Kurt Micklo lost interest in academics after he failed to make the basketball team as a sophomore at Chapin High School. Soon after, he fathered a son and began to work full time, which put him further behind in his studies.

A counselor finally advised him during his junior year that he should withdraw and try to earn a GED. He dropped out and 鈥� through hard work 鈥� found professional success as a general manager of a subcontracting logistics company. However, the lack of a high school diploma haunted him. He wants one to give his family 鈥� especially his mother 鈥� another reason to be proud of him.

A busy work and family schedule have kept him from returning to school, but the flexibility of a new state program aimed at people aged 18 and older without a high school diploma will allow him to earn a diploma and a college career and technical education, or CTE, credential for programs such as health care, welding or computer science at the same time.

The concept of Opportunity High School Diploma was part of House Bill 8, which the state Legislature passed in 2023. The state funneled about $2 million into this program to help the approximately including about 30,000 adult El Pasoans, without a diploma to earn the academic credits most of them will need to acquire higher-paying jobs. The program is scheduled to launch in spring 2026.

鈥淚f I could juggle it, I鈥檇 be pretty interested鈥� in the program, said 34-year-old Micklo, a father of three ages 15, 10 and 5. He is the general manager of three warehouses, two in El Paso and one in Laredo, Texas, as well as four sites near the international ports of entry with Mexico in El Paso, Tornillo and Santa Teresa, New Mexico, were commodities are offloaded.. 鈥淚t would make my stepfather (a retired educator) and my mother happy if I earned my high school diploma.鈥�

El Paso Community College is one of five community college districts in the state selected for the design and implementation phases of this program. The other institutions in the design phase are Alamo Colleges District, Austin Community College, Dallas College and San Jacinto College near Houston.

They work under the direction of the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. The board will review the instructional outcomes and performance expectations that the college collaborators created during an October meeting. Once finalized, the college faculty will begin to work with school districts to design the curriculum.

The program is flexible for students who probably work full time and have family obligations. Courses would have suggested timelines, but students would turn in assignments as their schedule allowed through the end of the term.

Micklo, a Northeast resident, said the promised flexibility is the only reason he might consider the program. As for his credential, he said he would need to review EPCC鈥檚 career and technical education options. The college offers more than 100 career programs such as HVAC, or heating, ventilation and air conditioning, and electrical, automotive or diesel technologies.

Students will be co-enrolled in competency-based high school curriculum such as math, civics, sciences and communication, and a career and technical workforce program. Competency based courses are focused more on a students鈥� mastery of a skill or subject than the amount of time spent in a classroom.

Isela Casta帽贸n Williams, professor and coordinator of EPCC鈥檚 teacher preparation programs, is in charge of the college鈥檚 13-member team. She called the project a 鈥渕onumental task鈥� because of its scope and uniqueness. She said her team, and its counterparts, played a critical role in the design phase.

鈥淔aculty at EPCC are very innovative,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 think that my colleagues have approached this process with a great deal of enthusiasm. We鈥檙e always looking to provide better services and educational experiences to the community we serve.鈥�

EPCC faculty advocated for the program to be designed to accommodate English Second Language and English Language Learner populations, a THECB spokesman said in a July 1 statement. He said last year that the board selected EPCC for the project鈥檚 design phase because of its border insights, and because its CTE degrees and credentials are in line with the program.

While the state wants to attract students aged 18 and older, EPCC officials will aim for people 25 and older so as to not compete with K-12 school districts that have their own dropout recovery programs. EPCC, which will offer the program at its five campuses, expects some of the program鈥檚 younger students to come from rural areas outside El Paso.

Steven E. Smith, vice president of Instruction and Workforce Education at EPCC, said the state will provide funds to the colleges to cover tuition for initial cohorts. He expects the first groups will range from 30 to 50 students and scale up from there.

鈥淲e think this is a big market in El Paso, and I think once the word starts to get out, that will grow tremendously,鈥� Smith said.

The administrator said that he would work on ways to market the program later this month with the college鈥檚 External Relations, Communication & Development Division. He said the college would work with school district partners to build lists of potential OHSD students.

鈥淎s you might imagine, that is a pretty difficult population to identify and reach out to because they are not in the system anymore,鈥� Smith said.

This first appeared on and is republished here under a .

FORT WORTH 鈥� Tiphainne Wright tapped her foot as she flipped through her copy of 鈥淭he Handmaid鈥檚 Tale,鈥� the dystopian novel. To be dismissed from class that November day, Wright and her fellow students had to identify a metaphor or motif in that week鈥檚 reading.

