Preparing for the Workplace Charting A Course for Federal Postsecondary Training Policy (1994) / Chapter Skim
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2 OVERVIEW OF POSTSECONDARY TRAINING INSTITUTIONS AND PROGRAMS
2 OVERVIEW OF POSTSECONDARY TRAINING INSTITUTIONS AND PROGRAMS
Pages 30-63
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From page 30... ...
INSTITUTIONS OF POSTSECONDARY TRAINING The landscape of postsecondary training has become increasingly complex. At midcentury, vocational education was found predominantly in high schools.
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Despite the existence of some large institutions, most community colleges are fairly small. Thirteen percent reported a head-count enrollment of under 1,000 in the fall of 1990; two-thirds had fewer than 5,000 students.
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Community colleges often evolved from junior colleges with an academic transfer orientation or from technical colleges. Two-year postsecondary institutions were often administered by local officials along with the public primary and secondary schools.
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Program administrators often choose community colleges to provide occupational classroom training because these colleges offer a variety of courses at low cost to the federal government (thanks -to institutional subsidies from state and local governmentsJ. Increasingly, many community colleges work with businesses to provide customized or contract training programs designed to meet the specific needs of individual firms.
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From page 34... ...
. The typical community college is a service conglomerate; it provides many different kinds of services to many different kinds of students and often offers all four of the different types of postsecondary training for the workplace identified in this report.
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and then through student grant and loan programs that were originally established for students in colleges and universities in the mid-1960s (Lee and Merisotis, 1990:10-11~. In 1989-1990, almost 80 percent of the students enrolled half-time or more received grants or loans from federal student aid programs, compared to a little under half of the students at private, nonprofit colleges; about one-third at public, 4-year institutions; and about one-fifth at community colleges.2 (Federal student aid, which will be discussed below, is largely limited to students enrolled at least on a half-time basis.)
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From page 36... ...
Area Vocational Schools and Adult Education Schools Following the implementation of the Vocational Education Act of 1963 (VEA) , states began to use federal funds to establish new, locally operated vocational schools.
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Available program data indicate that individuals who receive classroom training from CBOs tend to have shorter stays in JTPA (averaging 21 weeks) and to enter employment at a higher rate than individuals who attend public vocational schools, high schools, and community colleges under JTPA auspices (U.S.
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From page 38... ...
, on-thejob training combined with related theoretical instruction, leading to certification of the attainment of journey worker status in a skilled trade." Apprentices work closely with a particular employer. The employer pays the apprentice wages and provides the training costs.
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Three years later, Congress enacted the National Apprenticeship Act (often called the Fitzgerald Acts, under which the federal government began setting standards for apprenticeship programs and officially registering programs that met those standards. Today, federal responsibility for overseeing the apprenticeship system lies with the U.S.
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From page 40... ...
In addition to these extensions of traditional apprenticeship, federal, state, and local governments are experimenting with youth apprenticeships modeled after systems operating in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Denmark. The new programs begin as early as the eleventh grade; encompass a 3-year program combining work-site training, high school, and possibly community college; require a contract between employer and student laying out the obligations of each; and lead to a certified competency in an occupational area.
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From page 41... ...
(Fourteen and 15 percent of workers in the 2 respective years reported receiving informal, on-thejob training.) Moreover, of the 13 percent of workers in 1991 who reported having received schoolbased training to improve their skills, 42 percent said that their employers sponsored the training.
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From page 42... ...
More than 55 percent of the person-years spent in military training is devoted to "specialized skill training": occupational instruction and on-thejob training in such areas as electronics and health care provided primarily to enlisted personnel (almost all of whom have a high school diploma and very few of whom have a baccalaureate degree)
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Except for CBOs, the military, and many (although not all) proprietary schools, most of these institutions do not exist primarily to carry out training programs funded by the federal government.
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In the same year, Congress passed the Smith-Hughes Act, which authorized federal aid to states for vocational education in the nation's secondary schools. The Depression years spawned a host of employment-related activities.
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, and share funding and administrative responsibilities with states and training providers in different ways. Student Financial Assistance Grants and loans provided to students attending proprietary schools and community colleges represent the single largest source of federal support for postsecondary training.
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From page 46... ...
Department of Education Adult Education Act Basic grant program Workplace literacy partnerships Literacy training for homeless adults Other adult education programs Student financial assistance Pell grants Students and parent guaranteed loans (Stafford, PLUS, SLS) Campus-based aid Cooperative education Perkins Vocational Education Act Basic grants to states Tech-prep CBO grants Other Perkins Vocational rehabilitation Subtotal U.S.
