Does Free College “Work” for Adults? Enrollment Impacts of Michigan Reconnect

Despite rapid growth in adult free-college (“reconnect”) programs, little is known about their impact on the enrollment of adults. We leverage the 2020 rollout of Michigan Reconnect to estimate causal impacts of a statewide adult free community college program on adult enrollment overall and enrollment of adults by gender, enrollment intensity, and age. We show that Michigan Reconnect significantly increased adult enrollment in community colleges by 38% (roughly 620 students), with larger gains among women and younger adults (ages 25–34). However, we show these increases were entirely driven by growth in part-time students. We expand the empirical understanding reconnect programs, discuss actionable recommendations for policy and practice, and lay a foundation for future research in this area.