College Completion

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By  Katherine Mangan August 16, 2022

Fourteen years, one baby, a divorce and three job moves after Desirée Vanderloop started college, she’s finally closing in on a goal that had always seemed just beyond her grasp.

When she walks across the stage to receive her bachelor’s degree at Morgan State University next May, she’ll join a growing number of returning adult students the university has targeted with programs designed specifically for them.

The skills Vanderloop learned on the job as her interests shifted from premed to healthcare technology will apply toward her degree. So will the 102 college credits she accumulated one or two courses at a time while winding her way through college as a working single mom. An advisor helped her devise a degree path that integrated her job skills and studies, saving several semesters’ worth of tuition and study.

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Fourteen years, one baby, a marriage and divorce, and three job moves after Desirée Vanderloop started college, she’s finally closing in on a goal that had always seemed just beyond her grasp.

When she walks across the stage next May to receive her bachelor’s degree at Morgan State University, she’ll join a growing number of returning adult students who are being lured back by programs designed specifically for people like them.

The skills Vanderloop learned on the job as her interests shifted from pre-med to health-care technology will apply toward her degree. So will 90 of the 102 credits she accumulated, one or two courses at a time, while winding her way through college as a working single mom. An adviser helped her design a degree path that integrated her job skills and studies, saving several semesters’ worth of tuition and time.

What’s happening at Morgan State reflects an emerging trend in higher ed nationwide as advisers and registrars reach out to former students and help piece together fragments of launched and abandoned college careers.

The number of people who began college but left without a credential grew to 39 million in 2020, up nearly 9 percent in two years. That represents more than one in five people in the United States over age 18, according to a report released this year by the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center. Re-engaging them can help narrow equity gaps, given that students of color and low-income students are far more likely to stop out of college, a trend that was heightened during the pandemic. And studies have shown that college credentials improve people’s job prospects and earning potential over a lifetime.

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