Courageous Learning

THE TRUE MAJORITY OF AMERICAN STUDENTS ARE WORKING-AGE ADULTS. They have families, jobs, and other full-time responsibilities. Approximately 80% of those who need to start or finish a degree are over 25 years old, yet most institutions of higher education treat them as an afterthought. Courageous Learning offers a closer look at the needs of adult learners and provides a clear, comprehensive assessment of the adult higher education landscape.

THE TRUE MAJORITY OF AMERICAN STUDENTS ARE WORKING-AGE ADULTS. They have families, jobs, and other full-time responsibilities. Approximately 80% of those who need to start or finish a degree are over 25 years old, yet most institutions of higher education treat them as an afterthought. Courageous Learning offers a closer look at the needs of adult learners and provides a clear, comprehensive assessment of the adult higher education landscape. Courageous Learning features in-depth profiles of a variety of long-established, accredited, adult-serving institutions that offer excellent service and value, as well as self-portraits of adult learners who have not only demonstrated uncommon persistence in attaining their degrees, but who have overcome considerable obstacles on the path to personal and professional success. It includes definitions of post-traditional terms, such as “credit by exam,” and “credit by assessment,” and, is rounded out with discussions on the major issues confronting higher education with some of the nation’s most outspoken proponents for reform.

John Ebersole is president of Excelsior College in Albany, N.Y., one of the oldest accredited, private, nonprofit distance education institutions in the country. His career in adult, online, and continuing education spans more than 25 years. Ebersole is an outspoken champion of adult learners, online education, prior learning assessment, workforce development, and the education of military personnel and veterans.