beating the odds

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H C MSTRATEGISTS

Align. Advocate. Advance.

www.HCMstrategists.com

What it Means and Why it’s important

Table of Contents

Introduction to Beating The Odds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1

Preparation and Access . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2

Student Retention and Remediation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3

Innovation and New Models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4

Leadership Driving Culture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5

Next Steps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7

Methodology for Selected Institutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9

List of Leading Institutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14

Institutional Profiles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15

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Beating The odds: What It Means and Why It’s Important

What does it take for a college or university to “beat the odds” and increase the rate at which it graduates traditionally underrepresented students?

As the emphasis on creating a skilled workforce continues to increase nationally, institutions of higher education are grappling with this question. The skill and knowledge requirements of the 21st-century workforce in most cases require some level of postsecondary education. In fact, estimates are that in 10 years more than 60 percent of all jobs will require a college education, meaning an additional 22 million new college degrees are needed. At the current rate of degree completion, the country will be millions short in attaining that goal.i For the country to meet this economic challenge, more of our students, especially low-income and first generation college students, must be equipped with a postsecondary degree or credential—a challenge that cannot be achieved if we continue with the status quo.

Current completion rates are much too low. Only about half of all college students complete any degree or certificate within six years of enrolling. Even fewer minority and low-income students complete a credential within that time. For students beginning community colleges—the nation’s open doorway to postsecondary education—fewer than three out of 10 will finish a degree or certificate within three years.ii Today, the odds of completing college for a low-income American are virtually unchanged from those 20 years ago, despite worldwide economic transformation that has made it nearly impossible to compete for high-paying jobs without postsecondary credentials.

Combining the number of degrees needed for a strong and vibrant economy with the current economic and budget challenges the innovation imperative becomes clear. Amid predictions that states will face more than $100 billion in budget shortfalls in 2011 and over $80 billion more in 2012, it would seem that postsecondary institutions that can strategically leverage resources and find creative ways to engage and support students will be the most successful in “beating the odds” and increasing the number of traditionally underrepresented students who graduate.iii

In the fall of 2010, HCM Strategists and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation commenced a series of conversations among institutional leaders dedicated to “Beating the Odds” and increasing the rate of success for students traditionally underrepresented in higher education: low-income, minority, first-generation, and adult students. The institutions were selected because they received national attention, through reports or initiatives, for the efforts they have under way to graduate traditionally underrepresented students. Some of these institutions are already seeing significant gains in their completion rates, while others are poised to make these types of gains and are worth watching.iv The ongoing conversations are designed to foster sharing of institutional strategies and policies specifically aimed at improving the odds of success in students’ journeys into and through postsecondary education.

In preparation for the September 2010 “Beating the Odds” meeting, HCM staff conducted 30 interviews with two- and four-year college leaders. Though these colleges vary by size, sector, and programmatic offerings, they share several important traits. Most serve high-poverty and high-minority populations and several have very mobile populations. All are working to find ways to improve success and narrow the persistent achievement gaps that plague many similar institutions. The interviews were intended to solicit from each president the efforts under way to sustain and improve college completion outcomes, particularly for

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traditionally underrepresented students. This report summarizes the three common themes that emerged at the September meeting as well as in the interviews: Preparation and Access; Student Retention and Remediation; and Innovation and New Models. A fourth theme, Leadership Driving Culture, surfaced at the September convening involving these leaders.

The success of these institutions stems from the creation of a campus-wide culture aimed at improving outcomes for students. In order to improve college completion rates, especially among low-income and underrepresented minority students, colleges must assess and redesign courses and provide targeted academic advising, student services, and counseling services, among other interventions. This means that the entire faculty and staff must be focused and prepared to help students who traditionally do not complete their degree or take longer than average to earn it.

preparation and access

Our interviews revealed that colleges that are beating the odds are focusing on preparation and access in three ways: outreach programs, career and college-ready collaboration, and transfer policies. Prominent outreach programs among the colleges include summer bridge academies, dual-enrollment opportunities, and altered policies on transfer credit acceptance.

Several of the BTO presidents discussed the challenges students face as they transition to college. Many first-time freshmen arrive at college and find themselves unprepared for the academic, social, and cultural expectations. These students can easily get overwhelmed by the transition and quickly fall behind. Many postsecondary institutions are beginning to offer summer bridge academies to expose students to campus life. California State University - Stanislaus offers the Educational Opportunity Program (EOP) to promote access, academic excellence, and retention of low-income, first-generation students. The Summer Bridge Program—a part of EOP offered by invitation only to selected applicants—helps new students make the transition from high school to university studies. Its residential program offers an intensive, three-week academic component and social/cultural programs to prepare the student for a successful academic career.

