Many of the most direct predictions about higher education appear poised to become reality as we enter the second half of the decade: the looming demographic cliff, the shrinking pool of first-time students, waning public confidence in higher education and growing skepticism about the value of attending college.
The percentage of high school students matriculating immediately to college has fallen to a 10-year low, and the nation’s colleges—now closing at a rate of one per week—may well be facing a confluence of events that truly rises to the level of existential risk.
As college and university leaders chart a path through this increasingly volatile landscape, they should start with a population of students they know very well: those who enrolled but did not graduate. Nearly 37 million working-age Americans were once enrolled in college but stopped out before completing their degree. Of these, almost 3 million are tantalizingly close to the finish line. With at least two years of academic credit within the past decade, these adult learners are considered the best bet to return to an institution and obtain a credential.
It’s a logical place to start for several reasons, not the least of which is that these students are already known to the institutions—in many cases, their demographic and financial aid information in their student information system. But supporting this overlooked population of adult learners isn’t merely a matter of convenience or just a stop-gap measure to prevent institutions from tumbling off the demographic cliff. It represents the path forward for how they can stay relevant and meet the needs of a fast-changing society and labor market.
The good news is this approach has now been tested in multiple states with support from major higher education philanthropies, which can now offer a powerful new roadmap with both the policy solutions needed to help near-completers return to and finish their college journey.
Over the past decade, a growing number of states have embraced the potential of re-enrollment as a powerful level for closing attainment gaps, while strengthening their state workforce. Tennessee Reconnect emerged as the first large-scale near-completer effort to emphasize navigators, which provide individualized support to returning learners from enrollment to graduation. Mississippi’s Complete 2 Compete uses data to find individuals eligible to earn an associate’s degree based on their existing college credit.
In North Carolina, NC Reconnect—supported by our teams at InsideTrack and the John M. Belk Endowment—has worked to reach more than 40,000 previously enrolled community college students with a message focused on the opportunity to obtain “better skills and better jobs.”
A decade ago, six major foundations collaborated to launch Credit When It’s Due, which has since then enabled 7,000 learners in 11 states to earn associate’s degrees using reverse transfer. More recently, the Institute for Higher Education Policy’s Degrees When Due has been working with nearly 200 institutions in 23 states to better identify and support adult learners as they return to college.
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What all of these initiatives have in common is a simple promise to students: Let us help you finish what you started. But helping individuals requires more than just an invitation. It requires a system and institution-wide focus on removing financial barriers, providing effective support throughout the process and ensuring students receive credit for their past achievements.
It starts with addressing financial barriers to re-enrollment. In July, the U.S. Department of Education largely banned colleges from withholding transcripts for unpaid college bills, a practice that has effectively prevented millions of stopped-out students from re-enrolling. Removing this barrier to re-enrollment is a great start, but more can be done at the state and institution level. There are still millions of former students with so-called “stranded” or “wasted credits.” Policymakers and institutions should continue to work to create effective transfer pathways—and ensure returning learners are eligible for state financial aid.
Adult learners bring with them rich (and sometimes underappreciated) lived experiences from work, community service and family life. Awarding credit for prior learning—particularly military, workforce training or alternative credentials—can accelerate progress toward completion. A growing number of institutions are offering stackable credential programs, enabling students to earn multiple, smaller credentials that can be combined over time to give them a competitive edge in the job market.
Finally, students stop out of higher education not because of a lack of willpower, but because of complex personal reasons and often, a higher education labyrinth that isn’t built with working learners in mind. Returning to and finishing higher education requires support before, during and after the re-enrollment process itself. A coach or navigator can help them troubleshoot the myriad of issues that can thwart their progress—from finances, academic challenges, mental health concerns and institutional bureaucracy. For example, Blue Ridge Community College in North Carolina uses a concierge-like approach to coaching with multiple points of contact and connection for returning adults to ensure they don’t get lost in the barrage of their first weeks.
Helping students who are close to the finish line return and finish is a logical, “low-hanging fruit” solution. But in many respects, identifying formerly enrolled learners, re-engaging them and streamlining their path to re-enrollment requires a change in culture and focus for institutions of higher education. Against an increasingly challenging backdrop for many colleges and universities, investing in the untapped potential of near-completers—and the 37 million Americans with some college and no degree—is a critical opportunity to stabilize enrollment while better meeting the needs of families, communities and employers. The untapped potential of near-completers is too significant to ignore as an economic, completion and equity imperative. The good news is that we have the data, the tools and the political will to act.