The Encore College Initiative champions colleges that are reaching out to boomers with innovative messages, strategies, schedules, delivery methods and support services. There is, of course, no one right way for all colleges or communities. Instead, encore colleges adopt many forms of innovation, including:
- Accelerated teacher preparation programs that prepare older adults to become k-12, college and developmental education instructors in high need subject areas.
- Flexible, compressed certificate, degree and transfer programs in such areas as early childhood education, social work, allied health, gerontology and nonprofit management
- Programs to retool practitioners – nurses, social workers, teachers – who want to reenter the labor market or move to a new role in their field
- Creative, collaborative marketing campaigns geared to 50+ adults that use language with appeal to people in the encore stage of life
- Partnerships that help boomers transition from the private sector into jobs as executives, financial managers and program directors in the nonprofit sector
- Targeted outreach to prepare under-represented and low income 50+ adults for new careers in education, environment, health care and social services
See college programs that create pathways to encore careers
Read case studies about encore colleges
Learn about people who retrained for encore careers
