What Businesses Can Do

The National Alliance of Business recommends you:
Consider the Needs of Non-Traditional Students or Adult Learners.

A growing share of postsecondary students does not fit the familiar model of 18- to 24-year olds who study on traditional college campuses. Many are working adults who must study part-time. Some live far from any college campus and must therefore complete their education using distance learning technologies. A growing number already have postsecondary credentials and have gone back to school to refresh or update their skills. To encourage broader participation among adult learners, the National Alliance of Business suggests that companies do the following:

• support lifelong learning among their own employees by defraying the cost of study or granting flextime to accommodate employees' academic schedules; and


• support "user-friendly" educational options, such as distance-learning technologies, university extension programs, or business/education training partnerships.

Source: The Business Leader's Guide to Measuring Up 2002 - The State-by-State Report Card for Higher Education