Some of the BTO colleges are leading the national effort to transform traditional college-access strategies into systematic efforts to prepare high school graduates for colleges and careers. These efforts focus on informational, academic, social, and financial support for first-generation and low-income students and underrepresented minorities. Many colleges reach into middle and high schools to communicate the standards and readiness levels students must attain to enroll in credit-bearing courses. el Paso Community College works with 12 local school districts to require high school juniors and seniors to take the college’s placement test. Identified early, students who are not proficient are provided interventions and an opportunity to retest. El Paso also has several early college high schools, which allow students to begin college early and graduate well on their way to – and often having already completed – a college credential.

Transfer policies are a third critical dimension used to promote access leading to graduation. Today’s college students are highly mobile and can take classes in a single semester at more than one institution. Often students get caught in transition between two- and four-year schools. Credits don’t easily transfer and there is limited program articulation. Many schools, such as Western illinois University (WIU), are starting to smooth this pathway for

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students, and work with community college partners to ensure curricula are aligned and students understand which prerequisite courses are needed. WIU’s Go4Program allows freshman and sophomore students taking the majority of their courses at community colleges to enroll in WIU courses. These students are also given access to WIU’s academic advising, provided audits of degree reports with clear information on remaining courses needed to earn a degree in the chosen major, and offered a seamless transition to third- and fourth-year courses at WIU.

student retention and remediation

Consensus is emerging that effective, systematic efforts to promote student retention begin with different approaches to remedial education. Nationally, at least 30 percent of all students entering college will require at least one course to strengthen the skills needed to succeed in college-level work. For those entering community college, the number is 40 percent. The incidence between states varies, with some states having remediation rates exceeding 50 percent.v Yet, traditional remedial education assessment and pedagogy are not working. Fewer than 20 percent of these students complete a degree program. To address these challenges, many presidents interviewed are implementing the features that research from the Community College Research Center describes as effective at transitioning students quickly into credit-bearing courses:

• Moreanddifferentassessmentstoidentifystudents’particularskilldeficiencies

• A blurring of the line between remedial education and credit-bearing courses forstudents whose skill deficiencies are not far from expectations

• Acceleratedmovementbetweenlevelsofeducation

• Contextualizedcurriculumvi

CUnY College of staten island President Tomás Morales noted this significant gap in success rates for students tracked into remedial education versus those who can enroll immediately in credit-bearing college coursework. To address these challenges, the college admits students who do not meet the entrance requirements for the baccalaureate program into an associate’s degree program. These students are then provided with intense immersion programs that allow them to quickly address their academic deficiencies and are also offered opportunities to take college-level coursework. Upon successful completion of their remedial education requirements and 12 credits of college-level coursework, students receive a second admission letter from Dr. Morales—this time congratulating them on their acceptance into the college’s baccalaureate program. These practices have helped more than 4,500 students successfully convert from associate degree status to baccalaureate degree status

Beyond efforts to transform remedial education, there is almost universal acknowledgment of the importance of case management in improving retention. College presidents point to “intrusive” advising, student and faculty mentoring, and supplemental instruction opportunities. north Carolina Central University has made academic advising a foundation for achieving success. Through the University College, students are subject to intrusive, weekly advising and mentoring sessions. After the first year of this program, the freshman-to-sophomore retention rate increased from 68 to 77 percent.

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Freshman transition programs are often required; they focus on ensuring that freshmen have the academic and social supports to complete their first year and return for their sophomore year. Some presidents also are implementing policies that require students to declare a major by their second year to focus the course work necessary for on-time completion. At the University of north Carolina greensboro (UNCG) these supports are coupled with tuition assistance. Through the UNCG Guarantee Program, students at or below the federal poverty level who show academic promise are provided four years of full-tuition assistance. In turn, these students are required to participate in academic support services, including development of a customized academic plan. Initially funded by a donation from an anonymous donor, this program has become a funding priority for the institution.

Additionally, many campuses are rethinking the way in which students interact not only among themselves but also with faculty and staff. The increase in campus living and learning centers and policies requiring freshmen to live on campus is intended to ease the transition into college and increase the odds of completion. “It’s not rocket science, but the overall goal is to get students engaged in a way that gives them something to be a part of and someone to identify with,” noted David Burcham, President of Loyola Marymount University (LMU), where six living learning communities and two learning communities provide this connection for many students. LMU has realized retention rates of 95-100 percent for these communities.

