Nearly 6.4 million adults in California have stopped out of college—by far the largest group of the nation’s 39 million total, according to National Student Clearinghouse Research Center data.

That number is important to the University of California system, where officials want to grow enrollment by at least 23,000 in-state students—the equivalent of an additional campus—over the next eight years. To help reach that goal, four UC campuses are joining forces to recruit former UC students who left without completing a degree.

Photo: Pablo Unzueta/CalMatters

“A lot of people would tell you to get to college,” says Christopher Carter, a young Black man at California State University, Northridge. “But the hardest part is staying there.”

The Cal State system graduates Black students at lower rates than other groups. Students, scholars, and advocates say the issue is complex, from a lack of tenured Black faculty role models to inconsistent support for campus Black resource centers that offer a sense of community and belonging.

Photo: Trxlation/The Hechinger Report

Several years ago, Jairo Salgado struggled with homelessness, substance abuse, and incarceration. Today, thanks to an internship opportunity through Compton College, he can envision a future of hope and promise. 

In this essay, Salgado explains how public-private partnerships are creating new educational pathways and changing lives.