The university's latest effort is funded through an $800,000 grant from the Crankstart Foundation that will provide reentry scholarships to adult learners pursuing their first bachelor's degrees. The four-year award, effective Sept. 1, 2026, through Aug. 31, 2030, continues a scholarship program Morgan has administered since 2016 through its Center for Continuing and Professional Studies.
The grant is part of a broader expansion of Morgan's efforts to serve adult learners in credit-bearing programs.
A 2025 report from the American Institutes for Research described Morgan as having “expanded its efforts to support adult learners through institutional changes aimed at increasing degree completion.” The report noted that Morgan had served adult learners through the Center for Continuing and Professional Studies since 1963, but that the university later identified a need for additional pathways for adult learners seeking credit-bearing degrees.
That effort accelerated in 2021, when Morgan launched the College of Interdisciplinary and Continuing Studies, or CICS, and its Morgan Completes You initiative. The college was created to serve nontraditional students, returning students, working adults, and students who need or prefer remote education. Maryland's Higher Education Commission approved 18 new interdisciplinary programs for the initiative that year.
Today, Morgan describes the 18 CICS programs as degree-completion programs designed for adult learners with prior college credit. They include eight bachelor's programs, five master's programs and five doctoral programs. The university says the programs are structured to provide flexibility for students balancing education with work, caregiving and other responsibilities.
Students receive credit for prior learning, and work with advisers to develop individual paths toward graduation. The university's bachelor's programs are specifically designed for students with some college credit who have not completed a degree.
The AIR report found that Morgan's development of CICS included research into adult learners' experiences and the introduction of practices such as credit for prior learning and competency-based education. The report said the changes were intended to recognize skills and knowledge adult learners bring from experiences outside the classroom and potentially shorten the time required to complete a degree.
The university has also reported growth in the initiative. In a 2025 feature published by the American Council on Education, Morgan said CICS enrollment had reached 162 students in fall 2024, with a goal of 350 students in fall 2025. The programs offered flexible course options, including online, evening and weekend classes, and Morgan said students could apply up to 90 credits toward a bachelor's degree.
Financial support remains another component of Morgan's adult-learner strategy.
The Crankstart Reentry Scholarship has provided need-based assistance to students returning to Morgan after an interruption in their education and pursuing their first bachelor's degree. Morgan said in 2022 that 54 nontraditional students had graduated through the program during its first six years. At that time, the university announced another $800,000 from Crankstart, along with $50,000 from the Charlotte W. Newcombe Foundation for a new scholarship for mature students.
The eligibility requirements for the current Crankstart scholarship have changed since that 2022 announcement. Morgan's 2026 release says applicants must be enrolled at Morgan either part time or full time, returning to higher education after a three-year gap and pursuing their first bachelor's degree, in addition to meeting the program's other eligibility requirements.
The current grant brings the total value of Crankstart scholarship grants supporting Morgan's reentry program to nearly $2.4 million, according to the university. Morgan says the program has supported working adult learners and scholars pursuing degrees in fields including business management, social work, psychology, engineering, computer science, education and sociology.
Nilajah Nyasuma Sims, executive director of the Center for Continuing and Professional Studies, said the center serves adult learners across Morgan regardless of their academic program or where they are in their educational journey.
“Our longstanding partnership with Crankstart strengthens our ability to provide university-wide support to adult and reentry students who are balancing the pursuit of a degree with the many responsibilities of adult life,” Sims said in the university's announcement.
The scholarship funding will continue through August 2030. For Morgan, it adds financial assistance to an institutional structure that now includes dedicated degree-completion programs, flexible course options, credit for prior learning and advising designed around adult students returning to college.
