More People Starting, But Not Finishing, College
Colleges all over the country have no trouble attracting students--keeping them, and having them graduate with at least a bachelor's degree, is the bigger issue.
Complete College America, a group looking to raise college graduation rates, released a study Tuesday morning that showed how many students across 33 states completed their degrees, including whether their enrollment was two or four years, as well as whether it was full- or part-time.
The results are sobering. Take Louisiana, for example. Of every 100 students enrolled in a public institution, 30 start in community colleges, and not a single one graduated on time. Even in four years, only 4 earned a two-year degree. Of the 70 that started at a four-year institution, only 11 graduated on time and 19 others took six years to graduate.
Similarly, in California, of all 100 students enrolled in a public four-year institution, 95 were full-time and only 5 were part-time. 14 full-time students graduated on time, with a total of 59 students--only two of whom were part-time--graduating in eight years.
Year-to-year retention rates have also been a staggering problem. Of California's 100 students, 77 full-time students returned as sophomores, compared to only 3 part-time students.
The report also goes on to address the following points:
- 75 percent of students are part-time, and no more than a quarter of them graduate within eight years.
- Poor students and students of color struggle the most to graduate.
- Students are spending too much time in school, taking too many credits and too much time to complete.
- Remediation does not produce results.
In addition, according to the report, the federal government does not "track the success of part-time students...as if they're invisible." This amounts to 40 percent of students.
USC, in comparison, does significantly better against most of the state: 97 percent of first-year students return as sophomores, with approximately 72 percent of students graduating in four years.
