Copyright© 2007 by School Services of California, Inc.

                                      Volume 20                   For Publication Date: February 16, 2007             No. 4

States Should Focus on Improving Student Success 

In the report, Strategies for Improving Student Success in Postsecondary Education, the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE) says the nation’s track record on college preparation and degree completion must be improved.   

The report asserts that federal and state policies are focused more heavily on access than retention. States need to shift their focus to better college preparation, year-to-year retention, and degree completion. The study seeks to provide research that will assist states in improving student success in postsecondary education. Researchers focus on two primary questions pertaining to student success:   

• Why has the U.S. done so much better at achieving high levels of access than in promoting student readiness and success?
• Why have equity gaps throughout the postsecondary educational pipeline proved so difficult to close over a prolonged period of time?

To answer the two questions the report explores the following possible explanations: 

• Funding and policy priorities that favor access over readiness or success have produced expected results
• Benefits from a wide range of government-funded aid programs are not well targeted toward low-income students
• Many federal and state policies have not been well designed to improve student readiness and success or to narrow equity gaps

In 1992 and 2000, surveys conducted on college readiness found that nearly two-thirds of community college entrants took at least one remedial course, and roughly one-quarter of entrants into four-year institutions also took at least one course below the collegiate level. In addition, more than three-quarters of postsecondary institutions in the U.S. offer at least one remedial course. For degree completion, the U.S. has not been as successful.  Degree completion rates in the U.S. are below average when compared to other industrialized nations. When measured the percentage of students who complete a program of study within in a prescribed amount of time, fewer than half of the students in the U.S. who start a baccalaureate program of study actually complete their degree. 

State policymakers need to take into account the intended and unintended consequences of policies addressing the issues related to improving student success. The report offers four recommendations to help states improve the preparation and performance of all students: 

• Increase funding of early intervention programs for at-risk students
• Include more stringent preparation requirements as part of eligibility for state need-based student aid programs
• Target student aid funds more toward students from low-income families and other traditionally underrepresented groups of students
• Pay institutions for the number of Pell Grant recipients who finish a year of study, transfer, or complete a degree

Investing more in helping financially needy students and increasing funds for academic preparation programs can help states increase completion rates and re-focus the higher education mission on student success.   

Inquiries regarding this report can made to the WICHE Policy Analysis and Research Unit at (303) 541-0254 or ebarber@wiche.edu. A copy of this report can be found at:  www.wiche.edu/Policy/Changing_Direction/Pus.asp.

—Jamillah Moore, Ed.D.