NC Reconnect: Re-enrollment Coaching gives stopped-out learners the tools to return to college and complete their degrees
The Opportunity
To address North Carolina’s ambitious college-attainment goal for two million residents to become college-degreed workers by 2030, a statewide initiative called NC Reconnect was formed to support the over one million adults in the state with some college but no credential to return and finish what they started. Understanding that returning to school often comes with added complexities, the initiative sought to provide direct coaching to stopped-out learners to help them successfully reconnect to their education.
The Opportunity
To address North Carolina’s ambitious college-attainment goal for two million residents to become college-degreed workers by 2030, a statewide initiative called NC Reconnect was formed to support the over one million adults in the state with some college but no credential to return and finish what they started. Understanding that returning to school often comes with added complexities, the initiative sought to provide direct coaching to stopped-out learners to help them successfully reconnect to their education.
The Solution
The John M. Belk Endowment and Strada Education Foundation funded a pilot program leveraging InsideTrack Re-enrollment Coaching at five North Carolina community colleges to re-engage 12,000 stopped-out students. As the result of the initial success, the NC Reconnect program has now expanded to six cohorts, impacting 29 institutions across the state. Every student that has connected with an InsideTrack coach created a customized plan to address the difficulties they faced in returning to school and the potential challenges they would endure advancing toward their degree.
The Solution
The John M. Belk Endowment and Strada Education Foundation funded a pilot program leveraging InsideTrack Re-enrollment Coaching at five North Carolina community colleges to re-engage 12,000 stopped-out students. As the result of the initial success, the NC Reconnect program has now expanded to six cohorts, impacting 29 institutions across the state. Every student that has connected with an InsideTrack coach created a customized plan to address the difficulties they faced in returning to school and the potential challenges they would endure advancing toward their degree.
Proven Results
The Impact
Over the course of the five individual program cohorts, InsideTrack coaches outreached to nearly 48,000 learners and have supported 2,896 adult learners to re-enroll at their institution.
What's more, to double-down on the impact of coaching for re-enrolled students, the program expanded to include more focused Retention Coaching — allowing coaches to collaborate with enrolled students and support them to leverage their strengths in the face of challenges and persist through their education. Coaches get to know each student’s reason for committing to college and are able to reflect that back throughout the student’s educational journey, enhancing motivation for completing their degrees.
The result? So far, 28% of NC Reconnect learners have earned a degree or credential after returning to college, and 17% of the graduates earned a degree or credential within the first year back. And that’s just the beginning. See more results — and a framework that outlines the success of this work — in The Belk Center’s NC Reconnect Four-Year Review Report.
As a next step to advance the NC Reconnect initiative, stakeholders have scaled the program by training college staff in the InsideTrack methodology for sustainable re-enrollment and retention programs — embedding IACET-accredited coaching into institutional processes to create sustainable student-support impact.
Hear more about the impact from leaders and students involved in NC Reconnect:
The Impact
Over the course of the five individual program cohorts, InsideTrack coaches outreached to nearly 48,000 learners and have supported 2,896 adult learners to re-enroll at their institution.
What's more, to double-down on the impact of coaching for re-enrolled students, the program expanded to include more focused Retention Coaching — allowing coaches to collaborate with enrolled students and support them to leverage their strengths in the face of challenges and persist through their education. Coaches get to know each student’s reason for committing to college and are able to reflect that back throughout the student’s educational journey, enhancing motivation for completing their degrees.
The result? So far, 28% of NC Reconnect learners have earned a degree or credential after returning to college, and 17% of the graduates earned a degree or credential within the first year back. And that’s just the beginning. See more results — and a framework that outlines the success of this work — in The Belk Center’s NC Reconnect Four-Year Review Report.
As a next step to advance the NC Reconnect initiative, stakeholders have scaled the program by training college staff in the InsideTrack methodology for sustainable re-enrollment and retention programs — embedding IACET-accredited coaching into institutional processes to create sustainable student-support impact.
Hear more about the impact from leaders and students involved in NC Reconnect:
Adult Learner
Mike Krause
Vice President, John M. Belk Endowment
Dr. Laura Leatherwood
President, Blue Ridge Community College
MC Belk Pilon
President and Board Chair at John M. Belk Endowment
Learn more about how funders, colleges and coaches joined forces to re-enroll adult learners and fuel degree attainment across the state.
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