The Penn Foster Blog

Career schools and colleges face a competitive recruitment landscape in 2017. While traditional and nontraditional student enrollment are on an upward trend, the sheer amount of available education choices makes it difficult for schools to stand out. You need a strong recruiting strategy in place before the new year rolls around to catch the attention of people making resolutions to change their lives by going back to school.

Harvey County Detention Center in Kansas is finding that offering inmates a high school diploma program is a significant stepping stone in helping inmates realize a brighter future.

Educators face a widespread problem with students committing plagiarism, and often focus only on eliminating obvious types, such as neglecting to cite information from internet sources and copying another student's work. This approach, however,  overlooks the many other forms of  plagiarism, and neglects to address the fact that students may not even know about these other types of plagiarism. It's essential for educators to teach students about  all forms of plagiarism so they don't suffer the negative consequences.

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, we wanted to take a moment to reflect on the accomplishments of both our students and our partners throughout 2016. As a skills solutions organization, we are proud to play a role in providing individuals with the education and skills they need to take the next step in their career and positively impact their future. However, much of this would not be possible without the partnerships we have formed that enable students and employees to pursue our programs.

These days, an accredited high school diploma is a must-have precursor for long-term career success. While a diploma itself may meet the baseline requirement for many employers, offering a diploma with an additional career concentration in an in-demand career field can provide many additional benefits for employers. Whether offered by high schools, colleges, workforce boards, or employers themselves, career concentrations can go a long way to creating a more prepared, career-ready workforce.

Last week I had the pleasure of attending the CAEL (Council for Adult and Experiential Learning) International conference in Chicago. This year's theme was "Partners in Progress: Unite to Educate America's Workforce," and the sessions examined partnerships among universities and colleges, corporations, government, non-profit organizations, and workforce developers. This year's theme was timely as it took place against the backdrop of the results from the Presidential election.      

Too many career colleges cater to students fresh out of high school, leaving adult learners without the support and programs they need for success. Adult learners have varied academic and life experiences, and need specialized consideration and attention to make the most of their education. Making sure your school a welcoming environment for this experienced and diverse demographic can open up a new channel for enrollments, and help you cater to students who are eager to further their careers. To help guide your marketing and outreach efforts, here are a few things adult learners look for in a career college.

Testing in an online learning environment is taking on a new look with the expansion of new technology solutions to protect the integrity of online courses. Online proctoring services offer a way for schools to maintain the strict testing environment of a brick-and-mortar school, while also providing a more structured and convenient option for students. Below we take a look at Penn Foster's transition over to online proctoring, in an effort to continue building a modern distance learning opportunity for students across the nation.

AdvancED is the largest community of education professionals in the world. Serving as a trusted partner to over 32,000 schools, AdvancED is a non-profit organization that conducts rigorous, on-site reviews of Pre-K - 12 schools to ensure that all learners realize their full potential. Joining this esteemed list of partners, Penn Foster High School is proud to announce that we are now nationally accredited by the AdvancED Accreditation Commission. After a thorough review, AdvancED made their accreditation decision based on Penn Foster's deep concern for student success, strong culture, and unique use of digital learning technologies and resources.

As an education partner to more than 1,000 public and private high schools, Penn Foster looks forward to joining the conversation this weekend, specifically with regards to new strategies and solutions for improving student outcomes. Our Common Core-aligned courses, Credit Recovery and Summer School programs, and Dropout Retrieval Solution allow school districts across the nation to increase graduation rates, and improve outcomes for students at-risk of dropping out or those who have already dropped out. Our solutions are offered online, allowing students to learn at their own pace while giving your school an alternative method to address your students' needs. Drop by our booth #930 to learn more or schedule a meeting with us in advance.