Why Adult Learners Should Set Academic Goals, and Tips for Creating Your Own

Key Insights:

• Academic goals include what you want to achieve or actions you want to take during the course of your educational program.
• Research has found that setting goals can help you stay motivated and boost your performance, also giving you something to work toward throughout your healthcare education journey.
• UMA is here to help learners in our healthcare programs identify and take steps toward their academic goals. We offer a variety of academic services to help you succeed both in school and beyond.

Healthcare occupations are projected to grow much faster than average between 2024 and 2034.¹ Setting career goals can help you stay motivated and provide direction for professional growth.² However, there is also value in defining a few academic goals while working toward your healthcare diploma or degree.

What Are Academic Goals?

Academic goals are the things you want to do or the accomplishments you want to achieve during your educational journey. Maybe you want to get a certain grade point average (GPA) in your courses, or you might have a specific number of hours you want to dedicate to your studies each week. Both of these would be considered academic goals.

In the 6th edition of The Handbook of Social Psychology, Ayelet Fishbach defines goals as “mental representations of desired states.”³ So, think of academic goals as the images that appear in your mind when you dream about what you want your educational journey to look like.

Benefits of Setting Educational Goals

Taking the time to set academic goals can be beneficial for several reasons:

• People who set clear, specific goals often achieve more than those who don’t.⁴
• Goal setting has also been linked with improved performance.⁵
• Setting goals can boost your motivation,⁵ which may make it easier to stay on track.

Like with career goals, setting educational goals gives you something to work toward. It reminds you of what you need to achieve as you continue on your career path in healthcare.

Academic Goal Examples

Academic goals can fall into a number of categories. Here are a few examples of educational goals you might set as an adult learner, depending on whether you’re focused on performing well in your courses, developing new skills, or creating helpful study habits.

Academic Goal Type	Academic Goal Examples
Performance-Based Academic Goals	I will get a B or higher in my individual courses. I will graduate from my healthcare program with at least a 3.51 GPA.
Skills-Based Academic Goals	I will practice my new job-related skill at least 3 days each week. I will visualize myself successfully performing the new skill for 2 minutes each day.
Learning-Based Academic Goals	I will study my course materials for a minimum of 30 minutes per day. I will use flashcards for 5 minutes per day until I can answer each question without looking at my notes.

Tips for Setting (and Reaching) Academic Goals As an Adult Learner

Some of these academic goal examples may have sparked a few ideas for creating your own. If they didn’t, don’t worry. We have a few tips that can help.

Remember your “why”

In an article published by the National College Attainment Network, it explains that when people are focused on goals for internal reasons — called intrinsic motivators — they’re more likely to be successful.⁶

So, think about why working in healthcare is important to you, or what it might mean to your family generations from now if you follow your calling to care. Use your “why” to continue to motivate you as you pursue your academic goals.

Make your goals S.M.A.R.T.

S.M.A.R.T. goals are:

• Specific: Precise and clear, not ambiguous or undefined
• Measurable: Can be measured for progress
• Achievable: May be difficult, but still possible to reach
• Relevant: Aligns with what you want in the bigger picture of life
• Time-sensitive: Has a deadline

S.M.A.R.T. goal examples for adult learners who are pursuing a healthcare diploma or degree could include, “I will improve my Anatomy & Physiology grade by 10% by studying an extra hour each week until the final exam,” or, “I will spend 15 minutes a day typing until I achieve a 5% increase in speed and accuracy for my healthcare accounting course.”

Prepare for obstacles in advance

Ask anyone who has achieved success in a specific area in their life, and they’ll likely tell you that they encountered a few obstacles along the way. Preparing in advance enables you to create a plan for dealing with potential challenges so they don’t derail your ability to reach your goals.

For example, you might not leave studying for an exam until the last minute in case one of your children gets sick or you need to work late. Or if you know that you have a hard time studying at night, plan to study in the morning or on your lunch break so you’re not tempted to skip it.

Update your goals as you go

Don’t think of your academic goals as being set in stone. Sometimes life gets in the way, or you set a goal only to learn that it’s too easy or difficult for you to reach. Modifying your goals as needed can help you continue to work toward what it is you want to achieve in a way that fits your current life best.

So, review your goals regularly and change them if you need to. Once you reach a goal, set another one. This can help you to keep progressing toward your ultimate goal — graduating from your healthcare program and pursuing a career in a field you feel passionate about.

UMA Is Here to Help You With Your Academic Goals

One of the points we strive to reinforce at Ultimate Medical Academy is that our adult learners don’t have to pursue their healthcare journey alone.

We are here to help you reach your academic goals. We can help with our variety of Student Services designed to support your success in both your individual courses and your healthcare program overall, from tutoring to getting clarity about coursework from your instructors, and more.

Contact us to learn more about our services, or to discuss your healthcare goals and how we can help you reach them. We look forward to helping in any way we can.

FAQs

• What is an academic goal? It’s a goal related to your educational journey, such as getting a certain grade in a course or committing to studying for a specific amount of time each week to learn the presented materials.
• What are learning goals? Learning goals can involve gaining knowledge in a particular area or developing specific skills (such as improving your problem-solving skills). Working with flashcards, practicing in labs, and setting aside a dedicated time to study course materials can all help you learn the information provided in your healthcare courses.
• How can goal setting help with academic performance? Research connects setting goals with improved performance.5 Setting academic goals that involve studying a certain amount of time each day or week can help you learn information that will be covered in upcoming quizzes and tests.
• Why is it important that goals be measurable? If a goal can’t be measured, it’s hard to know whether you’ve reached it. If you say, “I’m going to do well in my classes,” what does “well” mean? Making goals measurable — such as by saying, “I will get a B or higher in my classes” — enables you to track how close you are to your goal, or how much further you have to go to reach it.