Photo: Gavin McIntyre

The reasons that students leave college are many and complicated. Some find themselves academically unprepared, laboring to keep up with their coursework, while others can’t shoulder the costs. Some are directionless, racking up a hodgepodge of credits with no clear idea of what to study; others flounder socially or struggle with mental-health challenges. And for people like Timothy A. Duff, life happens.

Likewise, the forces preventing many of America's 40 million college dropouts from returning to college are complex and the barriers high.

Women of color make up 13 percent of the population in Rochester, Minnesota, but less than 1 percent work in the construction industry.

That reality is not lost on Diamond Harriel. Thanks to a city initiative designed to help women of color build careers in the construction industry, the single mom is now getting the training and child care support she needs to fulfill her dreams of working on affordable housing projects for the community.

As it continues to work out the technical glitches associated with the revamped Free Application for Federal Student Aid form, the U.S. Department of Education is ramping up efforts to give colleges more FAFSA-related support.

That support, including plans to relax some compliance requirements, comes as members of Congress are stepping up calls for the agency to do more to remedy issues with the new financial aid application. But the plan does not address the challenges some families are still facing in accessing the form.