Colleges Eye Adults Who Didn’t Finish Degrees as Enrollments Fall

A student sits in a lecture hall while class is being dismissed at the University of Texas in Austin on Feb. 22, 2024. (Brandon Bell/Getty Image)

With a decline in college enrollment nationwide, higher education institutions are increasingly targeting another demographic—the tens of millions of adults who didn’t complete their college studies.

Higher education leaders say incentives are in place across the country to get these past students back in the classroom—whether full-time or part-time, online or in person—as the 2024-2025 academic year gets underway.

“There are 40 million adults out there who started college and didn’t finish,” Patricia McGuire, Trinity Washington University president, said.

“That has to be the next place where higher education turns its attention because I think there’s a lot of people who are just itching to change their job or to move ahead in the workplace, and higher ed can be a solution to that,” she said.

McGuire was speaking during the “Public Trust in Higher Education” panel discussion held by policy think tank New America in Washington, D.C., on Aug. 7.

In a June report, “Some College, No Credential Student Outcomes,” the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center (NSCRC) identifies a 2.9 percent increase from 2022 to 2023 in the population of adults under 65 who never finished college, while the re-enrollment of that population in higher learning institutions for the same year increased by 9.1 percent.

The agency also reported that in the fall 2023 semester, enrollments in shorter-term certificate programs at colleges and universities increased by 10 percent in one year, compared to 3.6 percent for associate degree programs and less than 1 percent for bachelor’s degree programs.

In the past decade, however, college and university enrollment nationwide has decreased by about 1.5 million students, or 7.4 percent, according to NSCRC.

High Costs as Main Issue

New America’s 2024 survey of 1,704 American adults identified high costs as the main problem with higher education. However, 73 percent said a college degree still produces a return on the investment, down from 80 percent in a 2017 survey.

While those in their late teens or early 20s may decide to enter the workforce after high school graduation or pursue some of the emerging vocational training programs outside of the higher education system, millions of their older peers who didn’t stick with college in an era when flexible learning options weren’t available have hit a dead end in their current jobs and need to obtain additional education to change their circumstances, McGuire said.

“They can stay in their jobs, but now we have all kinds of ways to attend college,” she said. “This is no longer packing up and leaving home and entering a dormitory ...  This is going to work full time, taking care of your kids and learning online as well.”

Programs in Place

In the Golden State, a degree completion program for former students was announced in the fall of 2022 as part of an initiative to increase enrollment by 23,000 students within eight years, according to a University of California news release.

New Jersey’s “Some College, No Degree” initiative this year added five more participating schools, bringing the total to 22, that will offer financial aid, flexible learning options, and academic credits for prior work experience to program participants.

About 790,000 adult New Jersey residents are eligible for the program, which was launched in 2023 and costs about $8 million so far. Program officials hope that 65 percent of adult state residents will have “high-quality credentials,” whether academic degrees or certificates, by 2025, according to Brian Bridges, New Jersey Higher Education Secretary.

During the Aug. 7 panel discussion, Bridges said leaders in government and education must continue to incentivize college programs and emphasize a degree’s return on investment.

“I hope higher education doesn’t become the cable industry or the Sears and Roebuck Company,” he said. “As a sector, we have to grapple with the issue of cost.”

In New York City, the public City University of New York (CUNY) system reported that 33,378 students re-enrolled in college since its “Reconnect” program between August of 2022 and May of this year. The program offers low tuition and financial aid, flexible schedules, and onsite childcare.

The NCSRC report said more than 943,000 students who previously completed some college coursework re-enrolled in higher education during the 2022-2023 academic year, and 134,800 of them earned some degree or credential.

“For states, seeing additional (re-enrolled) students earn credentials can help to increase the attainment levels of their workforces and make their economies more competitive,” the report said. “For institutions, students can help address enrollment shortfalls amid a shifting demographic landscape.”