College Completion

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)

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.

The Preventing Loss, Creating Momentum Framework that is the heart of the Completion By Design initiative that is supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

A series of reports on educational attainment; fields of bachelor's degrees; and the relationship between attainment, fields of study, and occupation and earnings. (U.S. Census Bureau, February 2012)

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

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.

Report from Public Agenda on how to scale community college efforts

Web site for the Achieving the Dream Initiative that is working with community colleges on how they can more effectively utilize data to drive institutional change.

Discusses actions for state policymakers to take to strengthen their P-20 data systems to increase college and career readiness. (Data Quality Campaign, January 2012)

Summarizes states' efforts to provide information on success of K-12 students after high school, such as postsecondary enrollment, remediation, persistence and degree completion. (Data Quality Campaign, December 2011)

Community colleges can improve graduation rates by offering a course that teaches students how to navigate college with lessons on study skills, time management and how to find the bursar's office. Yet while "student success" courses are increasingly common, resistance remains strong at many community colleges. (Inside Higher Ed, 02/21/12)

Outlines recent policy changes in Florida, North Carolina, Ohio and Texas that relevant to the completion agenda, political environment, and governance to show progress in the Completion by Design initiative. (Jobs for the Future, January 2012)

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)

Highlights the challenges nontraditional students face to completing college credentials, best practices from states and colleges, and ideas of how the federal government could help, particularly by improving data collection and financial aid. (Advisory Committee on Student Financial Aid Assistance, February 2012)

Explores 13 promising practices for strengthening community college student engagement and success. The practices include assessment and placement, support services, remedial education, academic alert and intervention, and others. (Center for Community College Student Engagement, February 2012 )

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)

Presents the next step taken by the Cross-State Data Work Group: a comparative analysis of a comprehensive set of intermediate milestones and final measures of success that practitioners and policymakers can use to rethink and remake their approaches to increasing student achievement.(Jobs for the Future, February 2012)

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

Partnering with six community colleges, MDRC developed and evaluated four distinct programs based on the following approaches: financial incentives, reforms in instructional practices, and enhancements in student services. (MDRC, March 2011)