)
3. It is "Green." You are reducing your footprint, and energy consumption
4. You are contributing while participating. You will improve the education system by adding intergenerational and interdisciplinary experience to the classroom
5. It is healthy. You will improve your mental and physical health. You will exercise your brain learning new things and your body through in youthful college town activities.

FIPSE Funding Announced

The Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE) has announced a Special Focus Competition – Innovative Strategies in Community Colleges for Working Adults and Displaced Workers. Projects may include, but are not limited to, activities that improve: academic remediation; tutoring; academic and personal counseling; registration processes; students' course selection and scheduling; instructional delivery; student support services related to childcare, transportation, or educational costs, such as textbooks; and career counseling.

Community College Grants for Accessible Caregiving Programs

The Caregiving Project for Older Americans, a partnership of the International Longevity Center-USA and the Schmieding Center for Senior Health and Education, announces a third year of funding for the 2009 Community College Training Initiative grants. The grants, which are offered through support from MetLife Foundation, are designed to encourage the development of accessible training programs for caregivers of older adults.

Back to School for Boomers

Faced with 401(k)s that are sinking in value, many boomers are heading back to school, says John Lee of The New York Times in “Skills to Learn, to Restart Earnings.”

They don't have the luxury to take prolonged training, so they're opting for fast-track certification programs in areas such as education, health care and alternative energy. And community colleges are welcoming them.

Articles and publications detailing the emerging role of community colleges in helping boomers transition to encore careers. http://www.civicventures.org/communitycolleges/resources.cfm.

Making Economic Sense of Boomers Returning to a University Lifestyle.

I posted the following in the Economist today. My post about the economics of boomers returning to college received quite a few recommendations from readers.

Tuition waivers for Encore Careers retraining

The Community College of Allegheny County and two other colleges in the Pittsburgh area have announced they will offer tuition waivers for displaced workers. The tuition waivers apply to five high demand areas, three of them in healthcare fields: emergency medical technicians,certified nurse-aide training, and phlebotomy.


Older Worker Demonstration Grants

From a cursory read of the full announcement, it appears that colleges are eligible for these grants. A relationship with the local Workforce Investment Board is highly recommended.


Preparing boomers for encore careers

A new report profiles 10 community colleges that are attracting experienced workers, engaging local employers and helping prepare boomers for meaningful work in the second half of life.


ENCORE TEACHERS: Career-switchers are key to solving teaching shortage

There aren’t enough young people in the pipeline to fill the estimated 2.9 million to 5.1 million more teachers who will be needed by 2020. That means school districts will have to embrace career-changers, who, as it happens, are also embracing teaching.

"Tapping the potential of mid-career professionals and older adults seeking 'encore careers' isn't easy," reports The Christian Science Monitor. "But education policymakers increasingly see it as essential."

The good news is that a surprising 42 percent of college-educated adults ages 24 to 60 would consider teaching as a career, according to a survey by the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation in Princeton, N.J.


ENCORE COLLEGES: Adult education needs an overhaul

Colleges need to focus on training adults to fill workforce shortages in professions such as teaching and nursing, as well as skilled trades like plumbing and carpentry, says the Indianapolis Star.


More community colleges launch encore programs

Fifteen innovative community colleges are designing programs to help older adults focus on new careers and continued engagement, thanks to a $3.2 million “Plus 50” grant from The Atlantic Philanthropies.


ENCORE COLLEGES: Back to school for Broward boomers

As interest in encore careers increases, a community college in South Florida has launched a counseling program aimed at older residents who want to do “purpose-driven” work.

In an article distributed by Tribune Media Services, Jerry Enloe of Broward Community College in Fort Lauderdale, says the three-hour “Encore” seminar is attracting a “real mix” of mature adults: “We’re seeing a lot of people who may be stressed out with their current jobs or were downsized. Others just don’t want to quit working and are looking to try something new or give back to the community through volunteering. Some boomers are retiring and realizing that it doesn’t work financially, or they just want to stay busy.”

The program is one of 10 funded through a Community College Encore Career Project of Civic Ventures, which is working to redefine the second half of life as an opportunity to do meaningful work.


AARP FOUNDATION: New center to champion nursing in America

Each year nursing schools turn away thousands of qualified applicants because they don’t have enough skilled faculty members to teach them. By 2020, the American health care system is expected to face a shortage of more than one million nurses.

Trying to expand the pipeline, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has awarded a $10 million grant to the AARP Foundation to pursue an aggressive agenda to elevate the visibility of the nursing shortage.


Syndicate content