Policy Matters

A recent post shows many of Mississippi’s fastest-growing occupations with quality wages now require postsecondary credentials. Examples include registered nurses, software engineers, and computer support specialists.

As Mississippi seeks to connect adults with postsecondary credentials to attain these jobs, the state will need to enhance its efforts to support the state’s nontraditional students.

Nontraditional students have at least one of the following characteristics. They are 19+ years old, work full-time, have dependents, are financially independent, and/or attend classes part-time

Nontraditional students often take a less direct pathway to a postsecondary degree than traditional students. The figure below compares the pathways of traditional and nontraditional students. The nontraditional student has more potential gaps in their pathway to a postsecondary degree and may alternate between work and school as they build towards a final credential. 

Acronyms Defined: ABE – Adult Basic Education; GED – General Educational Development indicates High School Equivalency
Source: Regional Industry Skills Education (RISE) Initiative

Supporting Mississippi’s Nontraditional Students

Working adults and parents need course schedules that allow students to balance work, school, and family. Courses offered on the weekends, evenings, and in concentrated block format help students that work or care for children during the day. Additionally, low-income adults need resources to cover non-academic costs associated with attending class, such as childcare and transportation.

Academic supports like help with course registration, course planning, and career planning all assist students that are unfamiliar or new to taking courses on a college campus.

Working students that enroll less than part-time or in short-term training frequently cannot benefit from grants or low-interest loans because they do not attend class half-time. Financial aid is needed for those students that take a limited number of courses, so they are financially supported as they stack courses over time to a final degree or certificate.

Supports like those mentioned above are important for college success for Mississippi’s adults. A report by the Southern Good Faith Fund in Arkansas details the support services and innovative instructional strategies of the Arkansas’ Career Pathways program.

Author: Sarah Welker, Policy Analyst  

The recent economic recession has resulted in significantly increased enrollment across the state’s postsecondary institutions. Some of these students are recent high school graduates while others are working-age adults in need of new skills and careers.

Postsecondary education is becoming increasingly important for Mississippians looking for a job that pays adequate wages. Data from the MS Department of Employment Security reveals that the top 10 occupations with the fastest growth and wages above $20,000 all require one year or more of postsecondary education.

Increasingly, Mississippians need a postsecondary credential to find employment in occupations that have:

• High levels of growth;
• A large number of annual job openings and;
• Pay adequate entry wages to cover basic expenses for 1 adult.

Mississippians will need substantial postsecondary education to acquire jobs in all 10 of state’s fastest growing occupations that pay self-sufficiency wages upon entry. Many of the occupations with high growth and adequate wages are in the healthcare and information technology sectors (see below). 

Top 10 MS Occupations* with Fastest Growth and Entry Wages above
Self-Sufficiency Standard** for 1 Adult

A list of Top 10 ‘Hottest Occupations’ highlighted by the Clarion Ledger on Sunday reveals a similar trend with all but 1 occupation requiring a postsecondary certificate or degree, and 8 requiring a 2-year associate degree or higher. 

 In Mississippi, there are over 348,000 adults (age 25-54) with no formal education beyond high school, and over 186,000 adults without a high school degree.¹ Many of these adults will pursue postsecondary education in order prepare for occupations that support themselves and their families. Opportunities exist for Mississippi to build on its foundation in postsecondary education to increase persistence and connect adults to credentials and quality careers.

Over the next few weeks, MEPC will highlight educational pathways of adults and nontraditional students, and describe frameworks that have been implemented within Mississippi and in other states to connect adults and nontraditional students to postsecondary education and into in-demand occupations that pay self-sufficiency wages.