College Completion

Last week, Higher Ed Watch took a look at some of the gainful employment policy questions raised in the over 900 public comments submitted to the Department of Education. While policy discussions will ultimately be the most important considerations as the regulatory process moves forward, it's also important to remember that these issues do affect real people. So today we're looking at what some current and former students at these programs had to say in their comments.

Ambition and hope do not pan out in Wisconsin

For many low-income and non-traditional students, going to college can be a source of hope and a chance for a better life, even in spite of fears about not having succeeded academically in the past. That sense of opportunity is prevalent in a combined set of 13 comments from students who now appear to be enrolled in courses at Milwaukee Area Technical College. These comments almost all start on a hopeful note with a sense of excitement for a better life. Many detail previously unachieved academic successes in these programs--high grade point averages, scholarship-winning essays--the type of accomplishment that shows they are college-caliber material. But then the reversal--a degree with no return, a dispute over further debts, no change in status--that leaves them arguably worse off and in debt. (The original comments have been temporarily taken down from Regulations.gov with a request to remove personally identifiable information, so I created a redacted version here.) 

A story from one woman who enrolled at Sanford Brown to become a probation officer encapsulates this emotional roller coaster:

I was so excited about going to Sanford Brown College. I was sold because I was told I could get small class sizes and get extra help if I needed and graduate faster because the courses were 5 weeks long and you went to school year round until you graduated. 

...

I went ahead and took the admissions test and paid $50.00 for it. I was told by the financial aid personnel that I could also write a 500 word paper on why higher education was important and win a $1,500 scholarship. I won the scholarship because of the paper I wrote. I was so excited and proud of myself. I was looking forward to the wonderful future my 3 kids and I were going to have. I was going to finish college and finally have a career which I loved which was helping people. I was assured by all the admissions people at Sanford Brown College that I had made the right choice to attend that college. They all were so friendly and seemed to want this as much as I did.

 

Signs some schools are taking steps to improve--is it enough?

Welcome to the Syllabus, a guide that provides insight into what’s happening in higher education.

Read:

Going to College is Worth it – Even if You Drop Out, Dylan Matthews
The Washington Post

There was a time when high school was rare and college was reserved for the elite. In today’s world, the value of education is vastly different. Some sort of postsecondary education is an expectation for most. It seems that one must attend and graduate college for entrée into the middle class. Due to stagnating wages and rising college prices, however, many have questioned whether attending college is a financially sound decision. According to researchers at The Hamilton Project the answer is “yes.” Their recent study shows that only 58 percent of college students enrolled in 2004 received a degree by 2010. Nevertheless, those students who did not graduate still earned more income than those who never enrolled in college. In addition, college dropouts make $8,000 more than high school graduates. This figure includes factoring in the cost of the student’s additional education. Matthews concludes by stating, “Dropping out of college is unquestionably a worse economic bet than finishing it. But the evidence suggests that starting and not finishing is much better than never starting at all.”

Listen:

Are There Jobs Out There for Recent Grads?
NPR Tell Me More

One of the biggest concerns for recent college graduates is whether or not they will obtain a fair paying job after spending countless hours and thousands of dollars on higher education. Recent numbers indicate 175,000 new jobs were obtained last month. However, the number of unemployed individuals increased by 7.6 percent. This is because more people entered the labor force. If you’re a recent college grad, you’re still in better shape than those who do not hold a college degree. Surveys show that the salaries of offers for new graduates are up about 5 percent. Additionally, college grads have an unemployment rate of 3.8 percent as compared with high school dropouts who have an unemployment rate of over 11 percent.

Discuss:

Minn. Program Will Offer a Tuition Break Based on Scores on a Standardized Test, Dan Berrett
The Chronicle of Higher Education

In order to motivate students Minnesota State University at Moorhead created a program called “Up2U” that encourages their students to academically achieve and complete college by providing financial incentives through a transfer tuition reduction. In order to receive this deduction the following conditions must be met: 1) The student must enroll full-time in the fall at the college and maintain a GPA of 2.0 for their first four semesters; and 2) During their fourth semester the student will take the new version of the Collegiate Learning Assessment or CLA, which is a standardized test of critical thinking. If students have the same GPA and score well on the assessments they will see their tuition reduced by three-quarters of the full cost. Those opposed to “Up2U” are concerned the program will encourage “teaching to the test” and will alter the current curriculum.

