Of those unemployed. more in the brief stay group were unable to find work, and less in this group were currently attending school. Amongst the unemployed fewer in the briefstay group were continuing to look for a job or continuing with their studies.

Completion (§3.3)

Completion rates for some or all of their courses increased markedly with time (49% for the brief-stay group, 83% for the short-stay group and 93% for the long-stay group).

Of those not completing, approximately 6 in 10 intend to return.

Current educational status and future plans (§3.4)

With increasing time in the program, more were currently students.

Of those currently studying, between 60% and 70% were full-time. The majority of the short-stay group were now in Career/ Technical or University programs, while more in the lon-stay group were still studying ABE / College Prep. Between 60% and 80% still studying were continuing at the same institution where they studied ABE / College Prep.

Of those not currently studying, in excess of 80% intend to return, with over two-thirds of those who had decided where, indicating it would be to the same institution.

Subjective ratings (§3.5)

Over two thirds of the short-stay and longstay groups reported that they defintely got what they wanted from ABE / College Prep. Also over 90% would recommend the program to a friend. The proportion who said they were very or somewhat satisfied was over 90% in all except the brief-stay group where it was 83%.

Stay group profiles comparison (§3.6)

There were definite differences between the briefstay (0-3 months) group and the shortstay (4-6 months) group in terms of Point of Entry factors.

Specifically, the brief-stay group were older, more likely to be divorced or separated and more likely to have dependents than the shortstay group. In comparison they were also less likely to be enrolled in other courses, less likely employed in the prior 12 months and more likely to have been from part-time household backgrounds in the previous 12 months. Also they were more likely than the short-stay group to expect financial assistance and relatively fewer were working 15-29 hours per week in this group. As noted before they had lower completion rates.

Different Point of Entry factors separated the longstay (7-13+ months) group from the short-stay (4-6 months) group. The short-stay group tended to be younger, were more likely male, single, without dependents, more recently from school and more likely from Grade 12 or Post Secondary. In comparison to the long-stay group, the short-stay group tended to be enrolled more in Provincial courses than Fundamental and have smaller ABE / College Prep course loads. They were also taking more non-ABE / College Prep course. As regards activities in the previous 12 months, they were more likely to be employed. Also less expected financial assistance and less were concurrently working.

Factors influencing completion rates (§3.7)

In the brief stay group, more of the completers were married.

In the short stay group more of the completers came from Grade 12 or higher educational backgrounds and more were enrolled in Provincial courses as compared to Fundamental. These shortstay completers were also enrolled more in other courses and more of them were unemployed, but looking for work in the previous 12 months.

In the long-stay group the completers tended to be more from Grade 12 or higher levels and less enrolled in Fundamental courses. Also more were unemployed but looking in the previous 12 months.