Ambition vs. Inertia: A Typology of Stopped-Out Adults and Their Barriers to Re-entry

• In Event: Re-engaging at Scale: How State and Institutional Policies Impact Re-enrollment and Success for Adult Learners

Abstract

As of 2025, nearly 38 million working-aged adults have left college after completing some coursework but no credential (Cohen, et al., 2025). While it is reasonable to interpret this fact through the lens of myriad social and educational policy failures, this number also represents the scale of opportunity for re-enrollment, reskilling, and upskilling, the likes of which could transform the economy and the lives of millions of Americans. Yet a key challenge to re-enrolling these adults into postsecondary programs is a limited understanding of the challenges that led to their stop out and the barriers to their re-enrollment. Further, given the scale of this population and of the challenges they face, including paying for college (Munip & Klein-Colins, 2023), balancing work with their studies (Kim & Baker, 2014), and securing childcare (Coca et al., 2023), more general recruitment or reengagement campaigns are not successful as they frequently do not speak to the questions and concerns of adults considering re-enrollment (Van Zoest et al., 2023).In an effort to better understand the barriers to adults’ re-enrollment and how community colleges and other state agencies can support their educational and economic opportunities, this study used K-means cluster analysis on a survey of adults in North Carolina who had stopped out of community college but indicated an interest in re-enrolling to develop distinct profiles. Findings suggest that adults who have stopped out are not a monolith, and that there are patterns in their barriers to reenrollment.Using K-means cluster analysis, four main profiles emerged:
Cluster 1 -“The Squeezed Striver”: These adults indicated high caretaking responsibilities and economic precarity. They indicated high rates of ambition, but the mental and physical load of family life is likely the primary reason they have not re-enrolled.
Cluster 2- “The Overwhelmed Hustler": These adults indicated the highest aspirations of any group, but they also indicated major barriers in every area asked about on the survey (e.g., economic stress, caretaking, logistical challenges, and self-confidence).
Cluster 3-“The Stable Standbys": These adults reported the fewest barriers or concerns about re-enrolling but they also had the lowest mean ambition scores on the survey. Life is relatively easy for this group based on their survey responses, however, they do not have a compelling reason to enroll and change their status quo.
Cluster 4-“The Cost-Conscious Climber”: These adults indicated lower rates of caretaking responsibilities but indicated high economic stress as well as lower self-confidence.  They likely take seriously the return on investment of their program as they are sensitive to cost and nervous about logistical factors and whether they still "fit" in a classroom setting.The full paper explicates these typologies and further explores each group’s goals, aspirations, and motivations for enrollment. We also address how these different profiles of adults dictate a wide variety of policy solutions and interventions for community colleges to consider and provide insights into who and how to target adults interested in re-enrolling in community colleges.

Authors

• Kaitlin Newhouse, North Carolina State University
  Presenting Author

• Emily VanZoest, Independent
  Non-Presenting Co-Author

• Jared King, North Carolina State University
  Non-Presenting Co-Author