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Meeting the Challenge of College
Access & Success |
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Every day, thousands of students are unable to fulfill their higher education dreams because they are unprepared academically, socially or financially. In today's knowledge-based economy, higher education is a prerequisite to success for individuals and our nation. That is why Lumina has a "big goal" to increase the percentage of Americans with high-quality degrees to 60 percent by 2025.
Getting more students to college | KH2GO: The next step
KnowHow2GO has evolved from a five-state, two-region national advertising campaign into a college-access policy-advocacy movement with networks in 14 states-all embracing the goal of encouraging more underserved students to fulfill their dreams of a college credential. Learn more about the next phase of KH2GO in
a publication featuring KH2GO stories, policy updates and more.
Information to help students succeed | New KH2GO tool
Links to Go is a new resource for students preparing for college and the caring adults who want to provide support for college-bound students. Students in grades seven through 12 can choose their state and grade level, and find specific resources that align with KH2GO's four steps-Be a pain, push yourself, find the right fit, and get your hands on some cash.
Preparing our workforce | Merisotis at Clinton Global Initiative
Lumina President and CEO Jamie Merisotis addressed the urgent need for better financial, social, and academic preparation of students during a panel discussion on Developing the 21st Century Workforce at the Clinton Global Initiative
. The CGI, which brings together political, corporate and philanthropic leaders to develop and fund solutions to world problems, recognized Lumina for its work to increase college access and success through Achieving the Dream: Community Colleges Count. Watch the video.
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critical outcomes
lead to achievement
of the big goal. | |
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Preparation |
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Students are prepared academically, financially and socially for success in education beyond high school. |
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Success |
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Higher education attainment rates are improved significantly. |
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Productivity |
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Higher education productivity is increased to expand capacity and serve more students. |
College Readiness | SAT gaps widen
Average SAT scores fell slightly in 2009, while gender and race gaps widened. Gaps are especially prevalent when examined by family income. Students from families with an annual income above $200,000 scored, on average, 68 points higher in critical reading than students from families earning less than $20,000 per year. Similar disparities were reported for math and writing. Read the
College Board SAT Class of 2009 Report from the College Board.
Access | Guide outlines college-prep steps
Access to college remains a challenge for many students, especially first-generation students and students from low-income families. A new practice guide targeting high schools and school districts looks at effective practices to better prepare students academically for college, assist them in completing the steps to college entry, and improve their likelihood of success. Read Helping Students Navigate the Path to College: What High Schools Can Do, from the
Institute of Education Sciences.
Equity | Public education needs constitutional amendment?
Disparities in resources for K-12 education deny millions of low-income and minority students a fair opportunity to prepare for college, while putting the nation's capacity to meet 21st century imperatives in peril, says a report from the Southern Education Foundation. No Time To Lose: Why America Needs An Education Amendment To The U.S. Constitution To Improve Public Education
analyzes current efforts for improving U.S. public schools.
Policy | Report examines student success factors in high school
While high schools with low graduation rates exist in every U.S. state, they are concentrated in a subset of 17 states that produce 70 percent of the nation's dropouts. These states are the focus of
Graduating America: Meeting the Challenge of Low Graduation-Rate High Schools, from Jobs for the Future. The study provides several policy recommendations for immediate federal action to improve graduation rates in these "make or break" states and other places with high dropout rates.
Student success | High school dropouts & the economy
A new economic model from the Alliance for Excellent Education shows how some of America's largest metropolitan areas could dramatically boost their economies by decreasing their high school dropout rates.
View a city.
Engagement | More guidance yields better results
Community colleges play a vital role in higher education. Still, retention and graduation rates at many of these institutions are far below where they need to be. Fewer than 50 percent of community college students are able to meet their educational goals. A new study from MDRC
suggests that community college students would face fewer difficulties and make better academic progress if they had better access to, or more adequate, student services.
