Ithaka S+R is excited to announce a collaboration with the Tennessee Board of Regents (TBR) and the Tennessee Higher Education Commission (THEC) to better understand the challenges faced by Tennesseans with some college but no credential who have been prevented from continuing their education due to administrative holds and past due balances, often called stranded credits. TBR governs the College System of Tennessee, the state’s public community and technical colleges.

As a leader in state strategies to promote adult learner re-engagement in postsecondary education, Tennessee is uniquely positioned to explore opportunities to address stranded credits and build upon the interventions already in place across the state to support adult learners on their journey to credential completion. One of its major interventions is Tennessee Reconnect, which provides tuition-free community and technical college for adults without college credentials, regardless whether they have some or no college credit.

This project is made possible through the generous support of Lumina Foundation and The Kresge Foundation.

In the coming months, Ithaka S+R, TBR, and THEC will collaborate to convene a working group of leaders from across the state’s community colleges to explore the challenge of administrative holds and past due balances and identify actionable next steps for institutions to re-enroll and support the population of adults affected. The goals of this working group are to:

  • better understand the barriers to re-engaging and re-enrolling adult learners who have stopped out from Tennessee community colleges with administrative holds (including holds on their transcripts) and past due balances.
  • determine strategies institutions can immediately implement to address the most pressing challenges students and institutions face as they relate to past due balances and administrative holds.
  • create the framework for a future intervention to re-enroll and support adult learners.

This project in Tennessee builds upon the success of the Ohio College Comeback Compact and collaborations with the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education, the University of North Carolina System, the New Jersey Office of the Secretary of Higher Education, and the Pennsylvania Department of Education. If you would like to learn more about the work Ithaka S+R is doing to support adult learner re-engagement, please contact Brittany Pearce, senior program manager, at brittany.pearce@ithaka.org.