Encore Colleges

Tuition waivers for Encore Careers retraining

Judy Goggin — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 14:47:32 -0600

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.

Encore Colleges

Older Worker Demonstration Grants

Judy Goggin — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 12:24:58 -0600

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.

Encore Colleges

Preparing boomers for encore careers

Terry Nagel — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 17:42:38 -0500

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 Colleges

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

Terry Nagel — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 17:18:46 -0500

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

ENCORE COLLEGES: Adult education needs an overhaul

Terry Nagel — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 03:35:15 -0500

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.

Encore Employers

More community colleges launch encore programs

Terry Nagel — Wed, 14 May 2008 13:26:07 -0500

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

ENCORE COLLEGES: Back to school for Broward boomers

Terry Nagel — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 16:36:24 -0600

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.

Encore Colleges

AARP FOUNDATION: New center to champion nursing in America

Terry Nagel — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 19:00:27 -0600

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.

Encore Nation

TeeBeeDee: Go Back to College

David Bank — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 13:59:35 -0600

TeeBeeDee (get it? “to be determined”) is one of the best of the boomer social-networking sites that have sprung up in the last few years.

Their group, “Go Back to College” has 317 members and a number of fairly active discussions, including resources for grants and scholarships, and answers to the question: “Is it too late to go to university at 44?”

Encore Colleges

DALLAS MORNING NEWS: Baby boomers go back to college

David Bank — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 15:51:39 -0600

Leigh Hoes, 51, trained to become a pharmacy technician in a one-year program at Richland College. She plans to work into her 60s or 70s. Photo by Randy Eli Grothe/Dallas Morning News.

Boomers are “rebooting” at Richland College in Dallas, one of the new wave of community colleges that are reshaping their programs to meet the new needs of career-switching baby boomers.

Encore Colleges