2026 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

This work-in-progress paper (for ECSJ) examines the educational and workforce transitions of adults who complete the National External Diploma Program (NEDP), a nationally recognized, remote, competency-based high school diploma program designed for adult learners (18 years and older). Despite their growing participation in alternative education pathways, adult learners remain largely excluded from national STEM education and workforce narratives, particularly in fields such as engineering and technology. This project aims to investigate how mastery-based education enhances the adult learners’ readiness for postsecondary education, workforce participation, and potential engagement in engineering-related fields.

Drawing on national data from the NEDP Graduate Follow-Up Survey (CASAS, 2021; n = 1,719) and the 2024–2025 Yearly Statistical Report (YSR), this study examines who NEDP learners are and where they go after graduation. Across the most recent reporting period, 71% were women, and 55% identified as Black, African American, American Indian (Native American), Alaskan American, or multiracial (CASAS, 2024). Among respondents, 77.7% reported pursuing college and 35.2% entering workforce training or apprenticeship, with many highlighting applied math/numeracy and consumer awareness and financial literacy as key skills gained through the program. However, existing datasets do not capture the percentage of graduates transitioning into engineering (or other STEM and technical) education and careers, revealing a critical research gap in adult readiness for the engineering and technical workforce.

This work is guided by the principles of Andragogy (Knowles, 1984) and Competency-Based Education, which emphasize mastery, relevance, and learner autonomy as foundations for adult readiness. Future phases of this research will apply Situated Expectancy-Value Theory (Eccles & Wigfield, 2020) to explore how expectancy (confidence), value (purpose), and cost (barriers) influence adult learners’ decisions to pursue postsecondary STEM pathways (Miles et al., 2024). By connecting competency-based adult education to the engineering education pipeline, this study positions adult learners as an underrepresented source of talent and builds a foundation for future empirical research on adult STEM transitions.