More students who previously stopped out of college without earning a credential are re-enrolling at even higher rates, signaling a growing momentum in returning adult learners.
That’s according to a new report from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, which scanned over 3,600 colleges and their rates of “some college, no credential” demographic in the 2023-24 academic year.
Last year, 42 states and the District of Columbia saw increases in re-enrollment over the year prior. Massachusetts led the pack with a 35.2% growth in students returning to earn a credential. That growth could be partially credited to MassReconnect, a state program offering free community college to adults aged 25 and older, which began in August 2023.
Among the eight states that did not experience year-over-year growth, Oregon and Utah still experienced positive re-enrollment rates.
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“It is inspiring to see that over one million adults returned to campuses last year—the most we’ve ever recorded,” said Doug Shapiro, executive director of the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center. “They’re reviving college aspirations that had been put on hold years before. And states and institutions are working to make it even easier for more students to do so in the future.”
Additionally, the number of students stopping out has declined for the second year in a row. Save for-profit and primarily online institutions, all higher education sectors experienced fewer stopouts between January 2022 and July 2023.
The Clearinghouse suggested that this trend may be due to state policies that allow institutions to award credentials to previous students who had already earned some credits. For example, Colorado’s Re-Engaged initiative allows public four-year schools to award degrees to learners who’ve stopped out in the past decade if they had already completed 70 credit hours.
Each year, roughly one in four individuals from the “some college, no credential” group earn their first credential without formally re-enrolling.
Despite the promising trends, 37.6 million Americans under age 65 have stopped out. Moreover, the total population of working-age adults with some college experience yet no credentials grew by 2.2% by the end of July 2023.