Innovation and new Models

Though the nation’s difficult economic situation is not the focus of this report it is hard to ignore given the recent recession and slow economic recovery. Declining state funding and campus budget cuts were undercurrents in every conversation with these leaders. Rather than using recent funding cuts as an excuse, most of the leaders at the September meeting and interviewed for this report found ways to use the current fiscal climate as an opportunity to innovate. Many colleges are implementing new and alternative ways to finance students’ education as well as ensure that they graduate in the shortest possible time.

Presidents who are beating the odds know that diverse learners have a wide range of needs, and they recognize that teaching and learning models must adapt to take advantage of research about what hinders college completion. For them time, choice, and structure can make the difference in whether institutions help students beat the odds—and how much they contribute to the nation’s ambitious college-attainment goals.

More and more institutions are enrolling students who concurrently work full- or part-time jobs, which not only increase time to degree completion but also decrease ability to focus on academics and take advantage of support services. To compensate, many colleges are redesigning their programs by rethinking course prerequisites, course sequencing, and cohort matriculation, and building customized pathways for students. Cohort matriculation programs are designed so that students progress through course work in cohorts that in effect become support structures. Customized pathways purposely limit a student’s course options and act as a completion tool for at-risk students. Montclair state University (MSU) has rigorously reviewed its program offerings, limiting the number of credits to ensure that students can complete degree programs within four years. The school also encourages students to take core academic requirements within the first two years and

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works to ensure that students are not closed out of courses required for degree completion. “The key question is: What is the progression for students through a program and do you have courses available as they progress and as they need them?” said MSU President Susan Cole.

These pathways include alternative delivery options as well as programs and services that facilitate completion of a certificate or degree. southern new hampshire University (SNHU) has expanded opportunities for students to complete their bachelor’s degree in three years, and the SNHU Advantage Program offers students a “no frills” opportunity with morning classes offered at the college’s continuing education centers and tuition rates nearly 60 percent lower than the college’s traditional program. President Paul LeBlanc noted that much of the cost of higher education isn’t the core of education. The Advantage Program offers students the academics “without the climbing walls and dining halls.” It gives the price-sensitive students and those students who need to work a viable option.

A consistent refrain from the leaders who have focused their institutions on completion is the importance of innovative delivery of postsecondary education. The colleges that have had the most success have adopted innovative technologies and practices, continually fine-tuning and adjusting courses as they find out what works. Rio salado Community College is constantly finding new ways to deliver courses and interventions using data analytics to create predictive models, forecast student success, and create appropriate interventions.

Innovation is not an afterthought or a responsibility of the research faculty at these institutions; it is part of the fabric of what they do and what they teach. Innovation means something different to each of these leaders, but they all pursue it with energy.

Leadership driving Culture

During the September proceedings, a fourth theme emerged from several institutions that spoke of something very different and sometimes intangible: leadership driving culture. Many of the presidents recognize that they must foster and maintain a culture of student success throughout their institutions. This means sending consistent and clear messages about the completion priority; collaborating with boards, staff, and faculty to create cohesion and ownership; using the budget process to drive and execute priorities; and using data to inform decisions and increase accountability.

These leading presidents, very early in their respective tenures, created a culture where access was redefined from an “opportunity to enroll” to an “opportunity to earn a credential of value.” This message was constructed to appeal to a broad community and was both internally and externally focused. The goal of improving student outcomes was articulated clearly and consistently in commencement speeches, faculty meetings, cabinet meetings, and all communication from their offices. This message was the foundation for building a campus culture in which all faculty and staff were driving toward the same goal: improving the academic opportunities for all students.

Collaboration with faculty and staff was required to change the way in which they thought about their roles and responsibilities. In practical terms, this meant developing interdisciplinary task forces or working groups to facilitate conversations and address systematic impediments. As Valencia Community College’s President Sanford Shugart pointed out, his first priority was to reorient his faculty to talk about what defines the

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college’s culture and to move away from creating working groups composed of “powerless innovators or innovation-less powers.” Changing the culture also required a shift in how faculty members thought about traditional degree programs and at times required a rewriting of curriculum that supported the diversity of degree seekers. Senior staff members were urged to take on mentor roles, and retreats instilled the culture of success and facilitated the creation of interdisciplinary departments focused on student engagement.

georgia state University (GSU) President Mark Becker inherited a culture already on a path toward achieving high retention and graduation goals and stressed the importance of staying the course. The university looked carefully at the specific effects of low-income and first-generational status on academic success within the unique contexts of GSU and implemented four initiatives directly aimed at moderating those effects.

