Some College, No Credential - A 2025 Snapshot for the Nation and the States

Oct 15, 2026

Nearly 43.1 million people are stopped out of college without earning a credential, including 37.6 million working-age adults under 65. The report updates changes in the Some College, No Credential (SCNC) population from 2022–23 to 2023–24, and tracks re-enrollment, perseverance, and first-credential attainment in 2023–24. Findings show persistent growth nationwide, improved trends in several outcomes, and ongoing disparities by race/ethnicity alongside clearer roles for community colleges and primarily online institutions.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages21

Reading Time53 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Report Overview

An SCNC Population Update for the 2023-24 Academic Year

SCNC Outcomes in the 2023-24 Academic Year: Re-Enrollment, Perseverance, and First Credential

Findings and Insights From Three Years of SCNC Reporting

SCNC Re-Engagement and Outcomes by Race/Ethnicity and Gender

Potential Completers and Their

Some College, No Credential A 2025 Snapshot for the Nation and the States SOME COLLEGE, NO CREDENTIAL A 2025 SNAPSHOT FOR THE NATION AND THE STATES Today, nearly 43.1 million people are stopped out of college without a credential. Of these, 37.6 million are working age adults under age 65. As states look to increase the skills of their labor forces and institutions confront changing demographic realities, re-engaging with these Some College, No Credential (SCNC) individuals has never been more crucial. In this year’s report—the sixth in our series on SCNC individuals and their re-engagement with postsecondary education—we provide a brief update on changes to the SCNC population between the start of the 2022-23 and 2023- 24 academic years. We also provide updates on outcomes for SCNC learners, including re-enrollment, perseverance, and first credential earning in the 2023-24 academic year. We then turn to important learnings across the last three years of reporting on this population. This includes consistent patterns in the structure of the SCNC population and their re-engagement with higher education, as well as insights gained across the last three years. Our reporting reveals both persistent growth in the SCNC population and promising avenues for states and institutions to re-engage SCNC individuals. Both the overall SCNC population, and the working-age SCNC population (those underage 65), have increased in each of the three years. All fifty states and the District of Columbia have larger SCNC populations today than they did at the start of the 2021-22 academic year. Moreover, demographic disparities in SCNC re-engagement and outcomes have persisted even as students saw gains in key metrics such as perseverance and credential earning in 2023-24. We have also focused attention on two important subpopulations—Potential Completers and Recent Stopouts—who reengage with higher education at higher rates. Potential Completers have already completed two academic years of fulltime equivalent enrollment in the last decade. Recent Stopouts were last enrolled four to five academic terms prior to the start of an academic year. In addition, we have highlighted a third group of SCNC students: those who earn credentials without having to re-enroll. This year, we highlight how this set of students reflect—in part—positive advances toward awarding credentials to SCNC students for academic progress they have already completed. HIGHLIGHTS ◼ The SCNC population is 43.1 million as of the start of the 2023-24 academic year. The working age SCNC population currently under 65 comprises 37.6 million people, an increase of 2.2 percent from the start of the prior academic year. ◼ The number of students stopping out from higher education declined for the second year in a row, and the number of SCNC students re-enrolling in postsecondary education increased for the second year in a row. However, the SCNC population still grew as the 2.1 million students who were newly stopped out between January 2022 and July 2023 far outpaced SCNC re-enrollment in the 2022-23 academic year and the number of individuals aging out of the working age SCNC population. ◼ All institution sectors saw fewer stopouts between January 2022 and July 2023 compared to the same period starting a year prior, except for private for-profit four-year institutions and primarily online institutions. ◼ All states saw increases in the size of their SCNC populations, while 42 states and the District of Columbia saw increases in SCNC re-enrollment in 2023-24 compared to the previous year. ◼ Nationally, the share of re-enrollees earning a credential in their first year of re-enrollment ticked up to 4.7 percent (+0.3pp) . ◼ Despite persistent disparities in SCNC outcomes by race/ethnicity, all groups saw some gains in re-enrollment, perseverance, or credential earning over the past three years. ◼ Potential Completers—students with at least two years of full-time equ

FAQs

What is the scale of the Some College, No Credential (SCNC) population in 2023–24?

The SCNC population is 43.1 million as of the start of the 2023–24 academic year, including 37.6 million working-age adults under 65.

How did re-enrollment and stopouts change in 2023–24?

Stopouts declined for the second consecutive year, and SCNC re-enrollment increased for the second consecutive year. However, the SCNC population still grew due to newly stopped-out individuals and aging out of the working-age group.

Which groups show higher re-engagement and credentialing outcomes?

Potential Completers—those with at least two years of full-time equivalent enrollment before stopping out—are more likely to re-enroll, earn a credential in their first year back, persevere into a second year of re-enrollment, and complete a credential in their second year.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Jordan Avery