鈥淚鈥檓 never getting out of here,鈥� Wright said, filling in the silence in the room, a nervous smile played on her lips.

Eventually, she thought of an example and jotted it down. She turned it in to her teacher, Mrs. Dory, and received a fist bump.

The 22-year-old dropped out of high school her junior year after having a baby. She never liked school anyhow. The hectic environment was not conducive to her learning, she said.

She鈥檚 trying again, four years later, so she can get a job that will support her and her son.

The flexibility of afternoon and evening classes at her adult high school 鈥済ives me extra time to spend with him and encourage him to finish school and push him to be somebody better than I was,鈥� she said.

Wright attends New Heights High School, where adult students like her get a second chance to earn a high school diploma and a training certificate at no cost. The charter high school opened this year out of a Tarrant County College building. The school is part of a statewide effort to help those who dropped out of high school enter the workforce.

Students come to New Heights with a range of academic histories. Their previous high school credits will count toward a diploma 鈥� which on average takes about two years to earn and includes workforce training from the junior college.

About one in six Texas adults never finish high school. The main alternative is the General Equivalency Diploma, or GED. But in the past decade.

Not completing high school has reverberations on the wages Texans earn later in life. Adult workers who have a diploma see on average nearly than those who don鈥檛.

New Heights High School sits on the southeast fringes of the North Texas city, past the railroad tracks in a mostly Black, mostly low-income neighborhood called Stop Six. There鈥檚 no full-service grocery store, no anchoring place to gather, no major employers.

Dropping out of high school in this neighborhood can feed the cycle of poverty that has had a tight grip on Stop Six families 鈥� impeding employment, limiting salaries, and increasing the poverty rate of children.

When New Heights English teacher Schnique Dory was in school, her mom drilled into her that she would not become a part of the problems in the Stop Six neighborhood she saw nearly every day. Today, the streets are still dotted with abandoned houses. Unemployment rates are nearly triple the rest of the city.

Dory was the first person in her family to graduate from college. She has since returned home to teach in Fort Worth and Stop Six.

Teacher Schnique Dory reads from 鈥淭he Handmaid’s Tale鈥� with her fourth period students at New Heights High School. (Maria Crane/The Texas Tribune)

鈥淭eaching my hood, teaching my community, investing in people who came from where I came, I鈥檓 hoping that it鈥檚 going to pay back generational change,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hey can all increase their incomes, get better jobs, and have better lives.鈥�

The first modern adult high school was opened 11 years ago. State lawmakers first created an Austin pilot program for 150 learners. About 48 students graduated in the first year, and 61 in the following year, according to the state鈥檚 evaluation of the program.

In response, the adult charter high school model was cemented into state law in the following sessions. Lawmakers added guardrails for funding and established accountability metrics relevant to adult learners coming in at a range of reading levels.

Like other charters, these schools receive public funding and do not charge tuition. While they operate outside the traditional school district governing structure, they must meet many of the same state requirements and accountability metrics.

During the most recent legislative session, lawmakers established a way for adult high schools to enter partnerships with nonprofits and community colleges. The Fort Worth school is one of the first adult high schools to team up with a community college, along with the Goodwill Excel Center. These partnerships allow the charter school to access additional funding and offer additional credentials that can be attractive to adults seeking a leg up in their field.

Charter schools across the state are starting to follow suit. An existing charter work network, ResponsiveEd, has already announced they are opening adult high schools in 23 cities across Texas.

Charter school critics say they take money from traditional public schools, which can translate to reduced services for students in the district. The adult model, however, taps a different population of learners, Traci Berry, the CEO of the New Heights argued.

鈥淲e’re actually supporting their families,鈥� said Berry, who had had a hand in the lawmaking effort. 鈥淎nd ISDs know that if the parents of their children are doing better, then their children are going to [do] better.鈥�

Gustavo Mora, 36, has tried to get his GED, the high school equivalency test. He鈥檚 put time and money into GED programs but the classes in those programs felt too hands-off, Mora said.

鈥淵ou still have too much space to think and doubt. Am I gonna make this happen? Is this really me?鈥� Mora said. 鈥滻t came to a point where I couldn’t really take time out of my day to do education.鈥�

Mora was in high school when he became a father. His high school at the time kicked him out because he was missing too many classes to work full time.

The personalized attention and the traditional classroom setting at New Heights has made this time feel different. He can鈥檛 turn around a hallway corner without a teacher checking in on him, he said.

