CPTC to help expand Plus 50 initiative

LAKEWOOD, WA – Community colleges around the nation are turning to the Plus 50 Initiative at the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) for help in designing programs for baby boomers, who are increasingly returning to campus for job training and to makeover careers waylaid by the economic recession. One of the colleges involved in the initiative’s expansion efforts is Clover Park Technical College in Lakewood. The College will serve as a Learning Partner for the other community colleges in Pierce County. Clover Park will work with Bates Technical College, Tacoma Community College, Pierce College District 11 which includes Pierce College-Fort Steilacoom and Pierce College-Puyallup.

Clover Park Technical College is one of four colleges designated as learning partners to help six community colleges implement plus 50 programs helping baby boomers return to campus for job training and to improve their skills.

“With President Obama calling on our nation’s community colleges to help unemployed and laid off Americans get back to work, we are seeing increased demand from college leaders for support in structuring effective programs for plus 50 adults,” said George R. Boggs, AACC President and CEO. “This expansion effort will share best practices with more colleges and help them more efficiently work with baby boomers.”

Four additional community colleges will serve as Plus 50 Initiative Peer-to-Peer Ambassadors or regional conference host working to expand the network of plus 50 colleges by reaching out to 26 additional community colleges. They will share information about how to start and sustain a quality educational program for plus 50 students. They will also invite the new colleges to participate in national discussions on effective programming for plus 50 students.

Thirty-two additional colleges will join the initiative through the 2010 expansion. The initiative started with 15 grantee colleges in 2008 and expanded its work to include 12 additional community colleges in 2009. The expansion pairs existing and more experienced Plus 50 colleges with additional community colleges that will become “affiliates” of the Plus 50 Initiative.

The Plus 50 Initiative began its efforts to help community colleges faced with an expanding baby boomer student population by focusing on learning, training and career development, and volunteering. The three-year project is sponsored by the AACC with a $3.2 million grant from The Atlantic Philanthropies.

For 90 years, the AACC has been the leading advocate for the nation’s community colleges, which currently number more than 1,173 and serve close to 12 million students annually. Its membership comprises 90% of all public two-year colleges – the largest, most accessible, most diverse sector of U.S. higher education. As institutions committed to access, community service and lifelong learning, community colleges have long-focused on the needs of adults who are already in the workforce, many of whom are seeking new skills and knowledge for changes in their lives and careers.

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