The annual budget development and approval process has become an important tool for presidents to communicate and execute priorities. Valencia uses a special part of the budget for R&D projects—not just initial small-scale projects, but the ones that are being brought to scale at the college. This is a discipline of innovation (similar to angel and venture capital) that helps track and verify Valencia’s investments in new approaches to improving learning results. The budget planning process is further augmented by continuing conversations with core faculty members that capture the theory of work and the resulting budgetary implications.

Data play an integral part in allowing leaders to set goals and measure success. Access to and increased use of data has been the gateway for many to understand the completion dilemma. University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC) President Freeman Hrabowski noted that data allow leaders to ask the right questions, and give faculty, students, and the public confidence that the leaders know what they are talking about. “Data help get the message across.”

This culture of data-driven decision making also better allows faculty members to analyze the results of specific education initiatives intended to increase student success and adjust those that are not performing. Spending and outcomes data are also important resources for improving productivity in higher education, allowing for more efficient and effective leveraging of limited resources.

i Anthony P. Carnavale, Nicole Smith and Jeff Strohl, Help Wanted: Projections of Jobs and Education Requirements through 2018, Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce, cew.georgetown.edu/jobs2018/, June 2010 (accessed February 2011).

ii Information Center for Higher Education Policy Making and Analysis, Progress and Completion: Graduation Rates 2008, National Center for Higher Education Management Systems, www.higheredinfo.org/dbrowser/index.php?measure=19, (accessed January 2011).

iii National Conference of State Legislatures, State Budget Update: November 2010, www.ncsl.org/documents/fiscal/november2010sbu_free.pdf, December 2010 (accessed January 2011).

iv A complete methodology on how institutions were selected can be found on pages 8-11 of this report.

v Bruce Vandal, Getting Past Go: Rebuilding the Remedial Education Bridge to College Success, Education Commission of the States, www.ecs.org/clearinghouse/86/55/8655.pdf, May 2010 (accessed February 2011).

vi Thomas Bailey, Rethinking Developmental Education in Community College, Community College Resource

Center, Working Paper No. 14, November 2008.

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next steps

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next steps

The Beating the Odds meeting represented the beginning of a conversation rooted in the economic reality that postsecondary skills and credentials are necessary for most high-paying jobs today and in the future. Like these 30 peers, leaders of every college in the nation need to find systematic ways to beat the odds and graduate an increasingly diverse student body. College presidents have many options for taking action to improve college completion rates. Early conversations made clear that there are several factors integral to a president’s ability to magnify and maintain student success. Institutional efforts must: help students prepare for the rigors of college; focus on retention through student support systems; find new and innovative ways for students to access postsecondary education; and demonstrate leadership in creating a culture of completion.

Across higher education, college leaders can hear the call for meaningful, sustained improvements in rates of degree completion. Access is no longer enough. We must reach out to traditionally underrepresented students, address their needs and ensure that completion is not just an option but a reality. To meet the completion challenge will require bold leadership with a strategic embrace of success that focuses squarely on student completion. The road will be challenging as schools navigate how best to prioritize interests, eliminate barriers for students, leverage limited resources and navigate new paths that counter the traditional model of postsecondary education.

Falling short on this challenge cannot be an option. When a student who enters college leaves empty-handed the consequences go far beyond the student. Thankfully, there is much to learn from the diverse group of institutions that constitute the postsecondary landscape. Colleges can reinvent their service model to ensure that all students have the supports that they need to be successful. Learning from peers about what it takes for colleges and students to “beat the odds” and communicating about those efforts to legislators, business leaders, and nonprofit partners can bring clarity to the challenges facing these institutions and illuminate the opportunities for sector-wide performance improvement.

As this effort moves forward, the conversation cannot be limited to the institutions highlighted in this report. “Beating the Odds” will continue to stimulate these conversations through additional meetings and the Completion Matters website provides a platform for sharing ideas, resources and best practices around what works in helping students attain a postsecondary degree.

Many more leaders must engage in the hard work it will take to dramatically increase the number of Americans with a degree or credential of value necessary to meet the needs of the 21st-century economy. You are invited to join the conversation.

