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About the Cost and Funding of Adult Education in RI

The About pages regarding Adult Education are my way to collect information about specific aspects of the topic. This one is on money.

The main questions:

  • What does Rhode Island pay for the GED program? In the last few years, and in FY2016?

  • What does Rhode Island pay for the NEDP program?  In the last few years, and in FY2016?

  • What do students pay for a GED or NEDP? Are there waivers, and what are the criteria?

  • What are the sources of funding? Federal, state, private?

The RI Department of Education provides some funding for 34 Adult Ed programs. Several AE programs in RI get no RIDE funding (e.g., the Literacy Volunteers of Kent County). Some of the money RIDE distributes is from the federal government. Many of the AE programs also raise additional funds.

RI State Budget Documents :

FY2016 Budget - House Finance BAE  Section III Agency Analyses.pdf: * (p. 201) [quote]

Adult Education Grants. The Board requested the enacted level of $5.5 million for adult education grants for FY 2016, including $2.0 million from general revenues and $3.5 million from Human Resource Investment Council funds. The Department administers adult education grants that are used to fund local adult education programs and literacy services, including workplace literacy services, family literacy services, and English literacy and civics education programs. Participation in these programs is limited to adults and high school drop-outs aged 16 and older. Approximately 6,000 students participate in these programs with 25 percent of the program attendees for GED preparation services, 50 percent for English as a second language services, and 25 percent for low level literacy services. The 2014 Assembly passed legislation allowing for a waiver of the test fee. The enacted budget does not include any funding for this. The Department indicated intent to submit rules and regulations for preliminary approval by the Council on Postsecondary Education in February. The Governor recommended funding as requested. The Department began to issue waivers in June, using personnel savings to purchase the initial round of waivers. It indicated it would continue to fund the waiver program without seeking additional sources, but specific reductions had not yet been determined. The Assembly concurred.

FY2016 Budget House Finance BAE Section VI Special Reports ** (p. 121) [The following is a quote from a 2015 document, and is the only section about Adult Ed -- why is this here? Since 2004, the executive director position was changed to a ]

Adult Literacy. On November 23, 2004, the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education signed a Memorandum of Agreement with the Department of Labor and Training to consolidate the management of all state adult basic  education activities at the  Department  of Education. Governor Carcieri recommended consolidating the state’s adult literacy initiatives in the Department of Elementary and Secondary E ducation under a new adult education executive director in his FY 2006 budget. He added 3.0 positions, inclu ding the new executive director.  The Assembly concurred and provided $0.3 million from general revenues and $4.1 million from Human Resource Investment Council grants.

FY2016 Budget as Enacted: I can't find a reference in the comparable document to the FY2015 Budget (below, next line).

FY2015 Budget as Enacted (p.124): [The following is a quote, excerpt:

[Note: Senate Fiscal Office Budget Documents can be found here.]

Adult Education (restricted receipts)     ($300,000)
The FY2014 Budget as Enacted included $3.8 million from the Governor’s Workforce Board/Human Resource Investment Council (GWB/HRIC) to fund the Adult Literacy program from restricted receipts, a one-time increase of $300,000. The Budget removes the $300,000 that was carried into FY2015 in error. The funds provided from the GWB/HRIC were used according to the GWB’s Strategic Workforce Plan an targeted to programs that offer contextualized instruction and prepare students to enter certificate programs, as well as teach the literacy and numeracy skills need to pass the General Educational Development (GED) test and receive a high school equivalency diploma.

Elementary and Secondary Education FY2015 -- Slide 46: Adult Ed spending: $2 million from General Revenues; $3.8 million from HRIC (= Human Resources Investment Council?) -- # of students (Slide 47) 25% (1500 people) GED; 50% (3000 people) ELL; 25% low literacy level (between 1st and 5th grade). [They are spending about $6 million and helping less than 6000 people of the 80,000 who need help.

 

RIDE documents:

 

Department of Labor & Training:

 

General Assembly bills, reports, and press releases:

As a result of an outcry in the Senate about the increased cost of the General Educational Development (GED) test implemented in January and the simultaneous elimination of fee waivers based on economic hardship, GED Testing Services began working with the Senate President’s office and the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to pilot a new service for potential test takers. The software-based instructional program is being provided to potential test-takers at no cost to them or the state. It includes the use of preparation software and the official practice test for the new GED.
 
Because it is not labor intensive, it is anticipated that the state could save money while reducing preparation time and helping adult learners achieve their equivalency faster.
 
Rhode Island is the only state being given this opportunity....

[This software is called MyFoundationsLab. I have searched for info about GED and NEDP now for several days before I located this service. ]

 

Rhode to Work: A Legislative Action Plan - January 2014 (p. 20): [Quote/excerpt]

RIDE has authority over adult education and distributes funding to over 35 agencies that administer adult education programs.77 Beginning with a pilot program in 2009, the funding allocation for adult education has been determined through a performance-based calculation that incorporates federal performance indicators, including the number of students who obtain their GED, the number who enter postsecondary education or training, and the number who enter employment. 78,79 RIDE is in the process of setting benchmark goals for adult education programs regarding students who go on to enroll in postsecondary education after earning their GED.80 To maximize adult education as a workforce development tool, policymakers could:

[Funding] Commit additional resources to eliminate waiting lists for unemployed or underemployed adult learners- There are a number of factors that result in an Adult Education waiting list of over 1,300 Rhode Islanders. Expanding program capacity by hiring more instructors; offering more afternoon, evening, and weekend classes; and expanding the number of sites and facilities available for Adult Education would significantly reduce, or eliminate, this waiting list. With an average cost of $1,500 per student, and with a current waiting list of roughly 1,300 individuals, the additional cost of doing so would be approximately $1,950,000.

 

Two links don't work right (the links have spaces and this causes problems), but if you paste these links into the GOOGLE search box (NOT the URL box) with the spaces, they should work. At least they worked on April 27, 2017. Another workaround is to copy just
FY 2016 BAE Section III Agency Analyses.pdf into the GOOGLE (or another browser) search box.

*  webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/housefinance/ba/2015/FY 2016 BAE Section III Agency Analyses.pdf

**   webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/housefinance/ba/2015/FY 2016 BAE Section VI Special Reports.pdf

FY2017 docs can be found by searching in Google for

  • FY 2017 BAE Section III Agency Analyses.pdf 

  • FY 2017 BAE Section VI Special Reports.pdf updated 7-13

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