Financial aid | Student aid and graduation rates
Need-based grants are the financial gateway to college for many students from low-income families, bolstering access and improving students' persistence to earn a degree. Meanwhile, the infusion of government funds may have little impact on increasing the proportion of students who actually graduate within four years, according to a Canadian study from the Measuring the Effectiveness of Student Aid Project. The
study focuses on Canada's Quebec province, which instituted drastic reforms to its financial aid formulas eight years ago.
Workforce needs | Transfer process barrier to degree completion
California's shortage of college graduates potentially could be narrowed through more standardized and statewide approaches to transfer, says a study from the Institute for Higher Education Leadership & Policy. Crafting a Student-Centered Transfer Process in California: Lessons from Other States
suggests reducing unnecessary credits students take on their path to a bachelor's degree and targeting majors that are a better strategic fit with the state's economic needs.
Student performance | Online learning
The advent of Web-based video, instant messaging, and collaboration tools has changed the face of online learning, says a study conducted by
SRI International for the Department of Education. Findings conclude that, on average, students in online learning conditions performed better than those receiving face-to-face instruction. While classrooms will not disappear, the report believes that online education will expand sharply in the near future.
Attainment
| The productivity challenge
Lawmakers, policy experts, and education leaders are in agreement that increasing the proportion of Americans who enroll in and complete college is imperative to the nation's economic and social prosperity. A recent National Center for Education Statistics study explores this challenge, suggesting that improved education attainment will require significant and strategic interventions to occur now, not later.
Public policy | Rankings only part of the story
College rankings can serve as one metric for assessing institutional progress, but they are only part of the story. Instead policymakers should use rankings as part of a larger feedback loop that ultimately leads to desired changes in institutional actions and policy creation to support those changes, says a new issue brief from the
Institute for Higher Education. Read The Role and Relevance of Rankings in Higher Education Policymaking.
Learning outcomes | What colleges can do for the country
The 2009 Washington Monthly College Guide and Rankings
asks not what colleges can do for you, but what colleges are doing for the country. Are they helping more economically disadvantaged students earn the credentials that the job market demands? Are they improving the quality of their teaching? Are they trying to become more productive?
news
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Dropping in, dropping out
Lumina President and CEO Jamie Merisotis weighs in on the release of a new book titled Crossing the Finish Line: Completing College at America's Public Universities
, which addresses America's college completion crisis. more »
Prime time versus reality
In the T.V. show "Community," actor Chevy Chase plays a successful baby boomer returning to college. Comment on the program, chat about real issues affecting community colleges, and read about real-life community college alumni profiles on the American Association of Community Colleges' Web site.
Retention efforts increase
College completion has reached crisis levels, and postsecondary institutions are responding by ramping up retention efforts.
Listen to a story from NPR. more »
First in her family
The challenges facing first-generation or low-income students and their path to college are the subject of Bronx Princess, the true-life story of Rocky Otoo. The film airs on
PBS this month. more » | |
data points
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The elusive finish line
Twenty-six percent of African-American men graduated in four years from flagship universities, 59 percent in six years (compared with 75 percent of white men and 72 percent of black women). Eleven percent of the Hispanic population aged 25 to 29 has a B.A. compared with 17 percent for African Americans and 32 percent for white students. Source:
Crossing the Finish Line: Completing College at America's Public Universities »
SAT report card 2009
SAT results for the high school class of 2009 show that Asian, Asian-American or Pacific Islander students posted a 13-point gain on the exam, with students who identified themselves as Puerto Rican showing a 9-point drop in their average scores. Source:
College Board »
Student loan defaults at a glance
The FY 2007 national student loan cohort default rate increased to 6.7 percent, up from the FY 2006 rate of 5.2 percent. The all-time high national default rate-22.4 percent-was set in FY 1990. Source:
U.S. Department of Education »
Higher education inflation rate slowed in FY2009
The inflation rate for colleges and universities for FY2009 was 2.3 percent-less than half the 5 percent rate for FY2008 but more than the 1.4 percent rise in the Consumer Price Index for the same period. Source:
The CommonFund Institute »
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