Non-Credit Continuing Education Classes
Community Adult Education Programs to Meet Education Goals
Non-credit community education is offered by many community centers and community colleges to provide low or no-cost courses to assist people in achieving their educational goals. Non-credit courses are intended to provide lifelong learning, college transfer, and career preparation courses. On many occasions non-credit courses offer a first point of education entry to adults who are exploring educational opportunities.
Often non-credit community education has been called the “portal to the future” for many people. These educational opportunities provide adults with the opportunity to improve earning potential, literacy skills, lifelong learning experiences, remedial education, certifications, hobby learning experiences, and more.
Often adults are concerned about going back to school, especially after not taking education courses for a long time. Reading 10 Tips for Adults Who are Going Back to School provides strategies and techniques to overcome these concerns. Another concern for adults is fitting in with other adults, reading Adults Going Back to School and Fitting In provides strategies to prevail over these concerns.
Classification of Non-Credit Courses
Community education non-credit courses are typically classified in nine general areas of classification. These instructional areas are:
- Parenting – this area focuses all stages of child growth and development, child education, family communication and openness, family resources and roles, family literacy, balancing of work and family responsibilities, and more.
- Basic Education Skills – consists of courses organized to provide a sequence of study in elementary and secondary reading, writing, math, and problem-solving skills to assist their achieving academic goals. This area is focused on helping those without high school diplomas earn a general education degree (GED).
- English as a Second Language – this area focuses on competences in listening, speaking, reading, and writing English in everyday applications. Additionally, this area concentrates on assisting adults prepare for employment, life skills, computer skills, and cultural integration.
- Work Force Preparation – this area focuses on development or advancement of computer skills, job training, basic employment skills, writing skills, math skills, technical reading, and more.
- Consumer Programs – this area focuses on assisting adults understand the legal side of purchasing products and services, tax assistance, purchasing strategies and techniques, budgeting, and more.
- Health and Safety – this area focuses on mental and physical health and well being, home safety, aerobics, cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) certification, first aid, dance, meditation, yoga, safe boating, and more.
- Vocational Education Programs – courses lead to certificates of employability or job advancement through training/retraining or upgrading of job skills. These courses also help adults prepare for advance degrees or advanced training programs.
- Lifelong Learning Programs – this area consists of courses focused on personal growth and development, community involvement, foreign languages, mental and physical health, economic self-support, hobbies, travel, and more.
- Community Advocacy – this area focuses on courses to support volunteer programs, community activism, holding local government offices, tutorial services, and more.
Adult Enrichment Programs
These programs are offered by most community education centers. The courses in these programs focus on lifelong learners. These courses also provide enrichment programs for adults who do not believe they are lifelong learners; however they want to take a foreign language course prior to traveling to another country for business or pleasure.
Senior Education Programs
Senior courses are designed for adults, 55 years of age or better, in independent and assisted living situations, nursing homes, adult community centers, churches, and similar situations. The types of courses offered include crafts, current events, arts, literature, technology skills, and more.
Adult community non-credit continuing education is designed to support all those who want to achieve personal educational goals for self improvement, lifelong learning, community advocacy, health and safety, and more.
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