New UW-Madison Study Offers Ways to Increase Adult Enrollment in College

February 3, 2026   |   By Karen Rivedal, Office of Research & Scholarship

A new journal article co-authored by School of Education doctoral student Sky Duke and professor Taylor Odle recommends ways for states to increase older-adult enrollment in college by examining whether a large program in Michigan offering free community college tuition for adults aged 25–64 actually worked.

The paper’s aim was to measure the “causal impact” of the statewide program, known as “Michigan Reconnect,” on older-adult enrollment overall and on enrollment of older adults by gender, full- or part-time status, and age. The information is important because these impacts have rarely been rigorously studied, despite rapid growth in free or reduced tuition programs across the country.

A Michigan native, Duke first became curious about the state’s free college initiatives after Michigan Reconnect’s precursor, Futures for Frontliners, was introduced during the pandemic. “The program sounded incredible, yet none of the frontline workers I knew were able to participate,” she said. “When I saw that Michigan Reconnect had been adopted as a kind of extension of Frontliners, I became curious about its efficacy — was Reconnect actually making a difference for aspiring adult students?”

“We can isolate the impact of free-college programs on older adults only, versus prior works on free-college programs that serve more ‘traditional’ students,” or those under 25, said Odle, an assistant professor in the School of Education’s Department of Educational Policy Studies.

Reconnect programs are designed for adults who are often juggling work, caregiving and other responsibilities. They often have limited access to institutional resources and are more likely to have unmet financial need, making financial aid a potentially powerful tool for increasing participation, Odle says.

The researchers found that Michigan Reconnect, one of the largest such programs in the country, “significantly increased” older-adult enrollment in community colleges — by 38%, or roughly 623 students, with the largest gains among adults aged 25–34 and women. Research also showed the increases were “almost entirely driven” by a 42% growth in new part-time students — although full-time enrollment also increased significantly, by 23%, or 63 students.

The paper, “Does Free College ‘Work’ for Adults? Enrollment Impacts of Michigan Reconnect,” was published in Educational Researcher.

Duke and Odle compared older-adult enrollment in Michigan’s community colleges before and after the program’s 2020 rollout and against two comparison groups: community colleges in neighboring Great Lakes states and a matched national sample. Their analysis uses data from the U.S. Department of Education’s Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), covering a 12-year period from 2011 to 2023.

Michigan’s program is a state-funded, last-dollar type of scholarship, which promises to cover tuition and mandatory fees after other aid is applied. It covers state residents aged 25 or older without a college degree and offers tuition-free or reduced tuition to attend one of Michigan’s 25 public community colleges for an associate degree or certificate. The program was widely promoted through media campaigns at rollout and has received more than 150,000 applications since its introduction.

The new paper estimates that roughly half (15,575) of the 31,559 students served by Michigan Reconnect enrolled expressly due to the program, with the remainder having been college-bound regardless of the program’s introduction. New enrollment due to the program also was not evenly distributed across Michigan’s public community colleges, but varied widely by campus, ranging between 65 and 3,128 in the 2023–2024 school year.

The authors found no evidence that other factors — such as changes in unemployment, tuition levels, or institutional funding — explained the enrollment increases. Larger enrollment gains seen among women and younger adults do suggest that initiatives may be more effective for individuals ‘reconnecting’ with college earlier in their careers or family lives, the article noted.

The authors also compared Michigan Reconnect to Tennessee Reconnect, identified as the only other older adult-focused program with causal evidence around enrollment impact. They noted that Tennessee’s program includes mandatory advising and “navigators” to help adults access college systems, while Michigan’s program is more flexible but offers fewer built-in supports.

Future research could examine whether those program differences are important, and if so, which features matter most, Duke and Odle said. Additional study also is needed on long-term outcomes for Reconnect students, such as rates of retention and completion.

The popularity of Michigan Reconnect among part-time students offers lessons for other states and institutions considering reconnect programs as well. First, programs should not require full-time enrollment, which appears more difficult for adult reconnect students to balance, based on the Michigan Reconnect study findings. In addition, researchers said part-time reconnectors may benefit from additional supports, given the lower retention and completion rates traditionally associated with part-time enrollment.

Duke and Odle recommend additional assistance for part-time reconnect students to be successful, including specialized academic advising, flexible course scheduling, on-campus jobs, transition and time management supports, and wraparound-style services.

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About the researchers

Odle, a prolific researcher based in the school’s Wisconsin Center for Education Research, examines how data can be used to improve college access and success. Duke, a doctoral student in the Department of Educational Policy Studies, researches how financial aid shapes college access and success for adult students, low-income students, and students of color.