Dive Brief:
- Drexel University and Peirce College are launching two pilot programs geared toward providing flexible academic offerings to adult students looking to enter high-demand fields, the two Philadelphia institutions announced last week.
- One pilot targets adult students, typically considered over age 24, who have fewer than 24 college credits. A pathway program will allow them to earn an online associate degree at Peirce before transferring into an online bachelor’s program at Drexel. Students can also include industry certifications in their associate degree.
- The second pilot pairs an apprenticeship program led by Drexel at St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children with medical coding and billing certificates offered by Peirce.
Dive Insight:
The pilots come as more attention is paid to the roughly 40 million adults in the U.S. with some college but no degree. As the traditional pool of college students dries up because of lower birth rates during the Great Recession, more institutions are considering programs targeting adults to fill their future classes.
Drexel University has roughly 23,000 students, and a majority of its undergraduates are under age 25, according to federal data. On the other hand, Peirce College, a small institution that caters to adult students, enrolled around 900 students in fall 2021. Both are private nonprofit institutions.
Despite their differences, the two institutions are hoping the pilot programs will advance their shared goal of helping the Philadelphia region recover economically from the coronavirus pandemic. The pilots will launch this fall, with applications expected to open this summer, a Peirce spokesperson said via email.
Through the pathway program, students will be able to transfer their credits into select online bachelor’s degree programs at Drexel, including in areas such as general studies and health services administration, according to university officials.
The institutions are working to finalize which programs will be included, a Peirce spokesperson said
Meanwhile, the apprenticeship and certificate program focuses on meeting the region’s healthcare workforce needs. St. Christopher’s, for instance, needs medical coders and billers, said Elisabeth Van Bockstaele, Drexel’s senior vice president for graduate and online education.
Peirce’s certificates are “designed to be attractive to employers who are not necessarily looking for degreed individuals, but looking for individuals that have mastered the industry credential,” said Mary Ellen Caro, president and CEO of the college.
Although the two pilot programs are different, students in the apprenticeship program could then apply credits earned from the certificates into an associate degree at Peirce, a college spokesperson said. The institutions plan to create a pathway to an online bachelor’s degree at Drexel, or students could continue on at Peirce through a bachelor’s degree in health information administration.
“The notion is a medical coder and biller might transition to a bachelor’s program or maybe will get an upskilling in health services administration,” Van Bockstaele said. “It’s really trying to support employees to become lifelong learners and continue to grow within the organization that needs different skill sets to run their operations.”
The institutions will reassess the programs in a year, Van Bockstaele said. If the pilot goes well, they may expand them.
“We’re hoping that we’re going to be able to apply this model to other new programs that would deliver talent to lots of organizations in Philadelphia,” she said.
