New Study Shows Mixed Financial Returns and Personal Benefits for Adults Who Return to College

Adults who go back to college and graduate experience personal growth and higher earnings, but debt and local job markets affect their overall gains. A new report by California Competes, part of its Degrees of Value research series, examines the return on investment for adults who previously stopped their education and later finished their degrees.

Findings

Roughly forty-three million Americans hold some college credits but lack a credential, including about thirty-seven million working-age adults under sixty-five. The research draws on interviews with twenty-seven California adult learners first interviewed in 2023 and again in 2025. About half of the interviewed graduates saw their earnings rise within three years of finishing their degrees, especially those who returned with clear career goals. One graduate went from earning ten dollars an hour as a cleaner to making more than one hundred thousand dollars a year as a nurse. However, graduates living in rural communities reported smaller financial gains because local job opportunities were limited.

Costs And Barriers

Returning to school brought major costs for many students. Some graduates accumulated between eighty thousand and one hundred thousand dollars in debt. Others faced lost wages, childcare expenses, and the difficulty of managing work, family, and studies at the same time. Emi Fujita-Conrads, a researcher at the organization and author of the report, noted that losing credits often prolonged the time needed to finish a degree and pushed students deeper into debt.

Broader Value

Beyond money, graduates pointed to non-financial benefits such as building stronger skills, gaining self-confidence, seeing wider perspectives, and creating better futures for their children. Meanwhile, a separate report from Trellis Strategies surveyed more than three thousand former undergraduates across fifty-eight institutions in thirteen states. That survey found seventy-three percent believed a completed degree would boost their career earnings, and seventy percent thought it would improve their quality of life. At the same time, thirty-five percent cited personal finances as a reason for leaving school, thirty-two percent pointed to family responsibilities, twenty-seven percent named employment, and twenty-five percent blamed the cost of attendance.

Context

To improve these outcomes, the report suggests policymakers provide earlier career guidance, local job market data, and expanded credit for prior learning. Adult learners frequently juggle education with jobs and family obligations, making early and accurate regional labor market information essential for their success.