Once Mays starts back at Community College, Stephens will stay in touch to help him through any rough patches.

But she is betting on him.

"People who drop out and return to school after having gone through life, they tend to make it," she said. "They see they really need that opportunity, and they want to open those doors."

Sheffer said Graduate! Philadelphia wanted to influence employers to pay up-front for tuition.

For example, the University of Pennsylvania Health System foots the bill - before the class begins - for any course an employee takes that leads to a degree, Wasserman-Riley said.

Glickman said she felt a sense of urgency about the program: "Our issue isn't a shortage of labor or a shortage of jobs," she said. "What we have is a fundamental mismatch. At some point, we're going to get to a critical juncture.

"The employers will either get the human capital they need or they'll leave. If we don't have the people to fill these jobs, if we don't get this right, we're going to lose these jobs for good."