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Sara Goldrick-Rab

February 2009

Non-elite public institutions have absorbed the rapid expansion of higher education during the last 50 years. Studies suggest that declining institutional resources at these schools have diluted the quality of the college experience for a broad swath of U.S. college students, dragging down completion rates. Dramatic increases in public enrollment, unaccompanied by corresponding increases in funding, have contributed to declines in college quality.

Less than 60% of students now entering 4-year institutions earn bachelor’s degrees. Barely one-fourth of community college students complete either associate’s or bachelor’s degrees within 6 years of college entry. Students from economically disadvantaged families are even less likely to realize their college ambitions. Only 40% of beginning college students from low-income families complete a 2- or 4-year degree within 6 years, compared with 62% of high-income students. Since future economic and social success largely depends on holding a college degree, this low chance of college completion among the poorest students perpetuates growth in income inequality.

The proportion of young people enrolling in college has grown since the 1970s, but the proportion receiving diplomas has stagnated. An examination of bachelor’s degree completion rates within 8 years of high school graduation reveals that barely half of the high school cohort finished a degree in both 1972 and 1992. Stagnation was accompanied by delays in completion of the bachelor’s degree. Among students starting at “4-year” institutions, only 34% finish a BA in 4 years, 64% within 6 years, and 69% within 8.5 years.

UW-Madison education professor Sara Goldrick-Rab and colleague Josipa Roksa call for a partnership among the federal government, states, and institutions of higher education. The collaboration would work to prepare, inform, encourage, educate, and finance all potential college graduates across the entire span of schooling, from preschool through college.

Goldrick-Rab says that many federal policymakers operate under the false assumption that after students gain college admission, a degree is guaranteed. But Goldrick-Rab and Roksa found that the reality involves stagnating completion rates, increased time to degree completion, and persistent disparities in attainment by family income level. Their report, A Federal Agenda for Promoting Student Success and Degree Completion (Center for American Progress, August 2008), elaborates on areas where policymakers could more effectively intervene to reverse these trends and details the factors contributing to student success.

Goldrick-Rab and Roksa argue that the federal government should support states and public colleges and universities as they work to help more college students complete their education. That support would require increased investments in the most accessible but under-resourced schools. Efforts should address:

• Lowering the financial barriers to college completion,
• Improving students' chances of experiencing academic success in college,
• Streamlining the transfer of students and credits across schools to broaden access and icnrease efficiency, and
• Ensuring the value of degress by emphasizing and measuring individual learning and achievement.

Increased federal involvement could help guarantee not only that necessary funding is provided, but also that clear messages are communicated and data are collected so that progress can be measured. National leaders can turn more dreams into college diplomas, says Goldrick-Rab, by working with educators, state legislators, and families.

The 20th century witnessed a massive general expansion of opportunities for access to higher education. Yet children’s socioeconomic background has been a consistently strong predictor of their odds of college completion. The implications of existing disparities trouble Goldrick-Rab. For one thing, educational attainment has a strong connection to labor market rewards. Completion also is associated with a range of other important outcomes, including health, family stability, and general well-being. Federal policymakers must also come to grips with this difficult reality, she says. The goal is to increase the production of college credentials of value, while decreasing inequalities in who receives those credentials.

Adapted from a report published by the Center for American Progress, August 2008.