California Reconnect - Helping California adults complete credentials and advance

Helping California adults complete credentials and advance

Overview

Four million Californians ages 25 to 54 have a high school diploma and some college credit but never completed an associate’s or bachelor’s degree.¹ What’s more, the Public Policy Institute of California notes that by 2030, 40% of all jobs will require at least a bachelor’s degree² — and the state is on a course to fall 1.1 million college degrees short of that goal.³ When you consider that employers are already struggling to fill hundreds of thousands of skilled and professional positions requiring credentials and degrees, the need for change is urgent.

To help former California students return to college and complete their credentials, InsideTrack and the Institute for Higher Education Policy launched CALIFORNIA RECONNECT, an initiative that provides data-driven outreach and specialized coaching to stopped-out students across California. What initially began in 2023 as a 3-year pilot including 21 schools has now expanded into its fourth year after showing promising early outcomes — including a re-enrollment rate that’s three times the national average (8.1% vs. 2.7%).

The ultimate goal? Personalized support, increased program completion, improved employment opportunities, and upward economic mobility for thousands of former California students.

California Reconnect helps learners re-enroll, persist and complete at higher rates

4x

higher re-enrollment rate
for coached learners (19%) vs. uncoached learners (4.5%)

38%

of coached learners persisted into the following term, compared to 22% of uncoached learners

13.7%

of re-enrolled learners in a 5-school sample completed degrees within one year back (3x national average)

Key Strategies

The success of this project is driven by four key strategies:

Student-Centered
Outreach

Outreach and coaching focused on the student’s goals and what is best for each individual

Effective
Use of Data

Learning from the data, sharing as we go, and generating evidence to make the case for more student support

Learner
Insights

Documenting what we learn and hear from learners to capture, analyze and share the voices of students

Advancing Policies and Procedures

Working collectively in a community of practice, institutions support one another to drive continuous improvement

Project Outcomes

Holistic support of individuals on their re-enrollment journey

We believe in and have supported the successful return of hundreds of students to degree and certificate programs during the pilot phase of this project.

Key insights documented at the institutional level

We believe documenting the reasons why students initially stopped out — as well as the barriers to their return — will generate insights and recommendations on the “Some College, No Credential” population, both at the individual institution level and more generally.

Evidence of success

We believe the results of the program will provide valuable evidence for California policymakers, justifying further funding for future phases of the project or similar initiatives led by other groups.

Local and state-level implications

We believe sharing documented insights will further inform practices and policies at the local, system and state levels.

Positive institutional outcomes

We believe that recognizing the importance of student re-engagement to institutional financial sustainability will encourage institutionally-based follow-up initiatives and investment.

Improved current and future student success

We believe the outreach and discussions with these former students will yield actionable, evidence-based feedback and recommendations that will help participating institutions — in real time — reduce further stopouts while easing the re-enrollment process for former students.

Education Northwest

An independent, third-party California Reconnect program evaluation shows coaching drives 4x higher re-enrollment

InsideTrack’s California Reconnect initiative is showing measurable progress in re-engaging learners with some college credit but no credential. An independent, third-party evaluation conducted by Education Northwest shares results from year two of the program — including a nearly 4x higher re-enrollment rate for coached learners compared to their uncoached peers. Read the full report to see the impact of personalized coaching on student outcomes — including tangible persistence gains — and to explore recommendations for improving re-enrollment practices across California’s colleges and universities.

READ THE REPORT ›

Don't miss our on-demand webinar, where experts closest to the initiative host an in-depth discussion on these findings. WATCH THE WEBINAR ›

Our Funders

Thank you to the generous funders who make this initiative possible.

If you’re interested in funding innovative work like the California Reconnect initiative, please reach out to see how we can partner and make a greater impact on learner opportunity and advancement.

College Futures Foundation

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Information for participating institutions

Institutions participating in California Reconnect range from 2-year community colleges to 4-year public universities, all coming to the initiative with unique existing student support systems and processes in place. California Reconnect representatives take steps to understand where institutions are in their re-enrollment support process and work with staff and administration to implement best practices for policies and procedures.

At no cost to the participating institutions, California Reconnect will provide:

Outreach and re-enrollment support for former students, as well as a full semester of retention coaching for successfully re-enrolled students
Change management and collaboration with student support leadership to ensure full integration with campus initiatives and catalyze sustained re-enrollment efforts
Assessment and recommendations for strengthening of institutional practices, policies and procedures that affect returning students and student success more broadly
Opportunities to highlight and celebrate participating individuals and institutions for their tremendous efforts and successes

To find out more about the institutional requirements for participation in California Reconnect, download this informational sheet.

Get Involved

SHANNON SCHLOTZ
Senior Director, Programs, InsideTrack
shannon.schlotz@insidetrack.org

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