Spreading the News

Adults in today's booming job market need more opportunities. Yet many wonder whether achieving their bachelor's or master's degrees will get them where they want to go.

The answer is a resounding yes, according to recent research.

Lightcast, one of the largest and most respected data aggregators in the U.S., recently analyzed data from 125 million online career profiles. It distilled the findings into a comprehensive report called Moving Up and Moving Forward, released in August 2022. The results found that adult learners who return to college see:

• A 140% larger increase in average annual salary vs. adults who don't go back to school
• An upward mobility that's 22% greater

This report verifies a trend I see on campus with students at the Muhlenberg College School of Continuing Studies. Whether a student is looking to enhance their standing within their current organization, get out of a personal career rut or switch careers entirely, going back to school is a massive step in the right direction.

Let's explore why college degrees still bring tremendous value, the critical factors adults should weigh before returning to school and what to look for when choosing the right school.

The long-term benefit of learning "durable skills." 
I'm a firm believer in the way that education at any and every level transforms the individual, impacts their family and community, and creates economic opportunity. Learning a technical skill, for example, brings tremendous value. It can make you a strong performer when you enter the job market. But technical skills age quickly, especially in today's world, where new technologies emerge almost daily. 

When you earn a degree, especially from a liberal arts institution, you go beyond technical know-how and learn broader competencies, such as creativity, design thinking, improvisation, qualitative reasoning, learning strategies, resilience and appreciating diversity, equity and inclusion. Some people call these "soft" skills. However, I like to think of them as "durable skills" because they allow you to become a lifelong learner and adapt at every stage of your career. These are the skills that endure throughout your lifetime and are the foundation for ever-evolving technical knowledge.

Think of it this way. An innovation like artificial intelligence may be able to perform specific technical tasks better than a human in the future. But it won't be able to master the "durable skills" that make us so unique in the first place, especially when dealing with complex and contradictory problems that have changing requirements and are often difficult to recognize.

And while bachelor's degrees lead to upward mobility and greater earning potential, don't underestimate the power of associate's degrees. The Lightcast report found that earning an associate's in certain high-demand fields is linked to higher rates of upward mobility as well. 

This fact underlies one of the things I love the most about working in the higher education system— it is our mission to enable economic empowerment and civic engagement for the individual, their family and the community they are part of – and we give adults a way to learn in increments, build their confidence, celebrate their accomplishments and move on to the next step.

Why "going for it" isn't as easy as it sounds
While pursuing a degree to boost your personal economic and career growth is always a good investment, the fact is that education can be challenging for adult learners.

When you're a traditional-age undergraduate, school often is your primary focus, and you can craft a learning journey that's more explorative by nature. But when you return to school as an adult, you have many competing priorities, pressures, and responsibilities. For example, you may be a spouse or a parent. You may be caring for an aging parent. Or you may be stitching together several jobs to make ends meet.

I encourage adults to develop clear goals before returning to school. First, consider carefully why you want to earn a degree and how it will change your career and life. Then, map your education to the goals you want to achieve.

Once you're set on your goals, take these three steps to find a school that will meet your needs:

1. Seek two-way conversations. As you communicate with representatives from various schools, ensure they have your best interests in mind. Advisors should be engaging in two-way conversations with you. Those discussions should focus on your strengths, aspirations and personal goals just as much as the benefits a school can bring you. If the conversation is too one-sided, it's a potential red flag.

2. Dive into the details. Check a school's reputation, its faculty's quality and graduation rates. Ask deliberate questions. Here are a few examples:

• Do they give you access to advisors who stay with you throughout your educational journey? 
• Do they provide tutoring as part of their advising services, or is it an add-on you must hunt down?
• Is teamwork built into their curriculum? If so, how?
• Do they provide mentoring, and how can adult learners find and work with mentors?
• Do they provide career services support, and what can you expect of it?

3. Challenge your own assumptions.
As I mentioned above, setting goals is of primary importance. But don't set them too small. In reality, upward mobility doesn't always happen in a straight line. There may be pivots. And while becoming a senior manager at your current company might be your primary goal, a good advisor will also open your mind to other opportunities that could bring you just as much career satisfaction.

How Muhlenberg College helps adult learners achieve upward mobility.
As a small liberal arts school, Muhlenberg College School of Continuing Studies and School of Graduate Studies has the unique ability to tailor its education to each student's personalized needs. 

Here, you'll partner with an academic advisor who will be your go-to resource if you choose to study with us. You'll learn in a team-based environment under the supervision of a faculty mentor. 

You'll learn from a diverse mix of full-time faculty and long-term adjunct faculty. Together, they infuse each adult's educational journey with a combination of theory, methodology and real-world life experience. 

Most importantly, you can make the educational experience your own. This kind of deep, two-way partnership with adult students is one reason our adult degree completion programs have achieved a 93%+ graduation rate.

And you'll get the resources of our Career Center for life. Our team will help you improve your resume, build your professional profile on LinkedIn, build a job search strategy, and give you the advice you can use to stay current no matter how the job market changes in the coming years.

Every adult learner defines upward mobility differently. So if you're ready to use education as a springboard to the next step in your career, reach out to us. We'd love to start a two-way conversation with you.

Are you interested in learning more about the Muhlenberg College Division of Graduate and Continuing Education?

• View an online info session.
• Set up an appointment with an advisor in Continuing Studies.
• Set up an appointment with an advisor in Graduate Studies.