Does Free College “Work” for Adult Learners? Enrollment Impacts of Michigan Reconnect

• In Event: Increasing College Enrollment and Success for Adult Students

Abstract

Despite the rising popularity of adult free-college (“reconnect”) programs, little is known about their impact on adult student enrollment. To address this gap and inform future policy design, we leverage the 2021 statewide rollout of Michigan Reconnect to estimate causal impacts of the program on adult enrollment overall, as well as enrollment of adults by intensity, gender, and age. We expand the empirical understanding of reconnect programs, discuss actionable recommendations for policy and practice, and lay a foundation for future research in this area. 

Michigan Reconnect was enacted with bipartisan support in 2020 and first implemented in the 2021-22 academic year. As a free tuition program, Reconnect provides grant aid to cover otherwise unmet tuition and fee expenses for adult students enrolled in an associate or certificate program at one of the state’s 25 two-year public community colleges. Eligibility is restricted to Michigan residents ages 25 and older who have a high school diploma/GED but have not already completed an associate or bachelor’s degree. 

Data for our study come from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS). We focus on the 13-year window beginning in 2011-12 and continuing through 2023-24. IPEDS only requires institutions to report adult enrollment bi-annually, meaning we observe enrollment every odd year. We leverage a two-way, fixed effects difference-in-differences design to compare two-year public institutions in Michigan and those in other Great Lakes states (i.e., Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin) and a matched control sample, showing that Reconnect significantly increased adult enrollment in community colleges by 30% (roughly 500 students per campus). We show larger gains among women and older adults (aged 40-64). These increases were entirely driven by growth in part-time student enrollment. 

Our findings demonstrate that Reconnect has made significant progress toward the goal of ‘reconnecting’ Michigan adult students to education. Not only did our study find a large overall increase in adult enrollment, but state administrative data shows that approximately 90% of Reconnect participants had some college experience prior to beginning the program. Having prompted significant enrollment increases across all adult age categories, the design and delivery of Reconnect is well-suited to engaging older and younger adults alike. 

Our study underscores the value of part-time attendance for adult-aged students; higher enrollment intensity is often not feasible given the many constraints these students face. Caregiving responsibilities and employment complicate the logistics of pursuing higher education at all, let alone carving out the time to attend full-time. It is therefore imperative that reconnect programs recognize and accommodate these ‘non-traditional’ students’ needs, at the very least by allowing flexibility in enrollment intensity. In light of past research showing that financial aid interventions are far more effective when coupled with additional supports, policymakers could bolster the positive impacts of Reconnect by implementing complementary resources like mentoring—and subsequent research should examine students’ longer-term outcomes like completion. 

Authors

• Taylor K. Odle, University of Wisconsin-Madison
  Non-Presenting Co-Author

• Sky Ranee Duke, University of Wisconsin-Madison
  Presenting Author