ATLANTA — Louisiana adults without a college degree now can earn a diploma more easily through an innovative adult learning program launched in northern Louisiana and expanding statewide in the coming year.
The Continuum for All Louisiana Learners, or CALL, is a joint initiative of the Louisiana Board of Regents and the Southern Regional Education Board. Partners in northern Louisiana include Bossier Parish Community College, Northwestern State University and the Consortium for Education, Research and Technology of North Louisiana.
CALL helps working adults take online courses in an accelerated or "fast track" model at their own convenience — and even provides college credit for prior education, work and life experiences — so adults can more quickly complete an associate’s or bachelor’s degree. Bossier Parish Community College is offering two accelerated associate’s degree programs, and Northwestern State University is offering one accelerated bachelor’s degree program specifically to help Louisianans begin or resume their studies.
Responding to the program’s success, both Bossier Parish Community College and Northwestern State have added advising, credit review and other services to CALL to serve adults.
The "It’s Your Call, Louisiana" advertising campaign, launched in June across northern Louisiana, has triggered inquiries from across the state, plus 32 other states and several countries. Thousands of adults have visited the program Web site (www.YourCallLA.org) or have called the participating institutions, and more than 300 applications have been received to date for courses beginning this month.
Eighty percent of Louisiana’s 2 million adults ages 18 to 44 have no college degree, "although one in four of those adults went to college but left before earning a diploma," said Bruce Chaloux, director of SREB’s Electronic Campus and the primary SREB liaison for the initiative. "These adults are the backbone of the work force. CALL is designed to help them work fast and smart to complete their degrees."
"Adults have family, time and work demands that many traditional college students don’t face. Online classes and accelerated degree programs encourage adults to take the courses they need and complete their degrees in a shorter time frame," said Larry Tremblay, associate commissioner of the Louisiana Board of Regents.
"This is critical work for the economic redevelopment of Louisiana in the wake of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. A more educated work force is essential to the vitality of the state," Tremblay said.
The Louisiana Board of Regents has made a significant financial commitment to the future of CALL and has asked additional institutions to join the program.
SREB’s Challenge to Lead Goals for Education call for adults who are not high school graduates to participate in literacy and job-skills training and further education, and for the percentage of adults in SREB states who earn postsecondary degrees or technical certificates to exceed national averages.
To learn more about CALL and how to participate, go to www.YourCallLA.org. For more information about SREB’s adult learning activities, contact SREB Communications or see www.sreb.org.
SREB, a nonprofit and nonpartisan organization based in Atlanta, Georgia, advises state education leaders on ways to improve education. SREB was created in 1948 by Southern governors and legislatures to help leaders in education and government work cooperatively to advance education and improve the social and economic life of the region. SREB has 16 member states: Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia. Each is represented by its governor and four gubernatorial appointees.
