Workforce Funders: Accelerating Credit and Credentials for Adult Learners in Maryland

By 2018, two-thirds of jobs in the American economy will require a post-secondary credential. Estimates note that over half of all Marylanders in their prime working years – 1.3 million adults between ages of 25 and 54 – lack a college degree. Helping Marylanders address the credential gap is the goal of the Maryland Integrated Basic Education and Skills Training (MI-BEST) initiative – a bridge program for low skilled adults with language and literacy barriers to career credentials and college credit.

The Maryland initiative is working to replicate the evidence-based practices of Washington State's I-BEST model. Compared with adult basic-education students in other workforce programs, I-BEST students in Washington State were three times more likely to earn college credit and nine times more likely to earn a credential. Maryland partners include the Maryland Workforce Corporation; the Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation; the Baltimore Community Foundation; the Annie E. Casey Foundation and five Maryland community colleges -- Anne Arundel Community College, Baltimore City Community College, The Community College of Baltimore County, Montgomery College and Prince Georges Community College.

Please join us for an exciting discussion about plans and possibilities with key partners in the Maryland effort.

This program is for Maryland Philanthropy Network members and members of the Greater Washington Workforce Development Collaborative; lunch will be served.