ABSTRACT
Postsecondary education has held a focus on traditional student success in looking at four-year graduation rates for first-time freshman arriving from high school and two-year graduation rates for transfer students from community college. At a moment of an increasing need for a degree or credentials in the workforce, declining enrollments and understanding that the road to degree completion is not always linear, we must redefine student success with an equity-minded approach by looking at students with some college, no degree. It is imperative for redefining the student success agenda for this population of some college, no degree by challenging the notion of grit by recognizing how we define persistence and retention when considering student success for returning students. This chapter discusses the imperative for addressing the some college, no degree population in the context of the postsecondary student success agenda, highlights promising practices of degree completion programs and documents recommendations that will address the barriers of traditional institutional systems in order to promote access and equitable outcomes for students with some college, no degree as they return to college.
