Kevin Carey, The Education TrustMay 2004
Over the last four decades college graduation rates have remained remarkably stable despite steady increases in the number of high school seniors pursuing postsecondary education. On its face, this would appear to be a good thing - as more kids are entering college (4 out of 5 students who graduate high school in four years enroll in some kind of postsecondary education), more are earning a college degree. According to a study by the Education Trust, however, the completion rates of yesterday are no longer acceptable today. (For more on the graduation rate crisis, see our review of Double the Numbers above.) As the earnings gap between college grads and high school grads widens, "the consequences of not graduating have not stayed the same" and with global market competition, "low graduation rates are something our economy can no longer afford." The study, which used data recently released by the U.S. Department of Education's Graduation Rate Survey (GRS), observes significant gaps between the college graduation rates of low- and high-income students and between white and minority students. To wit, only 54 percent of low income students graduate in six years compared with 77 percent of high income students. Further, less than half of all minority students graduate while 67 percent of white students earn a postsecondary degree. Interestingly, the study also showed marked differences in graduation rates between schools with very similar student bodies. According to author Kevin Carey, colleges need to start taking responsibility for improving their own completion rates and can do so by studying the successful practices of similar schools with better track records. Carey's findings and argument for institutional reform are worth the read. Check it out here.
