VCAEC CourseConnect
Submitted By: Sean Abajian
Ventura County Adult Education Consortium
Website: vcaec.org
Type of Practice: Learner Transition
Program Area(s): ABE / ASE, ESL / EL Civics / Citizenship, CTE / Workforce Prep / Pre-apprenticeship
Region: Central Coast
Consortia Involved: Ventura County Adult Education Consortium
The Program of Practice
VCAEC is committed to actively connecting prospective students with programs across our member institutions — not simply listing school websites and hoping visitors find their way. We identified several interconnected challenges standing in the way of that goal.
First, course offerings from all eight adult schools and non-credit programs at three community colleges had never been consolidated into a single, searchable source. Second, even if aggregated, presenting students with hundreds of courses risked overwhelming them rather than guiding them. Third, and most critically, the traditional referral process stalled momentum: a prospective student who expressed interest in a program would be directed to call a school, only to restart the inquiry process from scratch — often losing motivation in the gap.
What we needed was a unified system that could aggregate course data from all member institutions, store it in an organized and updatable database, capture a prospective student's interests through a simple intake process, and then instantly deliver personalized results — including specific course matches near them and a direct link to each school's online registration form — via both text message and email.
The Response
We built VCAEC CourseConnect, a fully integrated course-matching and referral system. On the backend, we scrape course catalogs from each member school's website to populate a centralized database. A designated point person at each school can also log in to the CourseConnect backend portal to manually add or remove courses at any time, ensuring the data remains current.
On the student-facing side, we developed a streamlined intake form that asks only for the prospective student's name, contact information, and areas of interest. Upon submission, the system queries the database and instantly generates a customized email and text message matching the student's interests with relevant course offerings at nearby schools. Each message includes a direct link to the corresponding school's online registration page, enabling the student to begin enrolling immediately.
The Unique Features of the Program
VCAEC CourseConnect eliminates the waiting that typically discourages prospective students from following through. Results are delivered instantly — day or night — with no need to call a school office or wait for a return email.
Each time a referral is generated, the designated representative at the receiving school is automatically notified via email with the prospective student's contact information, allowing for proactive follow-up if desired. Students also have the option to call or text the VCAEC team directly during business hours for live support.
To maximize reach, we run targeted Facebook and Instagram ad campaigns organized by sector — Medical, ESL, GED, Citizenship Preparation, and others — each linked to a custom landing page on VCAEC.org. When a prospective student clicks through to a sector-specific page, they encounter the brief intake form and immediately receive tailored course recommendations via email and text.
The Outcome
VCAEC CourseConnect has generated referrals to every member adult school in the consortium. The model is cost-effective: targeted social media advertising reaches individuals who have already demonstrated interest in specific program areas, resulting in higher-quality leads at modest cost. By removing friction from the discovery-to-registration pathway, the system shortens the timeline between initial interest and enrollment — turning passive browsers into active registrants. We are continuing to iterate to improve the system.