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Methodology For selected institutions

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Methodology For selected Institutions

Over the past 18 months, a number of influential organizations have identified institutions that do a noteworthy job graduating low-income and traditionally underrepresented minority students. Among them are the American Enterprise Institute, the Education Trust, and the Southern Regional Education Board.

A second set of efforts is under way to promote the progress of institutions with the will to use data to improve how students are served. These include Achieving the Dream, the Yes We Must Coalition, and the Institute for Higher Education Policy’s Building Engagement and Attainment for Minority Students initiative. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation also has identified a handful of institutions to watch, with leadership and completion-focused efforts under way to turn the tide and help their students beat the odds.

Each uses a different methodology to acknowledge noteworthy institutions. Some colleges are recognized by more than one organization. Despite their differences, these public evaluations provide a transparent and externally validated starting point for a conversation about leadership and strategies to advance student success. Variations among these evaluation methods also suggest the need for the higher education community to agree upon a common set of completion metrics as the basis to measure and understand success.

achieving the dream (aTd) Leader College designation

Achieving the Dream designates colleges that are part of the ATD initiative as Leader Colleges. These schools have embraced and made progress on the four principles of the initiative: committed leadership, use of evidence to improve programs and services, broad engagement, and systemic institutional improvement. Leader colleges have also shown three years of sustained improvement on at least one key student achievement indicator:

• Coursecompletion

• Advancementfromremedialtocredit-bearingcoursework

• Completionofcollege-levelEnglishandmathcourses

• Term-to-termandyear-to-yearretention

• Completionofcertificatesordegrees

For more information on ATD Leader Colleges, click here.

american enterprise Institute’s rising to the Challenge, 2010

This report analyzes graduation gaps between Hispanic and non-Hispanic white students at four-year institutions based on school admissions selectivity. Completed with support from Excelencia in Education, the analysis:

• UsedIPEDSdatatoidentifyasetoffour-yearbachelor’sdegree-grantingcollegesanduniversities that averaged 10 or more Hispanic students in each of the incoming classes for the graduation cohorts of 2005, 2006, and 2007

• Accountedfordifferencesinadmissionsselectivity(becausegraduationratesincrease

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as selectivity increases) and coded schools into six selectivity categories as defined by Barron’s Profiles of American Colleges: noncompetitive, less competitive, competitive, very competitive, highly competitive, most competitive

• Rankedtop-10andbottom-10institutionsineachselectivitycategory,basedonsix-year graduation rates for the Hispanic student cohort

For more information on AEI’s Rising to the Challenge analysis, click here.

education Trust: Various reports, 2010

These various analyses examine schools that have increased graduation rates for minority students, closed the gap in graduation rates between white and underrepresented minority students, or both.

• Top Gainers highlights public four-year colleges with the highest increases inunderrepresented minority graduation rates between 2002 and 2007. The report:

• Accounted for differences among institutions by grouping schools based onCarnegie Classification (Research, Master’s, or Baccalaureate)

• Included schools that enrolled a statistically significant number of minoritystudents in both 2002 and 2007

• Excluded schools that had a relative decline of 20 percent or more amongincoming freshmen in the study years (incoming 1996 and 2001) to help ensure that institutions whose graduation rates improved as a result of serving fewer minority students were not highlighted

For more information on Education Trust’s Top Gainers report, click here.

• Top Gap Closers highlights public four-year colleges that have narrowed gaps ingraduation rates between underrepresented minority students and their white and Asian peers between 2002 and 2007. The report:

• Accounted for differences among institutions by grouping schools based onCarnegie Classification (Research, Master’s, or Baccalaureate)

• Excluded schools that had a relative decline of 20 percent or more amongincoming freshmen in the study years (incoming 1996 and 2001) to help ensure that institutions whose graduation gaps closed as a result of becoming more selective were not highlighted

• Includedonlyschoolsthatnarrowedgapsbymakinggainsingraduationratesamong minority students while maintaining or improving graduation rates for nonminority students

For more information on Education Trust’s Top Gap Closers report, click here.

• BigGaps,SmallGaps(withHispanicreportandAfrican-Americanreport)identifiesinstitutions with average three-year Hispanic (or African-American) graduation rates of at least 40 percent. This rate is approximately the average graduation rate for underrepresented minority students nationwide.

For more information on Education Trust’s Big Gaps, Small Gaps reports, click here.

