What adult students need to turn intent into enrollment
If millions of adults say they want more education or training, why aren’t more of them enrolling?
It’s not because of a lack of interest or motivation. Rather, the gap between interest and enrollment reflects a growing mismatch between the realities of adult learners’ lives and how colleges are designed to serve them.
New research shows that just over one-quarter of adults intend to enroll in education or training within the next two years. That represents about 65 million prospective learners nationwide—an important opportunity as the looming demographic cliff shrinks the number of traditional college-age students. The same survey shows that adults’ cost and time pressures remain persistent barriers preventing their intentions from becoming reality.
Across multiple studies, the findings are consistent: Americans continue to believe education beyond high school has value, and many express interest in enrolling. Yet financial concerns, competing responsibilities, and uncertainty about outcomes often stand in the way. More than 8 in 10 prospective adult learners say cost is a barrier, and two-thirds point to time constraints as a major challenge. Too often, adult learners encounter colleges whose structures, processes, and assumptions were built around high school-age students, leaving adults to navigate and adapt on their own.
Removing barriers to enrollment
The new analysis reinforces this idea. Adults across income levels, racial and ethnic groups, and educational backgrounds continue to view education and training after high school as relevant to their lives. Many want to gain skills for their careers, while others are seeking personal growth or paths to new opportunities.
These motives align closely with findings from Lumina-Gallup surveys, which show learners increasingly focused on practical outcomes like career advancement, skill development, and economic mobility, alongside broader personal benefits.
But motivation alone is not enough.
For adults balancing work schedules, caregiving responsibilities, and financial risk, enrolling in college is a high-stakes decision. When encountering unclear program options, complex enrollment steps, limited flexibility, or delayed responses, that decision often tips towards inaction.
Shifting from risk to investment
The research underscores the importance of focusing not only on who wants to enroll, but on what prevents them from doing so and how systems can respond. Several implications stand out:
- There is no single “adult learner strategy.” Different groups face different barriers. Lower-income students and those with less prior education may benefit most from financial assistance, simplified enrollment processes, and high-touch advising. Meanwhile, those in the workforce considering returning to school often face intense time constraints, highlighting the need for flexible schedules, modular pathways, and clearer connections between programs and career advancement.
- Reducing friction matters. Small administrative hurdles such as complex applications, unclear steps, and delayed communication can disproportionately affect learners balancing multiple responsibilities. Responsiveness and clarity aren’t conveniences. They’re essential for adult learner enrollment.
- The value proposition must be clear. Adults are making high-stakes decisions about where to invest their time and money. When colleges clearly communicate costs, time commitments, and labor-market results, enrollment becomes less of a gamble and more of an investment. This effort to help learners gain real value from learning is also the mission at Lumina Foundation, where our national goal for 2040 is to help 75 percent of U.S. adults earn degrees or credentials of value leading to economic prosperity.
Finally, these findings highlight a critical opportunity for policymakers and institutions. The demand exists. The challenge is designing systems that focus on adult learners instead of expecting them to fit systems built for someone else.
At Lumina Foundation, we believe expanding access to education that delivers value requires listening carefully to what learners are telling us. The message is clear: adults are interested, motivated, and ready. The next step is ensuring that our policies and practices remove the barriers standing between intent and opportunity.