Saginaw Valley State University
Within two months of partnering with ReUp, SVSU saw a 23% increase in adult learner re-enrollments.
Saginaw Valley State University (SVSU) in University Center, Michigan, is a public university founded in 1963. It offers over 100 undergraduate and graduate programs to more than 7,000 students. In recent years, SVSU recognized the need to re-engage and re-enroll adult learners who left the school without earning their credential to increase its enrollment numbers, improve graduation rates, and support learners to finish what they started. “We saw that when students have devoted so much of their time and effort to their education, it’s the right thing to do to get them to come back and complete their degree, so that they can reap the benefits of the work they’ve done.” Deborah Huntley, Provost for SVSU, explained.
This mission aligns with the Sixty by 30 attainment goal put forth by the State of Michigan in 2019, which seeks to increase the number of adults with a college degree or skill certificate in the state from 51.1% to 60% by 2030.
Partnership Overview
Interactions between ReUp and SVSU adult learners
Learners enrolled
Tuition Recovered
Students Graduated
The challenge of reaching adult learners who stopped out
Before partnering with ReUp, SVSU’s process for contacting adult learners was fragmented. The school limited its focus to learners who had stopped out within the past year and enlisted advisors from various academic departments to outreach through emails and cold calls. The effort to make initial contact and necessary follow-ups were labor-intensive and largely ineffective. Without data on why learners left or what would motivate their return, attempts to find and analyze patterns proved challenging. “We were trying to do things on our own that ReUp does in a much more comprehensive way,” Brian Thomas, Associate Provost for SVSU, said. “The cost-benefit ratio of the labor to get learners to return versus numbers re-enrolled was not very high.”
Partnering with ReUp Education
During an annual retreat organized by the Michigan Association of State Universities (MASU), SVSU learned about Eastern Michigan University’s success re-enrolling adult learners after partnering with ReUp Education. Inspired by this presentation, five institutions in MASU joined together to work with ReUp.
Within two months of launching the partnership, SVSU saw a 23% increase in adult learners re-enrolling. For the first time, the school was outreaching learners who left more than a year ago and had access to data—including why they left and wanted to return—that they hadn’t had before.
We found the implementation phase to be easy. Like most regional public universities, we have limited labor resources and there were questions about what the implications would be in terms of staffing, set up, management, and retention. But it’s been a very manageable and smooth process that didn’t require us to hire any additional staff.
— Brian Thomas
Associate Provost, SVSU
ReUp Success Coaches added an additional layer of support for learners, serving as a resource to help them identify and eliminate their specific barriers to re-enrolling and navigating an academic environment that may have changed a lot since they left.
One insight that surprised SVSU was that a majority of learners left school for personal reasons— something happening in their lives that made continuing their education too difficult. Deborah said it was helpful for the school to know that there wasn’t an overwhelming, single thing within the school that led learners to leave. Equally surprising was to hear what motivated learners to return. “The reason most gave for wanting to come back was not so they could make more money or because they thought they were going to have career enhancement,” Deborah said. “It was because they wanted to accomplish this for personal reasons.”
Outreach and re-enrollments lead to key policy changes
In the first year of working with ReUp, SVSU welcomed back 338 adult learners and 63 have already graduated. The financial impact has been significant, with $1.5 million in recovered tuition. And the insights and recommendations supplied by ReUp have already influenced a number of policy changes. “We are not just bringing students back,” Ken Fettig, Vice President for Enrollment Management for SVSU explained. “We are investing in their future. Every policy change, every dollar in scholarship funds, is a testament to our unwavering support and belief in our students’ potential.”
Changes implemented by the school include:
- Flexible degree pathways to accommodate the multiple responsibilities, like families and full-time jobs, adult learners juggle.
- A new scholarship for adult learners who re-enrolled because of ReUp offers learners immediate financial support. The money is awarded on a faster timeline than scholarships designed for traditional students. “This is money we can award right away on a first-come, first-serve basis to provide the impetus that makes it the right time for them to come back,” Ken said. “We want to show we’re committed to them and want to see them reach their original goal of earning their credential.”
- A pilot program that allows learners to register for a course mid-semester. “We learned that non-traditional students who are trying to get back into the flow of school would prefer to concentrate intensively on one course for seven weeks and then enroll in another one for seven weeks rather than having their attention split between two for 14 weeks,” Deborah explained.
- Grade forgiveness for learners who had a rough start or changed their minds about a major after realizing it was not a good fit. SVSU didn’t want learners to be penalized as a result of earlier challenges or decisions. This was particularly true for learners who re-engaged through ReUp and received failing grades years ago but had since progressed in life.
- A reduction in the number of credits required to graduate from 124 to 120, which is aligned with most other public institutions in the state.
A promising future for adult learners at SVSU
SVSU is committed to advancing its strategic enrollment of adult learners and the collaboration with ReUp has set the school on a promising trajectory. “Even if learners have had twists and turns, our partnership with ReUp allows us to reconnect with them and fulfill our mission to provide excellent education and produce graduates who can improve or contribute to their communities,” Deborah said. “This is how we can reach those who slipped through the cracks.”
The team emphasized that ReUp has become a thought partner, serving as a sounding board for ideas and a way to check in on changes other institutions are making to better address the needs of adult learners. “We can check in and ask for input on alternative methods of delivering courses and find out what ReUp is hearing from their coaches and what other institutions are doing in Michigan and outside Michigan,” Ken said. “That kind of collaboration doesn’t happen in other industries.”
Brian expressed confidence in the partnership going forward. “When we were deciding whether to move forward with ReUp, there were some concerns about whether it would be a genuine partnership,” he said. “And the way it’s played out is that ReUp allows us to do what we do, but do it better.”
SVSU's recommendations to support adult learners
Implement a grade forgiveness policy
Conduct thorough barrier assessments
Ensure institutional awareness and involvement across all departments, faculty, and staff
ReUp Education is revolutionizing the enrollment to graduation journey for all adults seeking higher education. Built upon the belief that with the right support, resources, and people in your corner, anything is possible we partner with future-facing institutions and state systems to bring equitable success in higher ed to all.
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