More and more adults, when asked, will acknowledge the importance of continuing education in today’s world. This isn’t just among young adults either; older adults, facing down the reality that many do of a delayed retirement for financial and/or personal reasons, also acknowledge that continuing education is critical in today’s world. That being said, over a quarter of adults who want to go for more education don’t, and even when they do, a quarter of them end up dropping out. With an increasingly aging population that still have to work in a world that demands upskilling and career changes, what are the barriers for adults who know that they need more learning and how can they be managed?
Mental Health
We often think of cost as being the biggest barrier to education and it certainly is a large barrier. But for many adults, the mental health/emotional stress ranks as the top reason why many students end up dropping out and demands from work and family being a reason why people don’t start in the first place. According to a 2025 Gallup/Lumina survey, students who considered dropping or pausing their education were twice as likely to cite mental health/emotional stress as the reason to pause as they were to cite the cost! (Although cost certainly came up high on the list as well). Adults often have a lot of extra emotional burdens such as caretaking family members, children, jobs, and juggling bills, which means less energy for education.
In order to deal with this, adults in education tend to do better when they have a strong support network. This can either be a prior one (Family, friends), or the networks they build in school with their fellow students and educators. It’s important for adult learners to feel encouraged to network with their peers and work together as much as possible in their classes so that they feel supported, as well as building up a network for employment prospects later.
Finances
Finances are a strong consideration for adults thinking about school and those in school. Unenrolled adults often end up going to school because they had an increase in their income or managed to get some financial aid (student loans) and/or scholarships. Those already in programs are more likely to drop out if their financing is put under pressure. Many students want to avoid going into debt for their education, but it can be hard to access scholarships and bursaries and difficult to juggle employment and education, especially if you need to work multiple jobs in order to make enough money to stay on top of bills, food, and school costs. Finances are an issue for adults of all ages as many older adults who are returning to school are doing so because their employment dried up or they need to learn more skills in order to get out of their current employment position and upgrade to something that pays better.
However, since many adults only return to school if they have the money to do so, this becomes an immense barrier. Many adults who need training and education the most, in order to get out of low-skill, low paying jobs, cannot afford to do so because they don’t have the income or generational wealth to support their training. It’s important to make funding opportunities more widely known and available for adults who don’t have the income or money to self-pay and don’t want to go into debt.
Flexibility of Learning
One of the final important things for people who are considering going back to school is flexibility in learning. This really exploded during Covid-19 when online learning was forced to take the stage during lockdowns, but even afterwards, many students preferred the flexibility and peace of doing their learning entirely from home (or wherever else) from home. Self-directed learning allows adults to better juggle work, family and other obligations which makes it more appealing. It can be very difficult to manage time effectively to get the work done, but for many students, being flexible in learning is an important consideration. Schools and programs that don’t offer this flexibility are not as attractive to many adults and thus becomes a barrier for those who would go to school if they could dedicate asymmetrical time to it.
The main barriers for many adults thinking about going to school are mental/emotional health, finances, and the ability to be flexible in their learning. With the right support systems, more access to funding, and the ability to finish a program quickly or more self-directed, many of these barriers can come down and more adults can return to school to improve their lot in life.
