In the last two decades, 31 million people in the US left college without receiving a degree or certificate. Now a new report jointly released by the Lumina Foundation, Strada Education Network, and Gallup has found that 17 percent of such college stop-outs cite work-related issues as the main reason, more even than financial pressure (12 percent). Applying that percentage to the total number of stop-outs, it’s possible to estimate that in the last 20 years, more than five million people ended their higher education halfway because they could not balance the demands of work with the demands of school--and they chose work.

For the most part, these people did not stop their studies willingly. The report, based on phone interviews with 42,190 adults aged 25-64 who attended college but did not receive their degree, found that 81 percent said they were still interested in completing their education. But the same barriers that made them stop in the first place still prevent them from going back--they still cannot balance work needs and study needs, and they cannot set work aside because of their financial needs.

The close link between work and financial pressures means that the factors most likely to help college stop-outs complete their degrees are also those that allow them to continue working at the same time. Interview respondents listed free or at least low-cost tuition, classes or training that fit their working schedules, and a guaranteed employment outcome, or at least a certification that will make them more marketable.

Most tellingly, the report found that the overwhelming majority of stop-outs would be more likely to enroll in an employer-provided course than any other type of training. This means that if employers want their workers to acquire a degree or certification, they need to proactively offer learning and development opportunities, because so many workers will not otherwise have the means to pursue the training.

David Clayton, Senior Vice President of Consumer Insights at Strada Education Network, observed that the underlying issue for these people is that the support they received from schools, employers, and policymakers was not adequate. “It's important to remember that they didn't have the support needed to manage school alongside the realities of life," he said. "In order to make the investment of time and money needed to return to college, they need learning experiences that are flexible, affordable, and clearly linked to career outcomes.”