When it created Calbright, the California Legislature reimagined college to better serve adults for whom the traditional higher education system is inaccessible or doesn’t fit into life circumstances – from managing jobs to family responsibilities to traveling to an in-person class .
Some of the ways in which Calbright is different include:
- We’re free for all Californians
- We’re fully online
- We accept everyone who applies if they’re a California resident over the age of 18 with a high school degree or equivalent
- Students can enroll any time, rather than having to wait for the start of a new semester.
- We offer certificates for in-demand skills by employers, rather than traditional degrees
- We’re flexibly paced, so that students can study when it’s convenient for them, on their own timelines
- All of our programs are designed to be finished in under a year or less (sometimes much less) so that students can meet their goals quickly
That’s a big difference from what adult learners often face in traditional higher education, and according to Calbright’s most recent Student Experience Survey, our students and alumni are very happy with the results. About 85% of respondents said they are satisfied with their experience here, 78% said Calbright had helped them make progress in their career and educational goals, and over 90% said they would recommend Calbright to friends and family.
But what are the career and educational goals of Calbright students? What are thousands of Californians enrolling in Calbright to achieve? The Student Experience Survey they’ve come here to change their lives in both unique and similar ways.
Calbright students are overwhelmingly job and career focused, with nearly 75% of students saying that they want skills training that will lead to a badge, certificate, or industry certification that will help them with employment – and are valued in the labor market and by employers looking for candidates. While Calbright is fully accredited, and so its programs can count toward obtaining a traditional associate or bachelor’s degree, fewer than 10% of Calbright students are looking to continue in higher education.
As for what Calbright students want in their careers, they are pretty evenly divided between three overall goals:
- Flexibility: 44% of students want to get a job with working conditions that better fit their lives, like flexible hours or the ability to work remotely.
- Improved pay and higher earnings: 38% of students want a job that pays better.
- Change in field or industry: 35% of students want to shift their careers into a different field or industry.
And 78% of Calbright students say their time here has helped them achieve these goals. Students like Ekaterina, who got a promotion at work after she earned her Calbright certificate, and Randall, who got a job in a new field with his Calbright certificate, and Hai, who says that Calbright prepared him for success in a new job and helped him advance in his new company.
Calbright is showing every day that state policymakers’ vision for reimagining community college, and higher education as a whole, works. Our students are the proof.