From left: Students Tiphainne Wright, 22, and Gustavo Mora, 36, discuss the day’s reading in class at New Heights High School. The school serves adults who previously dropped out of high school. (Maria Crane/The Texas Tribune)

And this time, he鈥檚 been able to make school a priority. The technicians at the auto body shop he owns know to text three times if there鈥檚 an emergency on the days he鈥檚 in class. He purchased the materials for his class project on 鈥淭he Handmaid鈥檚 Tale鈥� at the Dollar Tree before fixing dinner for his six kids and he finished the project when they were asleep.

鈥淚t鈥檚 an all-day, everyday thing for me, Monday through Sunday. It’s not a day off,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 want to be able to show my family, especially my kids, I have graduated.鈥�

This article originally appeared in at . The Texas Tribune is a member-supported, nonpartisan newsroom informing and engaging Texans on state politics and policy. Learn more at texastribune.org.

Adult learners are categorized as

鈥淎dult learners have different needs than 鈥� our traditional students coming straight out of high school,鈥� said Lawrence Rouse, president of Pitt Community College. 鈥淭hey need what I call wrap-around services.鈥�

Those services can include everything from help with transportation to childcare, food, and clothing.

And because , postsecondary institutions will need to reimagine their business and education models to meet the needs of students older than 25.

One effort to do so is underway in North Carolina.

In June 2021, the , and announced a to engage and enroll adult learners.

NC Reconnect is a collaboration with five North Carolina community colleges: , , , , and . The pilot project included an outreach campaign, called Better Skills. Better Jobs., that engaged students who previously attended one of the five institutions. The campaign also targeted a broader audience of adult learners, not just those who had previously attended.

To better understand how these five community colleges used this initiative to make changes across their campuses, EdNC, along with the Belk Center for Community College Leadership and Research, interviewed presidents, staff, and students at each of the .

Recruiting and communicating with adult learners

Unlike high school students, adult learners are in different locations, and colleges may not know they are interested in attending until the adult learner initiates communication.

Working with InsideTrack, each of the five colleges identified students who had started a degree, diploma, or certificate at their institution but never completed it.

InsideTrack is a member of the nonprofit and partners with colleges and universities to improve enrollment, persistence, and career readiness. During this campaign, InsideTrack reached out to the previously enrolled students at each of the five colleges using text, phone, and email.

Laura Leatherwood, president of Blue Ridge Community College, said Blue Ridge identified students who had left the institution no more than five years ago and who had completed at least 50% of their credential.

The five pilot schools also worked with VisionPoint Marketing to deliver digital advertising.

Blue Ridge Community College ran a parallel marketing campaign alongside Better Skills. Better Jobs. with the tagline, 鈥溾��

The institutions shared that when it comes to reaching adult learners, choosing the right recruiting and marketing strategies can prove difficult, particularly when adult learners say different types of communication helped them make their decision to return to school.

鈥淲e need to make sure that we鈥檙e communicating in a way that鈥檚 right for our community,鈥� said Vance-Granville Community College president Rachel Desmarais.

Vance-Granville serves Vance, Granville, Franklin, and Warren counties. According to Desmarais, print and radio still work as recruiting tools in those counties. In many cases, older individuals who read the newspaper are telling younger people in their homes about opportunities at Vance-Granville.

Staff at each college discussed the importance of being in the community and creating partnerships. From attending baseball games to participating in food drives to hosting trivia nights, being present in the community they serve is critical.

鈥淚 will sometimes see my old students at the gym. And they will say, 鈥極h, Mr. Blake, I know you鈥檙e riding that bike, but can you talk 鈥� to my friend. I want him to take a welding class,鈥欌�� said Blake Williams, success coach coordinator at Durham Technical Community College.

Responding in a timely manner to student inquiries is also critical, staff said.

鈥淎ny individual who is engaged with a potential student or returning student鈥needs] to be well versed in the work that we鈥檙e doing overall. It can鈥檛 be compartmentalized,鈥� said Abraham Dones, assistant dean and registrar at Durham Tech.

Staff also emphasized the need for a strategic communication plan during the initial recruitment phase and beyond.

Fayetteville Technical Community College is in the process of implementing a customer relationship management (CRM) tool that will send personalized messages to students and track where students are in the admissions process. The CRM can be customized, allowing for segmentation between different audiences, and it is automated.

But you don鈥檛 need a CRM to segment audiences.

As Durham Tech president JB Buxton said, 鈥淭his initiative gave us a chance to address a population that we knew was interested in what Durham Tech had to offer, but we didn鈥檛 always talk to in a targeted way.鈥�

Buxton said a lot of their marketing felt like it was for recent high school graduates, and while it was good marketing, he didn鈥檛 feel as if the college was speaking with a very united voice to adults.

