The numbers of high school dropouts have become a national problem. Some of these dropouts do re-enter the educational system via the General Educational Development (GED) program and graduate. This study, carried out in Highl and Park and Wayne Community Colleges in the Detroit area creates a profile of those graduates, and attempts to account for their successes and high level of achievement. The dissertation is written in the multiple manuscript format in order to encompass three distinct areas integral to the study. The three main chapters developed from the research were written as separate articles directed for publication in three leading journals. Those chapters are: (1) The GED Student and Highl and Park/Wayne County Community Colleges: Profiles in Perseverance and Motivation. (2) Social Psychological Aspects of Second chance Adult Students: Institutional and Motivational Determinants. (3) Black Women on AFDC and the Struggle for Higher Education. The data indicate that the GED is an important vehicle for a significant number of graduates of both Highl and Park and Wayne County Community Colleges to gain access to, and to graduate from, higher education. The data also indicate that graduates may be characterized by possessing both a strong inner drive and a high level of intrinsic motivation. They not only want to improve the circumstances of their lives, but also enjoy learning for its own sake. Almost all enjoyed reading and attending both primary and secondary school. Almost all of the men and women dropped out of school for reasons unrelated to the educational system. A sub-group of graduates were Black women on AFDC. This study documents their struggles to escape from welfare through education. It also documents the continuing problem of obstacles placed in their path by a dysfunctional bureaucracy as they encounter the welfare system and still attempt to complete their higher education. The Black women did not fit either the stereotype of dropouts or that of single mothers with children.Ph.D.Community college educationHigher educationWomen's studiesUniversity of Michiganhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/162065/1/8907064.pdf