ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Increasing college completion rates remains a constant worry among education leaders. Now some schools are scouring their databases to track down former students who unknowingly qualify for degrees.

An effort known as Project Win-Win has helped community colleges and four-year schools in Florida, Louisiana, Missouri, Michigan, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Virginia and Wisconsin identify hundreds of ex-students who have either already earned enough credits to receive associate degrees or are just a few classes shy of getting them.

Project leaders hope the effort will encourage students to come back to school or seek advanced education after receiving two-year degrees. It worked so well at Missouri's Columbia College that the school plans to broaden its audit efforts to find bachelor's degree candidates.