REPORT
ProLiteracy Student Enrollment Survey
Recently, ProLiteracy began receiving feedback from its network of 1,000 member programs
nationwide that a “creaming” trend was taking place—that is, that low-level adult learners
were becoming increasingly underserved in favor of high-functioning adult learners who
could more readily pass a high school equivalency test and move on to post-secondary
education.
As a result, ProLiteracy decided to conduct a research project to uncover details related
to this trend. During the spring and summer of 2014, ProLiteracy surveyed its network of
community-based organizations to collect information about changes they were seeing in
adult student enrollment patterns, including the skill levels of entering students. The survey
also sought to understand how adult literacy and basic education programs are responding
to these changes and what impact the changes are having on funding needs.
The results of this survey will better inform the adult literacy and basic education field in its
efforts to better represent and advocate for the needs of adult learners, especially with the
renewed focus around Title II of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA).
The survey revealed an overall increase in student enrollment—of students functioning at the
lowest levels of literacy and of students at the highest levels. The data also supported what
ProLiteracy has been hearing from local programs—that the larger, federally funded programs
are hesitant to admit lower-level learners who might not be able to show significant progress
in a short time. Consequently, these programs are referring lower-level students to smaller,
community-based programs. This increases the pressure on smaller programs that are seeing
decreased federal and state funding while being asked to serve lower-level students who
may require additional resources and services.
ProLiteracy Student Enrollment Survey
FEBRUARY 2015
Key Findings
Students Entering at Higher Levels
About a quarter of respondents indicated that, over the last five years, they have experienced
an increase in adult learners functioning at higher literacy levels. The overwhelming majority
of these respondents—71 percent—indicated this was due to employers requiring either
higher-level skills or a GED/HSE in order to qualify for positions.
This perspective was echoed by one respondent who talked about incoming students that
had been “struggling to get even basic-level jobs without a GED. They are coming to the
library for help not only for the GED prep, but also for free help with resumes and job search/
skill training.” Another respondent summed it up by expressing concern about the perception
that people “need GED/high school equivalency for ENTRY-LEVEL jobs.”
While immigration has been a major cause of the increase in lower-skilled learners, it has
also caused some programs to report an increase in higher-level learners. These programs
find themselves working with “immigrants who have higher levels of education and want
to improve their English.” These students may speak more than one language. Some even
have professional credentials in their country of origin, but they need help in speaking and
understanding English, especially in things such as pronunciation and use of idioms.
Students Entering at Lower Levels
A significant percentage of respondents—40 percent—indicated that, over the last five years,
they have experienced an increase in adult learners functioning at lower literacy levels. The
majority—55 percent—of those incoming lower-level adult learners are referrals from other
agencies, e.g., refugee resettlement organizations or employment agencies.
Because of state and federal guidelines, many state-funded agencies do not accept students
who test at below an eighth-grade reading and math level. It appears they often refer these
students to community-based organizations for help. The increase of students at this lower
level is perceived to be a result of two factors: the economy and immigration.
Remarks from respondents underscored the influential role these two factors play in student
enrollment levels. Regarding the economy, one respondent wrote: “The preponderance of
the students we see are older people who have become unemployed and do not have the
skills necessary to reenter the workplace.” Another respondent credited changes in student
enrollment to “unemployment due to plant closings.” Another said: “They no longer can find
employment with the education/low literacy skills that they have.” Another simply expressed:
“Poor job market.”
Regarding immigration, one respondent wrote that changes in student enrollment are due to
“more refugees incoming with little or no formal education in the home country or refugee camp.”
Several other respondents also reported an “influx of immigrants and refugees to the area.”
ProLiteracy Student Enrollment Survey
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Services to Meet These Changes
More than 96 percent of the respondents said their organizations have the experience and knowhow to provide instruction for adult learners functioning at the lowest levels of literacy. However,
due to insufficient funding, programs are not able to meet the increasing demand for services.
Seventy-three percent of programs have ongoing lists of students waiting to be served.
