DIRECTIVE	:	TRAINING AND EMPLOYMENT INFORMATION NOTICE NO. 05-99
TO	:	ALL STATE JPTA LIAISONS ALL STATE WORKER ADJUSTMENT LIAISONS ALL STATE EMPLOYMENT SECURITY AGENCIES ALL ONE-STOP CAREER CENTER SYSTEM LEADS
FROM	:	DAVID HENSON Director Office of Regional Management
SUBJECT	:	Lifelong Learning Demonstration: Final Evaluation Report on the Experimental Site

1. Purpose. To announce the publication and distribution of The Lifelong Learning Demonstration: Final Evaluation Report on the Experimental Site.

2. Background. The Baltimore Lifelong Learning Demonstration was an innovative pilot project designed to explore strategies for promoting investment in education and training by currently employed workers in a large metropolitan area--Greater Baltimore, Maryland. This pilot project was designed to address demands created by an increasingly volatile labor market, in which workers must move with greater frequency to new jobs and new careers that require more knowledge and job-related skills. The project made it easier for "mature incumbent workers" (currently employed individuals age 25 and over who have substantial recent work experience) to explore new career directions, plan for potential skill needs, and take action to pursue the education and training that will help them prosper in an increasingly competitive global labor market.

   This demonstration also highlighted Federal Direct Student Loans (FDSL) and their use by incumbent workers to finance investment in their skills. Federal direct student loans with flexible repayment options were enacted into law in 1993. These loans offer innovative repayment options, including income contingent repayment, in which payments are based on an individual's income and can be spread out over up to 25 years.

   The Lifelong Learning Demonstration was a cooperative effort between the U.S. Department of Labor, the U.S. Department of Education, the Maryland State Higher Education Commission, and participating post-secondary institutions, including community colleges, four-year institutions and selected private technical schools, where the Department of Education facilitated accelerated implementation of the FDSL program.

3. The Demonstration Project. The Lifelong Learning Demonstration project was designed to:

   • Develop and test alternative public information approaches for promoting investments in education and training by incumbent workers.

   • Determine how incumbent workers make decisions about whether and how to pursue further education and training, and the barriers they face when they consider going back to school;

   • Track incumbent workers' interest and participation in further education and training and their use of student financial aid, and determine what types of support are most important in assisting their participation; and

   • Determine the financial returns from additional investments in education and training for mature incumbent workers.

4. The Final Evaluation Report. The Lifelong Learning Demonstration: Final Evaluation Report on the Experimental Site presents the findings from the Baltimore-area demonstration regarding the targeted public information campaign; an analysis of incumbent workers' decision-making process for determining whether to obtain further education and training, including the key barriers to investing in additional education/training that these workers faced; and a description of the characteristics of adult students and their schooling experiences, including the types of education and training programs they pursued, the costs of participating in those programs (both financial and non-financial), and the most important services that schools could provide for working students.

   A follow-up report will analyze the financial returns from mature incumbent workers' investments in education and training.

5. Additional Copies. This report has been disseminated to State and local JTPA and WIA programs. Additional copies can be obtained through the Office of Policy and Research, Dissemination Unit, Room N5637, 200 Constitution Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20210, or call the Publications' Line at (202) 501-8088.

6. Inquiries. Questions, comments or suggestions should be addressed to Jon Messenger, Office of Policy and Research, Division of Research and Demonstration, Employment and Training Administration, U.S. Department of Labor, on (202) 219-7674, ext. 163.