When a mental health crisis in 2009 prevented Sarah Collins from finishing her bachelor’s degree, a college education felt far out of reach. An unexpected path led Collins back to RIT, and she graduated on May 9 from Roar to the Finish, a degree completion program in RIT’s School of Individualized Study.

RIT is among the colleges and universities from 20 states that are participating in the Degrees When Due initiative, which aims to reach the nearly 4 million near-completers and uncredentialled completers in the United States who stopped college for financial reasons, family obligations or a variety of other reasons. By joining the initiative, RIT will learn best practices in degree reclamation and provide targeted support while re-engaging students who have paused, or “stopped out,” their studies.