Graduate! Philadelphia: Turning Unused Credits into College Degrees

Abstract

Summary

In Philadelphia, more than 70,000 adults have started college, earned some college credit, but never completed a degree; in the greater Philadelphia region, over 320,000 adults have started college but never finished. In 2005, recognizing the significance of this population, Sallie Glickman, CEO of the Philadelphia Workforce Investment Board; David Thornburgh, then Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Economy League; and Hadass Sheffer, then Director of Higher Education Fellowships and Program Development at the Woodrow Wilson Foundation, combined their backgrounds in workforce development, economic development, and higher education to create Graduate! Philadelphia (G!P), an innovative organization that is committed to increasing the number of adults with college degrees in the greater Philadelphia region.

G!P’s innovation is to create a general awareness messaging campaign and targeted outreach to adults (“Comebackers”) with some college credit but no degree, matching these adults with a dedicated advisor in order to create a plan for completing a college degree efficiently and expeditiously, and providing continuous comprehensive support to these individuals until degree attainment. G!P succeeds in supporting these adults through the creation of strategic partnerships with colleges, workforce and economic development organizations, and other support resources that have historically been separated by institutional and theoretical boundaries around an adult-focused college completion agenda. Finally, G!P pursues systematic public policy initiatives that will better support higher education learners of all ages, but in particular the population G!P is targeting.

G!P aligns systems and fills in gaps in resources to enable adults to go through college more efficiently and successfully. Adults are an important regional focus in three ways. First, they have a more immediate impact on the workforce, as they may be already employed or of an age to join the workforce; second, they tend to have stronger local connections and therefore are more apt to look for work in the region; and third, they are role models for their children and peers in their families and communities and tend to create a multiplier effect by helping others get to and through college.

Focusing first on adults with some college credit but no degree helps a region and the individuals achieve faster outcomes because these students have a shorter path to completion than those who have not yet started college. The systems and practices perfected for the Comebackers can then be adapted into more productive pathways for adults who have never attended college. By partnering with employers, organized labor, community-based organizations, colleges, foundations, and government agencies in the greater Philadelphia region, G!P is improving not only the earning potential of those who participate in its programs, but also the region’s competitive advantage by developing a labor pool. With every graduate that G!P supports, this innovative model is proving that the competitive educational position of the United States can be advanced. By applying the G!P model and helping Comebackers graduate, other regions can achieve better economic outcomes for their populations.

David Fair is co-managing partner of Graduate! Philadelphia. As Senior Vice President for Community Impact at the United Way of Southeastern Pennsylvania, David was uniquely positioned to support the formation of G!P. When Graduate! Philadelphia was first evolving, United Way was expanding its work from its well-known fundraising campaigns to include the mobilization of communities in Philadelphia. G!P’s mission aligned perfectly with this shift in focus. David is excited about G!P because never before have business and higher education been brought together quite like they have in this model. He suggests that although building this partnership seems so obvious in retrospect, no one had attempted it. David highlights the sophisticated multifaceted approach: “This problem is not hard to fix or expensive to fix…we just had never thought to mobilize these different sectors of society to support individuals to build a better and stronger Philadelphia.”

Sallie Glickman is a co-founder and co-managing partner of Graduate! Philadelphia. As the Chief Executive Officer of the Philadelphia Workforce Development Board, Sallie focuses on achieving social justice through the development of the workforce, which Sallie calls a fundamental human right. Providing opportunities for people to succeed in higher education best fosters this development. Sallie calls G!P a “game changer” because of its focus on college completion, rather than focusing simply on access. In order for individual and community economic vitality to exist, Sallie believes “everyone who aspires to have a college degree should have that opportunity.” G!P is helping people connect to and take full advantage of such opportunities. Sallie suggests that in order for G!P to be effective, the movement must continue to focus on three aspects: awareness and advocacy, public policy, and practice. “You need to keep the stool balanced in this higher education movement,” she says.

Hadass Sheffer is Founding Executive Director of Graduate! Philadelphia. Hadass is the “glue” of G!P, pushing the initiative ever-forward, often shepherding partnerships across difficult terrain. “Graduate! Philadelphia is more than a good concept and implementation.” she says. “It is proof that collaboration done well can be a powerful tool for innovation and positive change.” She is most proud of the college and employer partners G!P has brought together, the G!P team, and the Comebackers who overcome huge barriers in order to earn their degrees. She sees the work as having just begun, however. “In order to start moving toward the change we envision, we have to work on many levels: institutional, policy, public attitudes, and we must get more individuals everywhere through the system so that while we’re working on changing it, they can help their families and friends get through too.” Once a “tipping point” has been reached, where enough people interested in going to college can find the guidance and supports within their immediate social circle and programs like G!P’s services are needed less urgently, she believes this market of new, savvy, empowered adult learners will itself help drive the necessary changes.

Kimberly Stephens was Graduate! Philadelphia’s second employee. In her first few months with G!P she translated the vision of a practice component for G!P into a first-of-its-kind comprehensive program that guides adults from the early decision to return to college to successful graduation. The program she built had to seamlessly integrate institutional structures that had been designed for cutthroat competition; then it had to be introduced to a population that had deep doubts about re-investing in a system that had failed them in the past. “Working in a community college for 16 years,” Kim says, “I met many adults who spoke about their desire to return to school and their internal conflict about making the often-necessary family sacrifices. It was always difficult convincing them that they should focus on themselves and return to school immediately. Had there been a Graduate! Philadelphia at the time, it would have been more convincing to forward them to a reliable resource or articulate to them that there was an organization committed to providing them with supports and services to return to school. And all for free.” In ten years, Kim foresees G!P becoming a national model for attaining the college completion goal set by President Obama, a “Graduate! America” active in all 50 states.

David Thornburgh is one of the three co-founders of Graduate! Philadelphia. As Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Economy League, he was interested in exploring ways to develop the human capital potential in Philadelphia to more quickly improve the workforce and economy. David recognized the importance of increasing the number of college graduates for the Philadelphia region. In the early, pre-design phase of G!P, David asked two questions: Is this worth doing, and is this doable? To the first question, David suggests that perhaps the single most important component of the regional economy is an educated workforce. And to the second question, David suggests that for a long time, people have been working to transform the educational system and have failed to make any significant impact. Therefore, David thought, let’s work within the system and help individuals navigate it. David serves as the Chair of the Board of Advisors of Graduate! Philadelphia and is the Executive Director of the Fels Institute of Government at the University of Pennsylvania.