The ALL is a national hub for research, innovation and systems transformation focused on adult learners. Housed within the Belk Center for Community College Leadership and Research at NC State University, the ALL extends the Belk Center’s mission by applying rigorous research methods and practitioner partnerships to the specific challenges and opportunities facing adult learners. Drawing on the Belk Center’s expertise in leadership development, applied research and capacity‑building, the ALL generates actionable insights that help leaders design policies and practices that accelerate adult learner enrollment, persistence and credential attainment.

As a trusted source of evidence, a convener of practitioners and a catalyst for scalable, sustainable change, the ALL strengthens and amplifies the Belk Center’s commitment to bridging research and practice to improve outcomes for adult learners nationwide.

The ALL advances state and systemwide transformation through four focus areas that strengthen institutions and improve outcomes for adult learners:

• Reducing time to credential – advancing strategies, such as credit for prior learning, flexible program, design and streamlined advising that shorten pathways to completion and reduce cost.
• Ensuring every learner earns a credential of value – strengthening pathways aligned with labor-market demand, employer needs and adult learners’ goals for economic mobility.
• Providing personalized supports for every learner – improving advising, onboarding, messaging and wraparound services that reflect the lived experiences of adult learners and remove barriers to their persistence.
• Driving organizational, change, scalability and continuous improvement – supporting colleges and systems to build the structures, leadership capacity and data-driven processes needed to scale effective practices and sustain long-term transformation.

This set of focus areas positions the ALL as both a research engineer and a systems-change partner – helping institutions move beyond one-off initiatives toward long-term impact.

College and system leaders, policymakers, funders and researchers can engage with the ALL in several ways:

• Collaborate on applied research and evaluation – work with the ALL to conduct qualitative, quantitative and mixed-methods studies that illuminate the adult learner experience, assess effectiveness of policies and practices and identify opportunities for improvement. Our evaluation work helps leaders understand what’s working, for whom, and under what conditions. 
• Participate in learning networks – join communities of practice where leaders and practitioners test strategies, share insights and build capacity to serve adult learners more effectively.
• Engage the ALL as a strategic thought partner – partner with us to design, refine and implement policies, programs and institutional strategies that support adult learner success, drawing on our research and field-based expertise. 
• Leverage – our tools, frameworks, and evidence to inform decision-making, funding models, program design, and system-level strategies.
• Partner on pilot projects – collaborate with the ALL to test approaches to structured coaching, implementation support and evaluation to ensure scalability of adult learner projects.

Partnering with the Belk Center and support from funders accelerates the ALL’s ability to drive state and systemwide impact. You can: 

• Fund applied research and evaluation that generates actionable insights on adult learner experiences, institutional practices and policy impacts. 
• Support the development of tools, frameworks and resources that help colleges implement evidence-based strategies at scale.
• Invest in communities of practice and professional development hosted by the Belk Center that build the capacity of college leaders and practitioners to serve adult learners effectively. 
• Sustain pilot projects and innovation by funding the Belk Center’s role in design, facilitation, evaluation and continuous improvement
• Champion the ALL’s findings, recommendations and deliverables to ensure the needs of adult learners inform policy and system-level decision-making.