{"title":"Tuition-Free College in the Context of COVID-19: TN Reconnect Adult Student Narratives","authors":"Gresham D. Collom, Ashton R Cooper","doi":"10.55504/0884-9153.1781","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Utilizing narrative inquiry and thematic analysis, this study followed up with adult students who initially participated in a qualitative project, Understanding How Students Reconnect: A Longitudinal Study (Collom et al., 2021). Five participants shared their experiences as adult students during COVID-19, which included their experiences shifting to virtual learning and the broader effects of the pandemic on their lives. Our findings indicated that while students coped with the transition to virtual learning, the overall perceived quality of education dropped and forced students to make difficult family and employment decisions. Overall, the study illuminated the barriers that exist for adult students who have faced unexpected life-events and demonstrated the need for institutions to build supports for adult students beyond tuition-free college. Our findings highlight the need for supports above tuition for Tennessee Reconnect students. While Tennessee Reconnect has substantially increased adult student enrollment in the state, increased support is essential to realize the full benefits of the policy.","PeriodicalId":53969,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Student Financial Aid","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.9000,"publicationDate":"2022-05-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"1","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Student Financial Aid","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.55504/0884-9153.1781","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"EDUCATION & EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 1
Abstract
Utilizing narrative inquiry and thematic analysis, this study followed up with adult students who initially participated in a qualitative project, Understanding How Students Reconnect: A Longitudinal Study (Collom et al., 2021). Five participants shared their experiences as adult students during COVID-19, which included their experiences shifting to virtual learning and the broader effects of the pandemic on their lives. Our findings indicated that while students coped with the transition to virtual learning, the overall perceived quality of education dropped and forced students to make difficult family and employment decisions. Overall, the study illuminated the barriers that exist for adult students who have faced unexpected life-events and demonstrated the need for institutions to build supports for adult students beyond tuition-free college. Our findings highlight the need for supports above tuition for Tennessee Reconnect students. While Tennessee Reconnect has substantially increased adult student enrollment in the state, increased support is essential to realize the full benefits of the policy.
利用叙事探究和主题分析,本研究对最初参与定性项目“理解学生如何重新连接:一项纵向研究”(Collom et al., 2021)的成年学生进行了随访。五名参与者分享了他们在2019冠状病毒病期间作为成年学生的经历,包括他们转向虚拟学习的经历以及疫情对他们生活的更广泛影响。我们的研究结果表明,当学生应对向虚拟学习的过渡时,整体感知的教育质量下降,迫使学生做出艰难的家庭和就业决定。总的来说,这项研究阐明了成年学生面临意想不到的生活事件时存在的障碍,并证明了机构需要在免学费大学之外为成年学生提供支持。我们的研究结果强调了田纳西州重新连接学生的学费以上支持的必要性。虽然田纳西重新连接已经大大增加了该州的成人学生入学率,但增加支持对于实现该政策的全部好处至关重要。