STUDENT SUCCESS

More than 1 million first-time, full-time, degree-seeking students begin their undergraduate careers at four-year colleges and universities each year. Fewer than four in 10 will graduate within four years; barely six in 10 will graduate in six years. Community colleges enroll almost half of all U.S. undergraduate students. Fewer than half of community college students meet their educational goals.

Other nations such as Canada, are achieving higher education attainment rates as high as 54 percent among their young adult population (ages 25-34), compared to a rate of just 39 percent in the United States. This level of attainment means that the United States ranks only 10th in the percentage of the young adult population with college degrees.

Educational attainment gaps continue to persist between whites and racial and ethnic minorities. Approximately one-third of white students obtain a bachelor's degree by ages 25-29, compared to 18 percent of African Americans and 10 percent of Latinos. This achievement gap is of growing importance as the proportion of the population from groups traditionally underrepresented in higher education grows rapidly.

Lumina Foundation's main objective is to see more students attain degrees and credentials. Student success involves the following components:

Knowledge and skills. More students need to obtain the knowledge and skills needed to succeed. A knowledge-based workforce is driven by information and technology. A premium will be placed on workers who have advanced skill levels and knowledge.
Adult learners. We need to raise the college completion and educational attainment rates of adults to meet workforce needs, compete with best-performing nations and increase the equity of opportunity across racial, ethnic and income groups, and all within an environment of limited resources.
Institutional and policy support. More colleges and universities need to adopt a college productivity agenda through institutional and public policies and support. The consequences of not succeeding in higher education are increasingly dire, and it is a fact that these consequences fall disproportionately on members of groups underrepresented in higher education.