Understanding College Decision-Making among Delayed Beginners, Stop-outs, and Long-term Leavers and Its Impact on Inequality

Higher education trajectories are often interrupted or incomplete. Thirty percent of students “stop out” of college—taking breaks between enrollments—and 31-percent drop out and do not complete their degree within eight years of entering college. Sociologist Christina Ciocca Eller will examine the decision-making processes of students who start but do not finish their college degree, with a focus on reenrollment decisions. She will conduct 180 in-depth interviews with students who have some college but no credential for her study.