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The latest on the Key Bridge collapse, New York puts forth legislation to get clean energy projects on the grid and Wisconsin and other states join a federal summer food program to help feed kids across the country.

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Republicans float conspiracy theories on the collapse of Baltimore's Key Bridge, South Carolina's congressional elections will use a map ruled unconstitutional, and the Senate schedules an impeachment trial for Homeland Secretary Mayorkas.

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Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Report: Adult Education Can Boost COVID Recovery

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Thursday, July 9, 2020   

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Advocates for adult education are convinced it is key to rebuilding the economy after COVID-19. But only about half of Americans have completed a certificate, certification or degree after high school, according to a new report.

The 2020 data tracker A Stronger Nation from Lumina Foundation monitors postsecondary attainment by state, and found that 36 million American adults have left college before getting a degree.

Courtney Brown, Lumina's vice president for strategic impact, said it's clear that additional training leads to better-paying jobs.

"For them, certifications as well as certificates, from health care to cybersecurity to transportation, could lead to better lives," Brown said.

Right now, however, only 51.3% of Americans ages 25 to 34 have any sort of postsecondary degree or credential. This places the U.S. 10th in the world, behind Korea, Canada, Lithuania and the United Kingdom.

Naomi Boyer helps develop short-term "micro-credentials" at the Education Design Lab. These show mastery in such topics as critical thinking, oral communication and creative problem solving.

Boyer explained, "For adult learners who may be displaced because of COVID, this gives them something really tangible in their learning wallet to then be able to show the employers, 'Here's what I know and can do.'"

Adult education has the potential to help turn the economy around, added Jeff Strohl, director of research at the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce: "As we have entered into this horrid pandemic recession, certifications are going to become very core to some of our re-skilling and re-employment efforts."


Support for this reporting was provided by Lumina Foundation.




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