Higher Ed Watch readers, what do you think? Is one test a good predictor of a student’s understanding of the material and critical thinking abilities? Given that the Collegiate Learning Assessment is a test of critical thinking, how could it alter curriculum? Would it even be possible to teach to this test?

With the economy stuck in neutral, tuition prices and student loan debt skyrocketing, and parents and students increasingly questioning the value of a college degree, our public institutions urgently need a different approach to the challenge or educating an increasingly diverse mix of students at a reasonable cost. Today, New America's Education Policy Program released The Next Generation University, a policy report about the future of public higher education. The report comes at a time when too many public universities are failing to respond to the nation's higher education crisis. Rather than expanding enrollment and focusing limited dollars on the neediest of students, many institutions are instead restricting enrollments and encouraging the use of student-aid dollars on merit awards. But, according to the report, some schools are breaking the mold by boldly restructuring operating costs and creating clear, accelerated pathways for students.

For more on this issue, check out this post from Clare McCann on our sister blog, Ed Money Watch.

For those who care about increased higher education transparency, the last few days have been a trip through the Congressional looking glass, culminating with yesterday’s introduction of a bill to “study” higher education transparency. On Thursday a bipartisan group of senators and representatives introduced the Student Right to Know Before You Go Act, which would help provide students, families, and taxpayers with answers to critical questions like whether students at particular institutions graduate, whether they get jobs, and whether they can comfortably pay back their loans. A televised discussion among Senators Wyden (D-OR), Rubio (R-FL), and Warner (D-VA), Representatives Hunter (R-CA) and Andrews (D-NJ), students, and guidance counselors underscored the urgent need for better information about higher education outcomes and value.  

It seems pretty straightforward. Students, families, and policymakers have questions. And this legislation would provide answers. But the day after the legislation was introduced, an unnamed senior Congressional education staffer said of the effort, “But a federal unit record system is only designed to answer questions no one is asking, namely: how do we bring No Child Left Behind and its command and control mentality to higher education.”

Let’s ignore the intentionally distracting NCLB reference and instead focus on this doozy: “designed to answer questions no one is asking.” Perhaps the staffer has fallen through the looking glass, because from this side it seems like everyone is asking these questions.

This post originally appeared in New America's blog In the Tank

When I was an undergrad at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, I took approximately 8-10 large lecture classes. I remember walking into my first lecture as a freshman—Introduction to International Relations—and choosing between a seat on the first floor or in the balcony. I chose the first floor, somewhere in the middle. The “classroom” that day was brimming with more than 500 students. As the professor went over the syllabus, it became evident that attendance at lecture was “strongly encouraged” as there would be no way to quickly take attendance. By the second lecture, there were many empty seats.

Many freshmen and sophomores who attend public universities find themselves stuck in these large, introductory courses. With no one to check up on them or give them personal attention, many fall through the cracks—they may stop attending class and then do poorly on exams, or they may fall behind and withdraw from the course.

With this in mind, when I began to research online courses and credentials at public universities for a policy report, I assumed I would find the same problems endemic to large lectures—high attrition and low success rates.  Instead, I found something that surprised me:  While some online courses may suffer the same problems as lectures, several universities have discovered simple ways to keep students engaged once they start exhibiting drop-out warning signs, like neglecting assignments or lectures. In many instances, the data collected about online students by some institutions create a safety net to prevent drop outs where none exists in a face-to-face lecture-hall setting.

It’s not often that you see members of Congress (or anyone for that matter) defending a college with a zero percent graduation rate. But that is exactly what is happening for Oregon’s Marylhurst University. Both of the state’s Senators and three of its representatives recently wrote a letter to the Department of Education defending the University against claims from the Department’s own College Scorecard that it has a 0% graduation rate.

Zero percent is certainly at odds with the rhetoric on the website of this small, open-admission, Catholic liberal arts school. Student success is in the first sentence of a lengthy and passionate case for cultivating ethical, engaged leaders capable of taking on the challenges of a rapidly changing world.

But talk is cheap and self-promotion is easy, which is why Republicans and Democrats have been calling for better, more comparable data that students can use to inform their college-decision making processes. Marylhurst, however, isn’t alone in tooting its horn. The Council for Adult and Experiential Learning recognized the university as a national leader for its "outstanding commitment to the expansion of lifelong learning opportunities and for innovative efforts to improve access and quality in academic programs for adult learners."

