The Real Reason College Students Aren’t Graduating

The working class has taken over college campuses. Today, a whopping 75 percent of the student body on America’s public college and university campuses are juggling a combination of families, jobs and school while commuting to class, according to the U.S. Department of Education. But they are not graduating.

With so many responsibilities, this new majority often attends part-time – for a long time – and struggles with an educational system designed for the minority: the 25 percent of students who attend full-time at residential colleges with flexibility and parental financial backing. Too many course and program choices, unpredictable schedules, and limited academic guidance add up to years of courses, lots of debt and no degree. The result is a growing skills gap in the United States by too few trained workers for more high-skill jobs than ever.

According to a new report from Complete College America, “Time Is the Enemy: The Surprising Truth About Why Today’s College Students Aren’t Graduating…And What Needs to Change,” America’s educational system needs radical – and quick – changes, including:

*Restructuring educational programs to fit busy lives

* Focusing on completion, not enrollment

* Reducing the time it takes to earn a degree or certificate

* Creating a common core general education program to ensure consistency and full transferability of those courses

* Adopting alternative educational pathways to help students earn college credits, such as through Advanced Placement, online learning, and accelerated competency-based courses

* Transforming remediation so students earn college credits that count

Some states are already making changes to ensure enrollment leads to graduation:

Tennessee:

Tennessee’s statewide approach helps students balance work and school. The 27 Tennessee Tech Centers have average completion rates of 75 percent. Students enroll in whole academic programs, not individual courses, streamlining the path to completion by removing the burdens and confusion of individual course selection and availability. Programs are offered from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., Monday through Friday, providing students the scheduling predictability to help keep jobs while going to school.

Florida:

Florida is using comprehensive degree acceleration strategies, such as dual enrollment (allowing students to earn college credit while in high school), early admission, credit by examination, and Advanced Placement/International Baccalaureate credit. These strategies are made possible through a common course numbering system that allows credits from two-year colleges to be easily transferred to four-year institutions.

“We set out to tell the whole story, the story that college students today are living, not the story of a system that doesn’t count nearly half the students it serves,” said Complete College America president Stan Jones. “What we discovered was both alarming and compelling, because we can now confirm that we need to make dramatic policy changes to ensure these students complete their degrees. By doing so, we can secure strong economies for our states and country.”

“Groundbreaking Report: ‘Time Is the Enemy of Today’s College Student.” Complete College America Press Release 9/27/11


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