Exploring the Experiences of Former College Students Who Left Without Completing a Degree

• In Event: Institutional Supports that Matter: Examining Coaching, Microgrants, and Pathways to College Completion

Abstract

Student retention has been of scholarly and practical interest for decades, becoming more prominent in the student success movement. Existing research has explored factors that support student persistence; however, research about former students who departed from their university and have not obtained a degree is scarce. Thus, this study explored the experiences of former students at a large public research university in the Midwest. The findings demonstrate how participants experienced unimaginable barriers without support; struggled to find a community within the larger university community; and identified their successes in postsecondary education more expansively than institutional metrics. Our contribution can help higher education administrators and policy makers intervene before students stop-out and create easier pathways back to college for degree completion.

Authors

• Brendon M. Soltis, Michigan State University

• Kay Stevens, Michigan State University