It turns out that adult learners are the problem. Or, more accurately, how the federal government counts (or doesn’t count) adult learners. The College Scorecard reports graduation rate data only of first time, full time students. However, just three percent of Marylhurst’s students fall into that category. The vast majority are working adults taking upper division courses part time in order to complete a degree started elsewhere. And these students seem to be doing well. Out of 911 undergrads enrolled last year, 204 graduated. But the success of these students doesn’t count, at least not according to the federal government.[i] Disregarding the majority of students at an institution is not fair. Not fair to the institution, not fair to students.

The National Student Clearinghouse Research Center released a state supplement to its earlier Completing College: A National View of Student Attainment Rates. The national report, summarized here, provided a more comprehensive picture of college completion rates by utilizing a database that captures college completions by traditional and nontraditional students. 

This newly issued state supplement provided state-by-state data on six-year student success outcomes and college completion rates within the four-year public, two-year public, and four-year private nonprofit sectors.

California is currently home to two of the most important things happening in higher education, one good, one bad. The good thing is the rapid advancement of cheap and free online courses offered by companies like Udacity and Coursera. The bad thing is the catastrophic failure of California lawmakers to provide enough money to support basic access to foundational courses at community colleges. Tomorrow, California Senate President pro Tem Darrell Steinberg will announce a plan that essentially tries to use the one to fix the other. This groundbreaking initiative has broad implications for the nature, financing, and regulation of higher learning.

As of today nearly half a million students are on waiting lists for basic courses in California’s public higher education system, increasing the cost and duration of college and reducing the number of students who ultimately earn degrees. This is a human tragedy and a policy failure on a massive scale. Under the plan, waitlisted students would be able to take online classes that have been approved by California’s Open Education Resources Council, a faculty-led body that was created by recent Steinberg-sponsored legislation creating free open textbooks. ACE certification would be a point in course's favor. Students would have to take in-person proctored exams to pass the courses. Public colleges and universities in California would be required to accept those courses for credit.

A new study by the Council of Graduate Schools shows that for the 7th straight year applications to U.S. graduate schools by international students increased.
 

A Stronger Nation Through Higher Education, a report released this week by the Lumina Foundation for Education, tracks progress on the Foundation’s “Big Goal:” sixty percent of Americans obtaining a high-quality postsecondary degree or credential by 2025. The report assesses higher education attainment rates at the national, state, and county levels; presents various breakdowns of the data, including by race, ethnicity, age, and level of education; and provides the attainment rate of the nation’s 100 largest metropolitan areas.

Among the findings:

• The percentage of working age adults (ages 25-64) who held a two- or four-year degree increased slightly from 38.1 percent in 2009 to 38.3 percent in 2010.
• In 2010, the attainment rate for young adults was a full percentage point higher (39.3%) than the attainment rate for all adults.
• 54.37% of adults in the Washington, D.C.-Arlington-Alexandria metropolitan area hold at least an associate’s degree (54.37%). This is the highest rate of educational attainment among the 100 largest metropolitan areas in the country.
• At the current rate of increase in the percent of Americans obtaining a postsecondary degree or credential, only 46.5 percent of Americans will hold degrees by 2025.

In addition to the data summaries, A Stronger Nation assesses the state of higher education attainment and its ramifications for the future of our country. The report also provides strategies for closing the gap and reaching the 60 percent attainment goal by 2025.

This report marks the third report in what will be an annual series through the target date of 2025.

In last night’s State of the Union, President Obama announced the release of the College Scorecard, a consumer information resource that helps students and families compare colleges and universities on important measures such as costs and graduation rates. “Colleges must do their part to keep costs down…” said President Obama, “Parents and students can use [the Scorecard] to compare schools based on simple criteria: Where you can get the most bang for your educational buck.” While better information is not the cure to solving all problems with student access and success in higher education, it can lead to more informed decision-making and, in turn, improved outcomes. But information only helps students and families if it gets into their hands and they know how to use it.

The College Scorecard is not a new initiative. In last year’s State of the Union, President Obama put higher education “on notice” saying that, “If you can’t stop tuition from going up, the funding you get from taxpayers will go down.” In the days that followed he announced a new higher education reform package that included two new consumer information tools: the Scorecard and the Financial Aid Shopping Sheet. After thousands of public comments on both, the finalized Shopping Sheet was released in July and now the new Scorecard is out today. I’ve already written extensively about the Shopping Sheet, but what will the new Scorecard mean for students and families?