The University of Wisconsin System was awarded a $450,000 grant from the Lumina Foundation to expand opportunities for adult learners. 

The Lumina Foundation is a private foundation working to make opportunities for learning beyond high school available to everyone, according to their website. 

UW recognizes efforts, challenges faced by returning adult students

This grant will go towards the All Learning Counts Initiative which will support the work of the UW System to make sure that knowledge and skills gained outside of formal education such as through work, military and other experiences are being recognized and can be applied toward programs for credit, according to the UW System website. 

Project activities that are part of this initiative aim to improve assessments that measure previous learning which can then help reduce cost and time for students as they could be awarded credits for prior learning.

According to the UW System website, the five universities that are part of the partnership are UW-Green Bay, UW-Milwaukee, UW-Oshkosh, UW-Platteville and UW-Whitewater.

These five schools provided 833 adult students with credits for prior learning in 2017-18. The goal of this initiative is to increase that number by more than double and reach students at both the main campus and other campus locations, according to the UW System website. 

Adult student’s dedication to education sets example for nontraditional students

Additionally, UW System President Ray Cross created UW Extended Campus, a separate programming and administrative unit dedicated to growing and coordinating online adult education for all UW System campuses, the UW System website said. 

UWEX uses a collaborative online program model and currently runs 24 adult degree programs in two formats: traditional semester-based program and competency-based UW Flexible Option.  Most programs award bachelor and master degrees, but UWEX also includes associate degrees and some certificate programs.

All 13 UW System universities are implementing at least one of the UWEX programs, with three universities implementing 10 or more. Over the past five years, enrollment in UWEX programs has grown by 54%—up to 4,800 students. UWEX’s goal is to double online enrollments by adding two new programs per year through 2025, according to the UW System website.