Reaching California’s Postsecondary Attainment Goals: Creating Access and Opportunity for California’s Adult Learners Through Financial Aid

For working adults, the decision to pursue a degree or credential is rarely just about tuition. It is about whether college can fit alongside work, housing, childcare, transportation and the everyday costs of supporting a family.

Financial aid can make that choice more possible. But only if learners can access it.

Parts three and four of Reaching California’s College Attainment Goals, a research series from the UC Davis California Education Lab, examine California’s financial aid system and what it means for adult learners in the California Community Colleges. Together, the two new briefs offer a look at both where the system has opportunities to improve and what can happen when financial aid reaches more adult learners.

Opportunity to Improve: Financial Aid for Adult Learners in California Community Colleges examines the limitations, complexity and structural barriers that can prevent eligible adult learners from receiving financial support. Its companion, Effects of the Cal Grant Community College Entitlement on Adult Learners, examines the impact of expanded Cal Grant eligibility and what California can learn from the experiences of adult learners who gained greater access to aid.

The findings point to both the challenge and the opportunity. California’s financial aid system does not yet work equally well for all learners, particularly adults navigating college alongside work and family responsibilities. At the same time, the research shows the potential of financial aid to support adult learners when barriers to access are reduced.

That matters for California’s future. Reaching the state’s postsecondary attainment goals will require serving working learners whose lives do not fit the traditional model of college. If we want more Californians to earn degrees and high-value credentials that lead to economic mobility, financial aid must be designed around the learners our postsecondary system serves today.

Effects of the Cal Grant Community College Entitlement on Adult Learners