The Western New Mexico University president has a personal stake in this mission. A GED graduate, Coll was a firefighter and Marine before he entered college. His work portfolio and community college certificates helped him earn his associate degree, a critical moment that propelled him into higher education leadership. “I see my own lived experience in so many of our students,” says Coll, a former provost of Western Oregon University. “Those who come in with a GED to be a welder should be able to come back a year later to start working on their baccalaureate degree, and eventually their master’s.” “This is the value of our university,” he adds, “to embrace students where they’re at.” Building new academic pathways is also a vital enrollment strategy. Demographic changes have imperiled most institutions’ traditional student pipeline, forcing leaders to create onramps for adults and programs that entice stopped-out students to return to college.