When it comes to choosing the right recruiting and communication strategy, colleges agree that it really takes a comprehensive approach. That means emails, texts, phone calls, letters, billboards, postcards, radio, digital advertising, geofencing 鈥� the list goes on.

鈥淲e are more connected than we鈥檝e ever been in history. However, we are harder to get ahold of, and it鈥檚 harder to market because people don鈥檛 have all those normal avenues that we used in the past,鈥� said Lyons.

Changing the operating model

Community colleges have historically been structured in a way that represents the college experiences of their leaders, which is often a traditional college model.

While community colleges have trained and educated adult learners for years, their operating models do not often reflect the student population they serve and are trying to reach.

鈥淲e need to change our hours of operation,鈥� said Desmarais, giving one example of how colleges can adapt to better serve adult learners who may only be able to engage with the college at night and on weekends.

But operating hours aren鈥檛 the only problem. For many students, navigating the college during the admissions process is a pain point. Whether it be physically navigating the campus or having to connect with multiple offices, students can often feel overwhelmed.

To alleviate some of this, Pitt Community College has plans to launch an Adult Center. It will be a centralized location where adult learners can find support and resources in one place. The center will also house staff who have been trained to counsel adult learners, said Rouse.

At Blue Ridge Community College, adult learners were given a branded backpack filled with items they will need throughout their college journey.

During our student interviews, almost every student said it would be good to have a refresher of the resources the college offers at different points in their academic career. Students described being bombarded with information initially and forgetting much of it later on in the semester. One student suggested having a landing page that lists every resource the college offers in one place.

Students taking non-credit classes suggested having more information up front about credit-bearing courses that could provide a seamless transition.

Desmarais agreed. These students need guidance, she said. And her goal is to have even more non-credit to credit offerings 鈥� though she would like to do away with the term non-credit because she does not like speaking about courses and students with a deficit term.

Adult learners need help paying for college聽

Planning and paying for college can be a burden for many adult learners.

For students who fall into the 鈥渟ome college, no degree鈥� population, finances can be a challenge.

Whether they have used all of their federal Pell grant money or have outstanding college debts, starting school with a financial burden can impact a student鈥檚 decision to return.

In an effort to reengage students, some colleges are using HERF (Higher Education Relief Funds) funds or private money to forgive small debts to help students.

Other colleges are .

Leatherwood ran a data scenario with a 10% enrollment increase over the next academic year. She then asked, how much money would I need to cover the tuition of every student, no matter the credential or degree?

鈥淭hen we took all the pots of money and threw them into one big pot and we asked, can we cover these students?鈥�

And the answer was yes.

Retaining students聽

Without prompting, students discussed the impact someone from the college had on their academic career. Sometimes it was an instructor or an advisor, but the sentiment was always the same 鈥� the relationships that were built made a difference.

The intentional one-on-one relationship is key to retaining students.

Three of the five pilot schools have or plan to hire additional success coaches who are responsible for tracking and following-up with students once they are enrolled.

All of the colleges were looking at ways their advising model could be revamped to create a case-management approach to academic advising.

Mark Sorrells, senior vice president of academic and student services at FTCC, said the college recognized that their advising model needed work.

鈥淚f you are in a CTE program on campus, you probably have quality advising. But if you鈥檙e in college transfer, there鈥檚 a problem because most of the students get assigned an advisor that they never have in class,鈥� Sorrells said.

Is the work worth doing?

Each college shared the fast pace at which the pilot initiative was implemented. And that it added additional work on staff who already wear multiple hats.

So we asked the staff, 鈥淚s the work worth doing?鈥�

Kirsten Bunch, vice president of student services at Blue Ridge Community College, answered the question with a story.

Bunch and others recently attended a scholarship luncheon where a former Blue Ridge student, Luke, was speaking.

When Bunch stood up to refill her water, Luke walked with her. While standing in line, he leaned over and asked Bunch if she had ever worked in the admissions office.

She had.

And that鈥檚 when the student told her he remembered her. He had called one day with an issue and Bunch worked with him over the phone, helping him stay in his classes. It meant a lot to him.

鈥淭hat story is exactly why we do what we do,鈥� said Bunch. 鈥淪o you asked, 鈥業s it worth doing?鈥欌��

鈥淥ne Luke is worth what we are doing.鈥�

In the next article of our adult learner series, you will hear from Mike Krause, former executive director of Tennessee鈥檚 Higher Education Commission, on what North Carolina has to learn from Tennessee鈥檚 experience.

This article originally appeared and is the second in a five-part series on adult learners at North Carolina鈥檚 community colleges. (Editor鈥檚 note: The John M Belk Endowment supports the work of EducationNC)