BDN quotes Keim in article on adult education
Karen Keim, director of the Maine Educational Opportunity Center at the University of Maine, was interviewed by the Bangor Daily News for an article about adult education in Maine. If state policymakers want to boost the share of residents with college degrees, experts say, they should look to the roughly 175,000 Mainers over 25 who started college but didn’t finish, the BDN reported. “I’ve been doing this work for 24 years with adults, and they were the hardest for me to get them back, to think that they could even do it,” said Keim, who manages federal programs to provide counseling and support to adults seeking to start or return to college. Keim said the mental and emotional barriers to returning to school add to the practical challenges, such as transportation and finances. “Exposure to college is going to improve their income,” she said. “But if they didn’t finish, then all they’ve got is debt.”