College Completion

Discusses an Education Department committee's recommendations for overhauling the way the government measures the success of community colleges. Though there was general agreement on crafting completion measures, there was strong disagreement about whether the government should require community colleges to report their students' employment outcomes. (Inside Higher Ed, 06/06/11)

Article discusses Texas' efforts to move toward a funding system that rewards universities for graduating more students. Policymakers have struggled to agree on which outcomes to measure, how to encourage them and if they should alter the funding formulas while budgets are being slashed. (Texas Tribune, 06/06/11)

Details how institutional research, data collection can lead to programmatic changes that promote student success. Collecting data on course failure rates allowed administration and faculty to look critically at the effectiveness of several instructional delivery formats and introduce academic policies that support student retention.

Report on how poor financial aid policies negatively impact success for low-income students

Report from American Institutes of Research on the high cost of student attrition in higher education. Estimates that it costs states about $6.2 Billion annually in state appropriations, $1.4 Billion in student grants and another $1.5 Billion in federal grants when first year students don't persist to a second year of education.

Paper on the impact of the No Worker Left Behind program in Michigan on retraining the workforce.

Report from the Georgetown Center on Education and the Workforce that showcases the value of higher education, particular majors.

Article discusses CUNY's proposal to create a common general education framework across its all of its two- and four-year colleges, and a new transfer agreement. (Inside Higher Ed, 04/21/11)

Examines connection between college majors and career earnings. Difference in earnings potential between one major and another can be more than 300%. Further, majors are highly segregated by race/ethnicity and gender, with few exceptions. (Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce, May 2011)

Story on the role of community colleges in economic development.

Editorial in Georgia on focusing on college completion, rather than access

Paper studying how technical colleges move students to completion when compared to traditional community colleges

Editorial on Georgia's need for a more targeted strategy for higher education

Web site with state by state analysis of higher education productivity measures for institutions and states.

Story on the return on investment in higher education in North Carolina.

Story in Community College Times on the impact of transfer/articulation on completion

Jamie Merisotis remarks on college completion in Connecticut

Discusses how governors and policymakers in some states are demonstrating that state governments-through leadership, policy decisions and funding strategies-can help higher education institutions embrace the critical role they play in preparing a state's workforce for jobs that will enable the state to prosper in the new economy. (National Governors Association, March 2011)

Report from NGA on how higher education is aligned with the workforce. Features case studies of four states.

Spells out seven strategies that governors can consider to increase college completion rates in their states. Describes the "why" and "how" for each strategy and provides state, national and federal examples. (U.S. Department of Education, March 2011) See State-by-state completion chart: http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/completion_state_by_state.pdf