Promising results for Tennessee adult college advising model

Navigate Reconnect, Tennessee’s college advising program for adults age 25 and older, has been successful in helping adult learners get to and through college, according to a new report shared by the Tennessee Higher Education Commission on Thursday.

Between 33 and 43 percent of students who worked with Navigate Reconnect coaches enrolled in college within a year, and 38 to 50 percent enrolled within two years, according to the study, produced in partnership with the Tennessee Department of Finance and Administration and researchers at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville.

Most of those students, 87 percent, enrolled at community colleges, and between 75 and 80 percent worked while in college. About two-thirds were women, and more than half were the first in their families to go to college. The students also typically had household incomes lower than the state average and were more likely to be nonwhite compared to the state population.

The report also found that students who worked with Navigate Reconnect coaches, called Reconnect Navigators, stayed enrolled or earned technical certificates and degrees at a rate 11 percentage points higher than students who didn’t work with coaches.

“I witness daily how our Reconnect Navigators are looking out for adult college students: helping them find solutions, offering information and guidance, and providing encouragement and support,” Jessica Gibson, THEC senior director of adult learner initiatives, said in a press release. “We personally know their stories, their struggles, and their successes. We know how impactful our Navigators are with adult students’ trajectories and this report backs that up.”