Skip navigation
Infographic

The 6 stages of the adult degree completer journey

Recruitment tactics to boost enrollment at each stage

As institutions reel from the impact of COVID-19, enrollment leaders face renewed pressure to recruit new and different audiences to offset expected declines in traditional undergraduate enrollment. Some institutions have begun to focus on recruiting adult degree completers, or students 25 and up with some college credit but no bachelor’s degree.

But degree completers’ journeys to reenrollment are long and meandering—adding to a lengthy list of reasons why this audience is difficult to recruit, ranging from a lack of test taker lists to students’ own competing priorities.

Explore this infographic to learn more about the stages of adult degree completers’ journey to reenrollment. Discover their motivations, insights from EAB’s survey of 1,000+ prospective degree completers, and tactics enrollment leaders can use to recruit this important student group each step of the way.

Download the Infographic

Survey Methodology

EAB and The Center for Generational Kinetics (CGK) conducted video interviews with 30 US adults with some college credit who indicated they were open to continuing their post-secondary education at a four-year institution. To supplement and quantify the insights from these interviews, EAB and CGK then surveyed 1,010 US adults.

More Resources

Insight Paper

Achieving Today’s Ever-Growing Graduate Enrollment Goals

This report shares three key insights to help graduate enrollment leaders better incorporate stakeholder perspectives into graduate goals.…
Adult Learner Recruitment
Insight Paper

Understanding and Navigating Today's Graduate Enrollment Staffing Concerns

This report shares three key insights to help graduate enrollment leaders better understand factors influencing staff retention. It…
Adult Learner Recruitment
ALR 2025 enhancement video thumbnail
Video

Maximizing Adult Learner Enrollment in a Digital-First Era

Watch our short video for an early preview of Adult Learner Recruitment’s upcoming enhancements, including optimized organic lead…
Adult Learner Recruitment