Two-thirds of adults who re-enroll in college after a year or more of being away never end up graduating, according to a study released on October 7.
Using data from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, the study was created by the combined effort of the University Professional and Continuing Education Association, the American Council on Education, NASPA: Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education and InsideTrack, a provider of student coaching.
In the past two decades, more than 31 million people have started college but never received a degree, according to the study. About one-third of these students only completed one term at one college.
However, a majority of them took less traditional paths, like going to school part-time, returning as an adult or attending more than one college or university.
Focusing on the adults who return to college after a break in their education, of the 4.5 million of them who re-enrolled into college from 2005 to 2008, only 33.7% went on to graduate. About 27% fewer non-first-time students completed their degree during this time than first-time students.
Balancing school, careers and personal obligations are among the reasons why returning adults have difficulty finishing their education. Going to school part-time may not make them eligible for as much financial aid, which could impact how many classes these students can take at a time.
Students who have gone to multiple universities sometimes have the added difficulty of transferring to a new school only to lose credits, leading the students to have to repeat the same classes. These complications can make the education process even longer.
Dave Jarrat, vice president of marketing for InsideTrack and one of the organizers of the study, told Inside Higher Ed that there is still a lot more data to analyze and work with.
“But already at this point, there’s no denying we have a serious problem,” Jarrat said. “Now we have to figure out what’s working, what’s not working, and how we can close that gap. We’re hoping this is a wake-up call.”
Flexible education options, online classes and other resources to help adults finish their degrees are areas that universities may want to focus on.
Returning students should be aware of the potential challenges they may face before they re-enroll in school so that they can prepare themselves to face these challenges and finally earn their degrees.
