Amid nationwide declines in community college enrollment, a report from nonprofit InsideTrack offers step-by-step guidance and recommendations to help community college leaders reconnect with and re-enroll students with some college education but no degree.
The new report, “Reconnect, Re-Enroll and Rise: Five Imperatives to Help Community Colleges Enroll Stopped-Out Students,” includes insights, best practices and ready-to-use tools to guide community colleges working to identify, engage and re-enroll adult learners.
“Helping former students re-enroll and finish college is vitally important for the success and sustainability of community colleges. But more importantly, it’s vital for promoting opportunities for economic mobility and advancement for learners and their families,” said Kai Drekmeier, co-founder and chief development officer of InsideTrack. “Through this research, we hope to advance the field’s understanding of not only the reasons why adult learners can benefit from personalized support, but also how community colleges can help them navigate a successful return to college.”
Since 2020, more than one million fewer students have enrolled in higher education. Community colleges have lost nearly 830,000 students since spring 2020.
At the same time, 39 million Americans have some college credit but no credential, and about 22 million of those students last attended a community college before stopping out. In the wake of the largest enrollment declines in decades, a growing number of community colleges have launched campaigns to re-engage former students and help them finish degrees or other credentials that can boost their career and economic prospects.
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