Funding to Meet These Changes
Forty percent of respondents receive federal or state funding. These tend to be larger, in more
urban areas, and serve a greater number of students who function at a higher level, including
those preparing to take the GED/HSE tests or enter into post-secondary education. Said one
respondent: “Federal and state funding is geared to programs much bigger than ours.”
Federal funding supporting ProLiteracy’s member organizations has decreased significantly;
the number of members receiving federal funding has decreased by 13 percentage points
over the last 13 years. In 2012-13, federal funding accounted for 38 percent of overall member
funding, compared to 52 percent 10 years ago.
Among those larger programs that do receive federal and state funding, approximately onefifth (21 percent) have found that they are less able to serve lower-level learners as a result
of accepting that funding.
Almost 45 percent of respondents indicated they opt out of federal and/or state funding
because of stringent requirements that hinder their ability to meet the needs of low-level adult
learners. They indicated on the survey that there is a lack of federal and state funding to
support programs that serve this population.
Almost 70 percent of respondents—some of which already receive federal and/or state
funding—said that it has become more difficult for community-based programs to obtain
this kind of funding for work with low-level adult learners.
Opting out of federal/state funding
Yes
No
Number of students served
0-25
50%
50%
26-100
57.55%
42.45%
101-200
37.33%
62.67%
201+
29.73%
70.27%
ProLiteracy Student Enrollment Survey
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Smaller programs (serving 0-100 students) are more likely to opt out of federal and/or state
funding. The smaller the program, the less likely it is to have staff who can meet stringent
federal and state administrative funding requirements.
Stated one respondent: “Literacy councils are often struggling financially … [including
a lack of] enough staff and volunteers to offer the needed services. ... Of course, it's the
adults in need who ultimately suffer, and the literacy councils, especially community-based
organizations, because there are not enough resources for basic literacy.”
Information Collection
The data from the survey came from ProLiteracy’s member network. This network annually
serves a population of more than 240,000 adult learners.
Ninety percent of the member programs offer services in basic literacy; 85 percent offer
services in English language learning. The majority of programs also offer services in GED/
HSE test preparation (67 percent) and citizenship (66 percent). About one-third of programs
offer services in family literacy, health literacy, workplace literacy, and/or financial literacy.
Slightly less than 20 percent offer services in digital literacy/technology.
There were 378 member programs that responded to the survey. The majority of these (85
percent) were programs that have been operating for 10 years or more. Thirty-one percent
of respondents serve more than 200 students per year; 21 percent serve between 101-200
students per year; 39 percent serve between 26 and 100 students per year; and 8.5 percent
serve between 1-25 students per year.
Additional programmatic and demographic data was culled from the ProLiteracy Annual
Member Report, 2012-2013.
Recommendations
Many adult literacy and basic education programs that responded to this survey indicated
an adequate ability to offer services to lower-level adult learners at this time. However, the
inaccessibility of federal and/or state funding combined with the restrictions on this funding
and the escalation in low-level student enrollment will increasingly strain the communitybased organization network. This, in turn, will make it more difficult for programs to provide
effective services.
As a result of these changes, ProLiteracy makes the following recommendations:
1.Increase public financial investment in adult literacy and basic education so that
community-based organizations are no longer trying to accommodate a harder-toserve population with the same or less funding, thereby stretching capacity to the point
of breaking.
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2.Make it easier for community-based organizations to access federal funding. Many of
them do not have the staff needed to meet the current administrative requirements for
this funding.
3.Ensure federal accountability measures are also appropriate for the lowest-level learners,
including those who are often not yet ready for high school-equivalency classes, postsecondary education, or the job market.
Closing
The implementation of the new Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) is a
momentous opportunity to maximize the ability of adults who struggle with literacy and
basic education to:
• seek out new paths to career- and college-readiness
• succeed in high-skill, high-wage, high-demand jobs in the 21st century economy
• integrate into communities around the United States
• decrease unemployment rates for job-seekers with inadequate skills or credentials
ProLiteracy strongly encourages the Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education
(OCTAE) in the United States Department of Education to partner with ProLiteracy and
other experienced national adult literacy and basic education organizations to ensure the
continued success of their programs and of adult learners around the nation.