Announcements & Commentary
Design for Working Adults, Design for Flexibility – Part One
By Rebecca Ruan-O’Shaughnessy, Director of Program & Strategy at College Futures Foundation
Andrea (not pictured), now 43 and working as a youth program director, first began pursuing nursing as a young adult, completing all her prerequisites but unable to secure a spot in the program right away. She stopped out and left college to work full-time to pay the mortgage on her new home. When she later returned to college, she found classes were offered on a rigid, daytime schedule that conflicted with her job. While trying to balance both, she missed a test by one week and stopped out again. Years later, she attempted to re-enroll and wondered if her previous credits would count. The college required transcripts from the two institutions she had attended—but those colleges had since merged, and she couldn’t obtain separate records. Without them, she was unable to return. Reflecting back and looking to the future, Andrea is left asking a question too many learners face: “Is it worth my time?”
Andrea did what anyone in her situation would do. She took care of her responsibilities. And in doing so, she lost access to a path toward greater economic mobility. Andrea’s experience, captured in the Adult Learner Exhibit, mirrors that of millions of Californians who leave higher education not because they lack ambition or readiness, but because the system was not designed for them.
When education can’t flex to real life, it doesn’t just inconvenience learners. It shuts them out. If postsecondary education is to deliver on the promise of economic mobility, it must be designed for learners like Andrea: working adult learners balancing family, jobs, and financial responsibility. That starts with flexibility, working with people’s lives and responsibilities, not against them.
The data is clear. Sixty percent (60%) of stopped-out students and twenty-six percent (26%) of never-enrolled adults said flexibility would be an important factor in their decision to enroll, according to the 2025 State of the Learner report. And adult learners are already acting on that reality. Thirty-seven percent (37%) of adult learners take only online courses in their first two years—compared to just 13% of their younger peers. Adults are not asking for special treatment. They are choosing the formats that allow them to keep working, caring for family, and moving forward.
When a rigid system prevents learners from progressing, it is often treated as a personal failure. But in reality, it is a design problem. Flexibility at scale can’t be achieved through individual accommodations layered onto rigid structures. It requires redesigning those structures by breaking down the assumptions that keep them fixed. Competency-based education (CBE), although not the only solution, is one of the most powerful approaches we have today to do exactly that.
What is Competency-Based Education?
Competency-based education (CBE) is built on a simple idea: learning happens everywhere. What matters is what learners can do, not how much time they spend in a classroom.
CBE can take many forms, but at its core, it requires redesigning how learning is structured:
- Curriculum is organized around clearly defined skills and knowledge, so learners know exactly what they need to do and what success looks like.
- Assessment is based on demonstration of learning, so progress reflects what learners can actually do, rather than being determined solely by time or course completion.
- Time and progression are more flexible, often allowing learners to make progress at their own pace within or across terms.
- Prior learning can be assessed against competencies, and lived experience can be applied toward progress, so learners don’t have to start over.
In some models, including Direct Assessment CBE, these elements are taken further to better meet working adult learners where they are. Time no longer determines when learners move forward. Instead, progress is based on when they can demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities required—often through applied, real-world work—without waiting for a semester to end. Learners learn through practice and improve with feedback, rather than simply passing or failing an exam or a course.
This shift creates real flexibility: learners can move at their own pace, accelerate through what they already know, and pause when life demands it without losing progress. It also strengthens the connection between learning and work, ensuring that what learners learn translates more directly into jobs and opportunities.
If California is serious about ensuring that more learners attain credentials that meaningfully provide value, systems must evolve. Flexibility is not about making college easier. It is about making opportunity possible.
So, what if education had been designed around Andrea’s life, rather than in competition with it?
If Education Had Flexed With Andrea’s Life
In a system designed for flexibility, Andrea’s experience would’ve looked different.
When she returned to school as a working parent, she wouldn’t have had to choose between her job and her classes. She could’ve kept working while making progress when her schedule allowed: in the evenings, on weekends, or whenever she had time.
She would know exactly where she stood. The classes she already completed and the skills she built over years as a youth program director would count toward her credential, giving her a clear path forward. And when life demanded more of her time, a missed deadline wouldn’t have pushed her out. She could pause and return without losing what she had already earned. In that kind of learner-centered system, Andrea wouldn’t be penalized for stopping and starting. Returning would simply be moving forward.
For Andrea, returning to school and earning a credential of value means access to higher paying jobs and greater economic freedom for her family. When more working Californians like Andrea are able to do the same, the benefits extend beyond individuals and families to communities and the state’s economy. That is economic mobility in action.
“Is it worth my time?” Andrea asked.
But the real question isn’t whether Andrea sees the value. It is whether the system is built to deliver it.
Additional Links
https://www.c-ben.org/resource/what-is-competency-based-education-close-captioned-video
https://www.wgu.edu/about/story/cbe/what-is-cbe.html
https://aurora-institute.org/our-work/competencyworks/competency-based-education
