Encouraging adults who have started but not yet earned a degree or certificate to return to college is an enrollment strategy that is growing in interest across diverse state and institutional contexts. In an effort to improve both students' and administrators' experiences with adult learner engagement initiatives, administrative holds, and past…

In many Western societies, earning a degree is considered an ultimate educational achievement. Second chance education (SCE) serves as a distinct pathway for those who have dropped out of school, allowing them to re-enter the educational system. Understanding the specific obstacles and needs of students in SCE is crucial for providing…

This study examines the return to a year of schooling and the 'wage penalty' of over-education in the Israeli labour market. I used 2014-2015 PIAAC survey data to examine whether the basic assumption of the ORU wage model, i.e. that the return to a year of over-education is independent of the level of education, is plausible. I find that in…

Alcohol abuse is a prevalent problem among college students, with negative consequences on academic performance, social interactions, and well-being. The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to explore the lived experiences and challenges of sobriety for recovering adults returning to college. Sociocultural theory was used to…

Second Chance Schools (SCSs) have been operating for twenty-five years in Greece, that provide basic education to adults (18 years of age and older) who have not completed the compulsory nine-year education but have a primary school leaving certificate (six-year study). This study reports and analyses the participation factors of young adults…

Emerging adult learners returning to higher education must balance family, friends, work, community members, and many other responsibilities when they return to school. As higher education institutions struggle to increase enrollments, they can no longer ignore the critical population of students who now understand how returning or beginning…

This research abstract presents the rhizomatic research of an experimental wondering and wandering with a Deleuzian-Guattarian mindset. The purpose of the study is to de-re-territorialize "affective" adults who have been "dropping out" and "dropping back in" to high school. Adults who are "dropping out" and…

Context: The paper focuses on an analysis of school-based vocational education and training (VET) of adults in Slovakia against the background of the concept of second-chance education (hereafter SCE). The concept of SCE involves different conditions of education to those that adults faced during their initial education and were unable to meet.…

As student enrollment in colleges across the United States continues to diversify, teaching and learning practices must keep pace with demographic shifts. The growing majority of today's college student body, dubbed post-traditional learners, is older, racially and ethnically diverse, more experienced in work and life, and stretched by competing…

There has been an increasing effort to deliver Education in Emergencies (EiE) from the international community since the 1990s because of protracted humanitarian situations. Despite the growing attention to EiE, many children in conflict-affected situations miss schooling without having the opportunity to receive a second chance education (SCE),…

The purpose of this study is to examine the perceptions of adult learners in a first-year seminar course at Columbia State Community College, located in middle Tennessee, to determine if the content of the course has an impact on the learners' adjustment to college. With the statewide initiative to reach a goal of 55% of the state's population…

Higher education opens doors to job enhancement and economic benefits to adult learners. Despite facing multiple barriers such as life-work-school time conflicts and financial constraints, adult learners continue to seek higher education and certifications. Rural employers also benefit from supporting degree completion or job-specific…

In a 2023 report by the National Student Clearinghouse, the "some college, no credential" population stood at 40.4 million in 2021, up 3.6 percent from a year earlier. Of this population, more than half (21 million, 52%) were 25 or older at the time of their last enrollment. One solution to this reality is to reengage this population and…

This dissertation explores the stories of lived experience of mature women returners within the habitus of a single institution of higher education: The University of Washington Tacoma (UWT). This urban-serving university in Washington State was founded more than 30 years ago as an upper division branch campus designed to serve a place and…

In current Western societies, the number of students dropping out of school is high. At the same time, the importance of education leads to an increase in Second Chance Education (SCE) initiatives as an alternative way to obtain a degree. Little is known about the roles SCE can play as a learning environment for students "'dropping in'"…