Results of Pilots
Outcomes from the First LiLA Pilot Program
CAEL initiated a multi-site, multi-sector demonstration program for Lifelong Learning Accounts (LiLAs) in fall 2001 to test the model. This document presents the highlights of preliminary results between October 2001 and June 2005 from the external evaluation and from CAEL’s own internal analysis.
Outcomes for LiLA Employees
- Satisfaction of Employees. LiLA participants are very satisfied with the program and consider it quite close to the ideal program. On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being very satisfied and 1 being not satisfied, 89% of participants gave LiLAs a rating of 7 or higher. When asked how LiLAs compared to an “ideal program”, 89% of participants also gave LiLAs a rating of 7 or higher. Recommendations to improve the program included extending it for a longer time frame, transforming the program to provide a portable benefit, increasing the savings cap, simplifying the billing and paperwork or developing processes for direct payment from the account (as opposed to reimbursement), and improving the marketing.
- Saving. Participants saved $215,455, an average of $600 per person. Employers provided $198,966 in match dollars, highlighting their commitment to the program. After leveraging employer and third party matches, LiLA participants in the three-site pilot had available to spend on career-related training and education a total of $812,354, an average of $2,263 per participant, that otherwise may not have been available.
- Education and Training. By the end of the project, a total of 52% of participants across all sites had used their LiLA for at least one course, with restaurant participants slightly less likely to take classes during the demonstration (42.5%) and public sector participants more likely to take classes (65.8%). San Francisco healthcare participants were in the middle of the range with 55.9% taking classes. The participants that used their account averaged between four and five courses.
- Career Advancement. On average, LiLA participants told the evaluator that they saw a closer relationship between their studies and a future job than between their studies and their present job. This suggests that LiLAs are being used with career advancement in mind, speaking to the great potential of LiLAs to help people improve their lives and careers.
- Career Advising and Individual Learning Plans. All LiLA participants worked with an education and career advisor to establish an Individual Learning Plan (ILP). Among program completers and those still actively enrolled in the LiLA program, between 46% and 54% of the survey respondents in each industry sector said that if career advising had not been offered through the LiLA program, they would have been willing to pay for the service, and most rated the advisors as “very” or “somewhat” helpful.
Outcomes for LiLA Employers
- Satisfaction of Employers. Most employers – 89% -- are satisfied with their participation in the LiLA program. Sixty-five percent of employers interviewed were “very satisfied” and another 24% were “somewhat satisfied” with the program.
- Impact on Worker Productivity. Fifty-three percent of LiLA employers saw at least modest evidence of increased productivity among their LiLA employees. Two-thirds of restaurant employers and 60% of those in the public sector and manufacturing saw at least “a little evidence” of improved productivity.
- Impact on Employee Retention. The majority of employers surveyed felt that the program made some contribution to employee retention. LiLA participants who have fully or partially completed the program have a higher retention rate in the restaurant, manufacturing and public sectors.
- Relevancy of Training to Job. Most participants are using their LiLAs in a way that could benefit their current employer. CAEL records show that 70% of all participants, across all sites, are using the LiLA for goals related to their current job, a promotion with the same employer, or related work with the same employer or in the same industry. In other words, only 36% of participants were planning to use their LiLA for a possible career change in a new industry (note: in the ILP, multiple goals are possible). This finding shows that, more often than not, employees will choose courses of study that benefit their employer in some way.
- Impact on Employer Support for Education and Training. At least three companies have added education, training, and supportive benefits as a direct result of this program. Many indicated that this program reinforced for them that “a well-rounded education is needed” and that their “employees in the industry are interested in college.” One employers is considering implementing LiLAs on a larger scale and even “continuing LiLAs as a 50-50 match (50% employee, 50% employer).”
- Likelihood of Continuing the Program. Five employers are interested in a LiLA-like program, and four of these are actively seeking grant funding or some other resource to support continuation of a LiLA-like program for their companies, indicating that the LiLA program has been a positive experience for them and their employees.
Lessons Learned
- The LiLA model can be a well-run, working program for both workers and employers.
- LiLAs are universal, and they also attract lower income and lower skilled workers to participate.
- Workers use their LiLAs to enhance skills in their current line of work and to retrain for new work.
- LiLAs can serve as an incentive to engage in education and training: almost half of the LiLA employees indicated that they were not planning to take courses for training prior to the LiLA program; the half that were already planning to take or taking courses indicated that LiLAs helped them finance their education and training.
- LiLAs have potential to impact adult college completion – one-third of the participants had some college but no degree when they entered the program.
- Educational and career advising is an important and valuable component of the model.
- There is preliminary evidence that LiLAs help workers earn more and advance in their careers more than they would have otherwise.
- Employees are very satisfied with LiLAs and most reported that they would participate in a LiLA program even in the absence of third party match dollars.
- LiLAs can help small and medium-sized employers offer education and training benefits that they might not otherwise offer.
- Sectors matter – employers in different industry sectors may participate for different reasons and get different benefits from the program.
- Employers see benefits to their workplaces as a result of offering LiLAs and many have a greater appreciation for the value of education and training benefits for their workers as a direct result of this program.
Demographics and Company Information
- 359 enrolled employees
- 18% earn less than $20,000 annually; 35% earn less than $30,000; 70% earn less than $40,000
- 13% have a high school diploma or less; 33% have some college but no degree; 21% have a vocational certificate or two-year degree; 30% have a bachelor’s degree or higher
- 37 companies
- Multi-site and multi-sector: Chicago (restaurants), Northeast Indiana (manufacturing, public sector), and San Francisco (healthcare)
- 65% have fewer than 110 employees
Snapshot of the LiLA Participants
- Nearly half of the participants were non-white
- Nearly half earned less than $30,000
- Over half were female
- Over half were under age 40
- Average monthly savings rate for active participants: $28.97
- Courses of study include: nursing, lab technician, management, accounting, computers, HVAC, quality assurance, culinary arts, and English as Second Language
For an executive summary of the interim evaluation by Public Policy Associates, Inc. in 2006, please click here.