A new report from California Competes, part of its ongoing Degrees of Value research series, examines the return on investment of a college degree among adults who previously stopped out and later graduated. Drawing on interviews with 27 California adult learners who left college and later returned, researchers explored the financial, personal and social benefits of completing a degree, as well as the costs associated with returning to college. Participants were first interviewed in 2023 and again in 2025. About half of the graduates interviewed saw their earnings increase within three years of completing their degrees, particularly those who returned with clear career goals. One graduate went from earning $10 an hour as a cleaner at a nursing facility to more than $100,000 annually as a nurse. But graduates in rural communities described more limited financial gains because of fewer local job opportunities.