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
Strada Education Foundation and the John M. Belk Endowment funded a pilot program partnering InsideTrack re-enrollment coaching with five North Carolina community colleges to re-engage 12,000 stopped-out students. After the initial success, three additional cohorts of five colleges each were added to the initiative and have impacted thousands of learners. The NC Reconnect program is now expanding to a fifth cohort of four more community colleges, set to launch spring of 2025. 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
Strada Education Foundation and the John M. Belk Endowment funded a pilot program partnering InsideTrack re-enrollment coaching with five North Carolina community colleges to re-engage 12,000 stopped-out students. After the initial success, three additional cohorts of five colleges each were added to the initiative and have impacted thousands of learners. The NC Reconnect program is now expanding to a fifth cohort of four more community colleges, set to launch spring of 2025. 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 three individual program cohorts, 2,633 former students who worked with an InsideTrack coach were able to reconnect with their original goal and re-enroll at their institution. For those re-enrolled in the Fall 2021 or Fall 2022 cohorts, between 66-68 percent completed their program or enrolled in the following term.
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.
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 three individual program cohorts, 2,633 former students who worked with an InsideTrack coach were able to reconnect with their original goal and re-enroll at their institution. For those re-enrolled in the Fall 2021 or Fall 2022 cohorts, between 66-68 percent completed their program or enrolled in the following term.
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.
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:
Mike Krause
Senior Advisor, 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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