The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation: focus on education.

Milliron, Mark David

ACTE: Tell us about the Earn and Learn working group that met recently in D.C. Who is represented in the working group and what did the group address?

MDM: That. conversation was really about engaging the corporate community in the completion agenda. As you know, the Gates Foundation is deeply concerned about the completion agenda in all of higher education, and we're reaching out to the corporate world lo really talk about what the possibilities would be to bring their voice to the completion challenge. So. we had folks from Verizon, Marriott International, Northrop Grumman, CVS Caremark and a whole host of other folks, including the government--the Department of Labor was there, U.S. Department of Education--and foundations like the Lumina Foundation For Education, all adding their voices to the importance of completion in the United States.

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ACTE: Did the group come away with any specific plans for the future, initiatives, an agenda?

MDM: It was really an exciting conversation. One of the things that I thought was most interesting was the array of different Earn and Learn-related programs that are happening on the ground right now in collaboration between corporations and colleges. They were talking about very structured programs, but also light programs that really bring students together with the people they're working for, and the places they're trying to go to school, and to help them achieve some kind of a credential. So, we heard about apprenticeship programs in places like Northrop Grumman that lead students while they're working towards an associate degree. We heard about places like Verizon that have really invested in these programs that get people training up to certificate and certification levels, and this has really helped them with their retention for those employees.

ACTE: You mentioned there is some of this Earn and Learn going on now, on the ground. Is there something that needs to be done to take it to scale?

MDM: Thai's a great question. I think the most important thing we can do right now is to showcase the places where this is going on and talk about why it works and what the value proposition is for the corporations and the workforce leaders who are doing this work; also, the value proposition for colleges who collaborate, and most importantly, what's the value for the student. Our research has shown that the majority of our students don't drop out because of academic challenges or necessarily just discrete financial challenges. It's really about balancing work and life. Finances are a big part of that. But these are programs that allow them to integrate what they're doing in the work world and what they're doing in the learning world. And so for us to be able to showcase what those models can do and the fact that they're a value for everybody involved is a good thing.

ACTE: Does the Earn and Learn format or model fit in with other programs that we're seeing in career and technical education such as career pathways from secondary to postsecondary or dual enrollment options?

MDM: I think it's part of a family of activities that can be taken on in collaboration, between postsecondary education and the corporate and workforce at large, to give students more options towards completion. Things like tuition reimbursement, flexible scheduling, incentives to have people earn some kind of credential and complete, and then these deep-structured Earn and Learn programs. So, yeah, I think you're exactly right. I think it's part of a family of interventions and ideas that can be taken on, on both sides of the fence, if you will, so that these students can actually get a credential with real value.

ACTE: Was the group able to identify a best practice or an ideal relationship that could exist between a business and an education institution that makes the Earn and Learn process work?

MDM: I think one of the most interesting things that came out of this conversation was the fact that the conversation has to start somewhere. And I think in a couple of the examples, the conversation clearly started with a college going to the corporation and saying. "What are the possibilities for us lo collaborate to give more options to students?" But, in this conversation, more often than not, it was the corporation actually reaching out to surrounding colleges and saying, "What can we do together to give our employees more options and more choices?" I think probably the most important thing is to start that conversation and to really think about what are the barriers, what are the things that would stop us from doing this? But, most importantly, what are the possibilities? What are the benefits for us both, and what are the benefits, most importantly, for the students and the employees?

ACTE: So, what's the next step in this conversation?

MDM: We're all about the completion agenda because I think, in the United States, we've done a great job over the last two, three, four decades, of opening up access in higher education. We have literally more than doubled our capacity to bring in people into postsecondary education. But we haven't followed suit in terms of student success and completion. So, we care deeply about creating a culture of completion, and that means driving towards certification, diplomas and degrees across the board. That means including career and technical education in with the larger family of academic degrees. And we really take that seriously. We're going to really work on deep institutional interventions to improve completion in colleges, community colleges, technical centers, universities and across the board. We're going to think about what can be done with technology to improve completion, and we're also going to try to catalyze this conversation around how do we bring community colleges, technical education centers and corporations together with the workforce leaders to really embrace this completion agenda.

To listen to the podcast of the Full interview with Mark David Milliron from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, visit www.acteonline.org/podcasts.aspx.

Mark David Milliron serves as the deputy director for postsecondary improvement at the foundation. He speaks with ACTE about the foundation's education initiatives, including Earn and Learn, and the role career and technical education can play in improving postsecondary outcomes.