In October 2011, six assocations of college and university presidents convened the National Commission on Higher Education Attainment and began a conversation about the challenges higher education faces in ensuring that students complete. Chief among them: How can higher ed institutions better serve a changing student population, increasingly comprised of older, part-time, working students?
The result is an open letter to college and university leaders across the nation that stirringly explains why college completion must be a national priority:
At the end of the process we reached two very broad conclusions. First, we were dismayed that a country so rightfully proud of pioneering mass higher education through groundbreaking measures like the Morrill Land Grant Act, the GI Bill, and the Higher Education Act now faces unsatisfactory and stagnating college completion rates.
But we were also heartened during our meetings to learn about the concrete steps that some colleges and universities have already taken -- some small and others large-scale -- to increase the number of students who stay enrolled and complete their education. But many of the projects are new and the results are not yet clear. We believe these efforts are a good first step, but every campus can do more.
Great ideas include easier credit transfers, online courses, and college equivalency assessments based on experience or a portfolio of work. Read the letter
here. (Opens in a PDF.)