Monday
Dec062010
Decreasing Graduation Rates: Are Colleges Getting the Message?
Monday, December 6, 2010 at 8:38AM
In this morning’s Chronicle of Higher Education, the leading article is on college graduation rates- “Graduation Rates Fall at One-Third of 4-Year Colleges”. Wait a minute--- I have been quoting President Obama and the Lumina Foundation about the national need to increase college degree attainment! World statistics show that the United States has slipped significantly in world rankings in the percent of its population with a college degree. Certainly the graduation rate at an individual college factors into this. The articles tells us that 35% (one-third) of 4-year colleges have had their six-year graduation rate drop for the 6-years ending in 2008 compared to the six-years ending in 2003. This analysis does not include 2009 and 2010 (with the national push for increased college degree attainment) . However, it seems to me, that these numbers just confirm that the focus on improving the graduation rates and degree attainment rates is really needed! Up to this point in time, there has NOT been the needed follow-through and institutional commitment to improving college graduation rates.
The article goes on to talk about how this statistic has its flaws because it is the 6-year graduation rate of only first-time full-time students at that college or university and does not include the graduation rate of those students who attend several colleges and transfer students. This should be not considered as an excuse ! This graduation rate statistic does measure how successful colleges are with their freshman class. If their students are underprepared, a college should be collaborating with the high schools which provide the freshmen to develop programs that improve the transition both at the high school and in the freshman year. A student-focused culture is needed. Researchers have shown that colleges that have a student-focused culture will retain more of their freshmen at their college. In my article published in the Journal for Quality and Participation, “A Strategy for Improving Freshman College Retention”, I wrote that
A student makes the decision to continue, to transfer or to drop out for the next year. Successful colleges have a strong culture for student success; a strong student-focus culture in the freshman year is an indication of a strong student culture for both freshmen and all undergraduates. It is a culture that avoids the “weeding-out” culture-- it looks at each student as an individual and aligns its processes. Are there issues external to academic processes like financial aid issues? Successful colleges identify these issues. For example, in the case of financial aid, they develop policies that are supportive of financial aid and work with alumni who are willing to provide grants and scholarships.
In addition, when a substantial number of students drop out of the freshman class, it is both a financial loss to the university and a social loss to society. For every student who drops out, a college/university must find a transfer student to enroll in the equivalent classes. Each university can weigh its loss of tuition with the cost of improving its student suppport services and creating an exciting freshman experience.
Unfortunately, in accreditation processes, we are seeing an emphasis on assessments only in terms of student learning outcome assessments; for improved freshman retention, assessments using surveys such as the CIRP and NSSE surveys are needed to understand students’ goals and attitudes and to develop the appropriate freshman program that successfully transitions freshmen into the university culture and addresses their needs for student success early in the freshman year.
Over the weekend, The Wall Street Journal published an editorial by Joel Klein, outgoing chancellor of the New York City Department of Education titled, “What I Learned at the Education Barricades”. His experience is at the K-12 level but some of his thoughts apply for all education. He wrote “traditional proposals for improving education-more money, better curriculum, smaller classes, etc-aren’t going to get the job done. Public education is a service-delivery challenge, and it must be operated at such.” We need to remember that graduating college freshmen is a “service-delivery challenge”.
Today’s Chronicle article ends with a quote by Vincent Tinto. Evidently, the reporter had asked how long it would take increase graduation rates substantially.
This sounds exactly like the process that is discussed with the Baldrige framework for the Baldrige Performance Excellence Program. It promotes a student-focused, process improvement culture using some quality improvement tools and can be very effective.
What are we waiting for? If you are interested in discussing systems thinking for improving graduation rates and “turning the ship around, ” feel free to contact me at cindy@veenstraconsulting.com.
Cindy
The article goes on to talk about how this statistic has its flaws because it is the 6-year graduation rate of only first-time full-time students at that college or university and does not include the graduation rate of those students who attend several colleges and transfer students. This should be not considered as an excuse ! This graduation rate statistic does measure how successful colleges are with their freshman class. If their students are underprepared, a college should be collaborating with the high schools which provide the freshmen to develop programs that improve the transition both at the high school and in the freshman year. A student-focused culture is needed. Researchers have shown that colleges that have a student-focused culture will retain more of their freshmen at their college. In my article published in the Journal for Quality and Participation, “A Strategy for Improving Freshman College Retention”, I wrote that
“the culture of the freshman experience is molded by the actions of the administration, faculty, staff, and other students at the college. This includes the classroom experiences, dormitory living experiences, engagement with faculty and other students, and extracurricular activities. The only control the college has over student retention is in the development of its educational processes and programs throughout the freshman year. This includes providing a culture that is student-focused and offering services supportive to the needs of each student. The quality of the student support services can encourage and influence the student’s decision for continuing in the college or university. At the end of the freshman year, students make a retention decision.”
A student makes the decision to continue, to transfer or to drop out for the next year. Successful colleges have a strong culture for student success; a strong student-focus culture in the freshman year is an indication of a strong student culture for both freshmen and all undergraduates. It is a culture that avoids the “weeding-out” culture-- it looks at each student as an individual and aligns its processes. Are there issues external to academic processes like financial aid issues? Successful colleges identify these issues. For example, in the case of financial aid, they develop policies that are supportive of financial aid and work with alumni who are willing to provide grants and scholarships.
In addition, when a substantial number of students drop out of the freshman class, it is both a financial loss to the university and a social loss to society. For every student who drops out, a college/university must find a transfer student to enroll in the equivalent classes. Each university can weigh its loss of tuition with the cost of improving its student suppport services and creating an exciting freshman experience.
Unfortunately, in accreditation processes, we are seeing an emphasis on assessments only in terms of student learning outcome assessments; for improved freshman retention, assessments using surveys such as the CIRP and NSSE surveys are needed to understand students’ goals and attitudes and to develop the appropriate freshman program that successfully transitions freshmen into the university culture and addresses their needs for student success early in the freshman year.
Over the weekend, The Wall Street Journal published an editorial by Joel Klein, outgoing chancellor of the New York City Department of Education titled, “What I Learned at the Education Barricades”. His experience is at the K-12 level but some of his thoughts apply for all education. He wrote “traditional proposals for improving education-more money, better curriculum, smaller classes, etc-aren’t going to get the job done. Public education is a service-delivery challenge, and it must be operated at such.” We need to remember that graduating college freshmen is a “service-delivery challenge”.
Today’s Chronicle article ends with a quote by Vincent Tinto. Evidently, the reporter had asked how long it would take increase graduation rates substantially.
"It will take five, 10 years for them to start turning this oil tanker around," says Vincent Tinto, a professor at Syracuse University who has studied ways to raise graduation rates.
Getting "a fleet of small boats all to sail in the same direction," might be a better analogy, Mr. Tinto adds, given that control within many academic institutions is spread across their schools and colleges. Improvement, he says, depends "not on how many programs a university has, but how coherently they are aligned in a consistent way."
This sounds exactly like the process that is discussed with the Baldrige framework for the Baldrige Performance Excellence Program. It promotes a student-focused, process improvement culture using some quality improvement tools and can be very effective.
What are we waiting for? If you are interested in discussing systems thinking for improving graduation rates and “turning the ship around, ” feel free to contact me at cindy@veenstraconsulting.com.
Cindy
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