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  Postsecondary SuccessCompletion |
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Broadly defined, completion refers to the progress students make toward completing postsecondary degrees and certificates in a timely manner. Embedded in this topic are issues of retention (keeping students in college), persistence (moving them through the system in a timely fashion) and graduation (the awarding of a degree or certificate once all requirements are completed). While getting students into college is important, helping them finish their degree work in no more than five or six years is just as vital to the economic and social health of the nation. Given the needs of a new, information-based economy and the increasing complexity of American democracy, the necessity for a greater number of students to complete their degrees in a shorter period of time will only grow stronger. Historical trends reveal that the supply of students educated in certain fields is out of step with the demands for graduates in those fields. For example, between 1985 and 2000, the number of mathematics degrees awarded nationwide dropped by 30%.1 This decline occurred at a time when the demand for technically trained workers approached all-time highs.2 Perhaps more disturbing is the deterioration of electoral participation among young Americans. The voting rates of citizens under the age of 25 have declined steadily since 18- to 21-year-olds were given the right to vote in 1972.3 An understanding of the connection between social problems and larger public policy seems to be missing in contemporary American society, something that postsecondary education can help correct.4 College graduates supply not only valuable resources to an expanding technical labor market, but also are more likely to engage in civic and democratic activities.5 Completion rates nationwide, unfortunately, remain unacceptably low. In only half the states do more than 50% of first-year students at community colleges return for a second year. Completion at four-year institutions, even in top-performing states, also is low. In no state do more than 70% of students complete a degree within five or six years of enrollment.6 Several factors, both individually and in combination, affect the ability of students to complete their chosen course of study. A frequently exclusionary academic culture that identifies and promotes only the top students often sacrifices the far more significant goal of maximizing the achievement of all students.7 Problems with funding, capacity and preparation can also play into completion problems. Most damaging are the continued problems that students of color, low-income and first-generation students — the very people least likely to complete a degree — continue to face in today's higher education system. Persistence and completion rates for blacks and Hispanics are considerably lower than their white or Asian-American counterparts — 18% and 8%, respectively, compared to 32% and 55%.8 First-year retention of these "at-risk" students is a key aspect of completion. Most students drop out of postsecondary education during or immediately following their first year of college. The reasons for this are many, including socioeconomic background, high school preparation and scores on college placement exams.9 Several states have experimented with different strategies for increasing retention and completion rates. Some states, like Illinois, have implemented "graduate incentive programs" that provide additional funding to colleges that offer the courses and services necessary to graduate students in four years.10 Other states are likely to experiment with a variety of completion strategies in the near future. For more information about postsecondary completion, please consult the National Information Center for Higher Education Policymaking and Analysis and the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education. 1 National Center for Education Statistics, Digest of Education Statistics, 2000-2001 (Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, 2001). 2 National Alliance of Business, The Business Leader's Guide To Measuring Up 2002 (Washington , DC: 2003) 19. 3 Peter Levine and Mark Hugo Lopez, “Youth Voter Turnout has Declined, By Any Measure,” September 2002, accessed December 10, 2002. 4 Delli Carpini and S. Keeter, What Americans Know About Politics and Why It Matters (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1996). 5 U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, Current Population Reports, Voting and Registration in the Election of November (various years), series P-20, Nos. 143, 440, and 504. 6 The National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education, Measuring Up 2002: The State-by-State Report Card for Higher Education (San Jose: 2002) 27. 7 National Alliance of Business, 20. 8 The Mortenson Research Seminar on Public Policy Analysis of Opportunity for Postsecondary Education , "Higher Education Equity Indices by Race/Ethnicity and Gender, 1940-2000," Postsecondary Education Opportunity 110 (2002) 3. 9 Clifford Adelman, Answers in the Toolbox: Academic Intensity, Attendance Patterns and Degree Attainment (Washington DC: Office of Educational Research and Improvement, U.S. Department of Education, 1999). 10 Illinois. Graduation Incentive Grant Program. Statutes, 110:205/9.28.
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