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From page 47... ...
It overstates somewhat the amount devoted to job training, since a fraction of students at community colleges are in academic programs. bThis figure represents the proportion directed toward community college and proprietary school students of total aid awarded through the guaranteed loan programs.
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As Table 2.2 indicates, proprietary school students received more than one and one-half times as much overall aid as community college students and over three times as much in student loans. (Since most federal aid is based on the financial need of the student, taking into account both educational costs and family ability to pay, students at proprietary schools qualify for more assistance other things being equal than do students at comparatively low-priced, state-subsidized community colleges.)
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From page 49... ...
Initially, only public and private nonprofit institutions of higher education were eligible for these programs. For proprietary schools, Congress created the Vocational Student Loan Insurance Act of 1965, closely paralleling the GSL program in content and administration.
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and because of high default rates, particularly in the proprietary school sector.7 Congress created what is now the second largest student aid program, Pell grants (originally called Basic Educational Opportunity Grants) , in 1972, intending them to serve as the foundation of a student's financial aid package.
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From page 51... ...
Basic grants, which states must match, can be used for a variety of purposes, including upgrading of curricula, purchase of equipment, inservice training of instructors, guidance and counseling, and remedial courses. The Title III Tech-Prep program, the other part of Perkins of special interest because of its involvement in postsecondary training, was added to the act during its most recent reauthorization in 1990.8 States allocate their basic grant funds between secondary and postsecondary education in vastly different ways.
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From page 52... ...
Finally, the 1990 Perkins legislation calls for a major new assessment of vocational education, with a final report due in 1994. Adult Education Programs Since the mid-1960s, the federal government, through the Adult Education Act, has assisted states in providing educational opportunities for adults who lack basic skills.
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Sixty-eight percent of the programs were administered by local education agencies and 17 percent by community colleges. Volunteer organizations and community service groups (6 percent)
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The training portion of vocational-rehabilitation may include on-thejob training; occupational training at a vocational-rehabilitation center; adjustment training (e.g., interviewing skills, job search assistance, etc.~; as well as classroom training in a community college, area vocational school, proprietary school, or 4-year college or university. There are no reliable national estimates for the utilization of these services.
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, 533,100 persons were newly enrolled in Title II, and 526,000 were terminated. Title II services for unemployed adults and out-of-school, unemployed youth included classroom training, on-the-job training, job search assistance, work experience, and other services.
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After completing applications to establish financial eligibility and assessments to measure academic preparation and job readiness, individuals are assigned to one of the various program services noted above. Youth assigned to classroom training usually utilize services provided by area vocational and high schools; adults tend to get their classroom training from community colleges and, to a much lesser extent, proprietary schools.
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From page 57... ...
Cost standards were widely viewed as encouraging service delivery areas to "cream"; that is, to serve the most job-ready and easiest-to-place applicants to minimize costs rather than to select individuals who would be harder and more expensive to serve. Governors can modify federally determined standards by using optional adjustment models that allow for differences in expected performance based on participant characteristics and local labor market conditions.
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From page 58... ...
The 'lob Opportunities and Basic Skills Training Program The Job Opportunities and Basic Skills (JOBS) Training Program was created in 1988 as part of the Family Support Act, a major reform of the nation's leading welfare program.
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Of particular interest to the committee is the extent to which JOBS participants are offered postsecondary training opportunities in community colleges, proprietary schools, or area vocational schools. While much of the education and training in JOBS takes place below the postsecondary level (because there are substantial numbers of young high school dropouts on AFDC)
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First, TAA funds trade readjustment allowances, which extend unemployment insurance benefits up to 52 addi
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In addition to cash benefits, TAA also funds job training services for certified dislocated workers. As part of its job training program, TAA offers occupational information and counseling, on-thejob training, vocational-technical training, remedial education, job search assistance, and relocation allowances.
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Community colleges and vocational-technical schools are the most frequent providers of occupational classroom training. Most substate areas supplement public service providers with proprietary schools, which offer shorter, more intensive training with more flexible scheduling.
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From page 63... ...
. In another study, the GAO found that of 1.1 million students from accredited proprietary schools who were in loan repayment status in 1989, nearly 300,000 individuals owed over $712 million in defaulted loans (U.S.
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