Degree Completion

Higher education can be a pathway to economic security, social mobility, and society-wide value – but only if students complete their degree or credential.

There are 36 million American adults who began college and earned credits, but needed to stop out before completing their degree. Today’s students, including this “some college, no degree” population, deserve a strong and supported pathway to earn a valuable degree. Completed degrees benefit the students who earn them and, in turn, strengthen our families, communities, workforce, and society as a whole. 

We promote such pathways to degree completion for today’s students by identifying barriers to completion and degree attainment, examining innovative approaches at the institutional, state, and federal levels to promote completion, and working with policymakers and practitioners to advance strategies and policies that support students over the degree finish line.