Financial burden, but not lack of employment, is the top reason for adult learners to leave higher education before completing a degree. This is according to research by the University Professional and Continuing Education Association (UPCEA) and StraighterLine regarding why students in higher education become disengaged.
Specifically, given the added pressures of the pandemic, the study looked at people with previous college credits who are no longer attending an institution in order to understand why they left school and what it would take for them to re-engage. “Families are more financially fragile, and students have greater challenges,” Jim Fong, Chief Research Officer and Director of the Center for Research and Strategy at UPCEA, said in statement. “If we don’t act or anticipate this, they’ll not only disengage, but they will become disenfranchised with higher education.”
The study, conducted this year, targeted adult learners ages 20 to 34, and examined decision factors and motivations, perceptions and attitudes, and the likeliness that the person would re-enroll in higher ed.
The findings confirmed a larger trend in higher education of the widening gender gap—63% identified as female and 33% identified as male, according to Chief Learning Officer Dr. Amy Smith, co-lead principal investigator on the study. In addition, more than half of respondents were employed fulltime, while only 9% were unemployed. Plus, a majority (65%) were making $50,000 or less, confirming further that many individuals were living on a tight budget and bound to employment responsibilities.
Interestingly, most respondents cited financial reasons for leaving higher education, although, loss of a job during the pandemic was not a strong factor. In total, 42% of respondents stopped taking classes for financial reason, but looking at the demographics by generation, 32% left for family or personal commitments—this number was higher for mid-millennials versus young millennials or Generation Z.
“Not surprisingly, family commitments were very important to mid-millennials. Many are working parents who had to make the choice between going to school or providing for their family,” Smith stated. “Gen Z, on the other hand, cares more about a school being the right fit for them, and they are willing to pay for it.”
For Generation Z, the No. 1 reason for leaving school was “not the right fit,” above financial burden. When asked about level of engagement with institutions before leaving, students with the highest rate of engagement also reported greater satisfaction with the school. In fact, 48% of students who recently left school were extremely or very satisfied with their institution, versus 38% of those who had been out of school for several years.
When asked why they enrolled in higher education to begin with, most respondents prioritized personal goals over career goals, 62% versus 44%, respectively. Smith believes these findings reflect the strongest pull for returning to higher education after a break would also be to complete these personal goals.
“People come back to meet a personal goal, and 62% of them want to finish it. So they never left that original vision of who they were going to be. That’s huge,” Smith said.
In addition, the study reveals that students need incremental achievement recognition to re-engage students. According to respondents, 70% of individuals said institutions could provide certificates for credits earned as a way to re-engage; 62% named providing courses at lower prices; 58% said offering workshops to address struggles; 55% said providing counseling; and 46% wanted concierge services to help.
“It is imperative that institutions cultivate meaningful connections to their students from the moment they enter the enrollment funnel. Life happens, students disengage. In this increasingly competitive marketplace, it is essential that institutions have an established relationship and tactics of engagement with their disengaged learners to bring them back into the fold,” according to Fold.