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Institute for higher education policy (Ihep): Increasing student success at Minority-serving Institutions: Findings from the BeaMs project, 2008

This project highlights “best practice” institutions involved in the Building Engagement and Attainment for Minority Students (BEAMS) initiative, aimed at building the capacity of schools to collect and use data for institutional decision making and accountability. The initiative is specifically focused on Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs). This report gathered and cited information from various sources, including:

• BEAMsprojectactionplans,progressreports,andcorrespondence

• Detailedinterviewswithschooladministration,staff,faculty,andstudents

• FindingsoftheUrbanInstitute’sProgramforEvaluationandEquityResearchexternalevaluation of the BEAMS project

For more information on IHEP’s Findings from the BEAMS Project report, click here.

McKinsey & Company: Winning by degrees, 2010

This report highlights institutions that are leading the way in degree productivity and effectively graduating students. The report:

• Lookedatthetopquartileofschoolsafterthefollowingfilterswereapplied:

• Selectivity(onlyopen-orlow-selectivityschoolsbasedonCarnegieandBarron’sclassifications)

• Sizeofinstitution(eliminatedschoolswithfewerthan200studentsenrolled)

• PercentageofstudentsreceivingPellGrants

• Totalcostperstudentperyear

• Totalcostpercompletedcredential

• Numberoffull-timestudentsperdegreegranted

• Selectedfinalschoolsbasedonqualitativeprocesstoevidencetheconsciousdecisionsleaders make around degree completion.

For more information on McKinsey & Company’s Winning by Degrees report, click here.

sreB: promoting a Culture of student success, 2010

This report is based on a multiyear study and profiles public four-year institutions that outperform similar colleges and universities by having relatively high graduation rates. The study selected schools that met the following criteria:

• Minimumsix-yeargraduationrateof45percentin2006

• MedianSATscorenohigherthan1050(ACTapproximately25)

• Minimumof25percentofstudentsreceivingPellGrants

• CarnegieClassificationofpublicBaccalaureateorMaster’s

For more information on SREB’s Promoting a Culture of Student Success report, click here.

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yes We Must

This affiliation of 47 not-for-profit, private institutions focuses on successfully educating underserved students. Members identified had:

• Atleast50percentofundergraduatesreceivingPellGrants

• AverageSATscoresatorbelowthenationalaverage

• Minimumof30percentgraduationrates

• Maximumundergraduatestudentenrollmentof2,000

For more information on the Yes We Must coalition of schools, click here.

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These independent assessments of available data suggest that the following institutions are leading the way in helping students beat the odds:

Berea College; Berea, Kentucky, Larry d. shinn, President

Bloomfield College; Bloomfield, new Jersey, Richard a. Levao, President

California state University-northridge; northridge, California, Jolene Koester, President

California state University-stanislaus; turlock, California, hamid shirvani, President

College of staten island-CUnY; staten island, new York, tomás d. Morales, President

dillard University; new Orleans, Louisiana, Marvalene hughes, President

el Paso Community College; el Paso, texas, Richard M. Rhodes, President

Florida Memorial University; Miami gardens, Florida, henry Lewis, iii, President1

georgia state University; atlanta, georgia, Mark P. Becker, President

Loyola Marymount University; Los angeles, California, david W. Burcham, President

Metropolitan state College of denver; denver, Colorado, stephen M. Jordan, President

Montclair state University; Montclair, new Jersey, susan a. Cole, President

north Carolina Central University; durham, north Carolina, Charlie nelms, Chancellor

northern Virginia Community College; Virginia, Robert g. templin Jr., President

Oglala Lakota College; Rapid City, south dakota, thomas shortbull, President

Patrick henry Community College; Martinsville, Virginia, Max F. Wingett, President

Pine Manor College; Chestnut, Massachusetts, gloria nemerowicz, President

Richmond Community College; hamlet, north Carolina, William d. “dale” Mcinnis, President

Rio salado College; tempe, arizona, Chris Bustamante, President

southern new hampshire University; Manchester, new hampshire, Paul J. LeBlanc, President

st. Clair Community College; Port huron, Michigan, Kevin a. Pollock, President

tennessee technology Center-Murfreesboro; nashville, tennessee, Carol Puryear, director

thomas University; thomasville, georgia, gary Bonvillian, President

towson University; towson, Maryland, Robert L. Caret, President

University of Maryland-Baltimore County; Baltimore, Maryland, Freeman a. hrabowski, iii, President

University of Missouri-st Louis; st. Louis, Missouri, thomas F. george, Chancellor

University of north Carolina-greensboro; greensboro, north Carolina, Linda P. Brady, Chancellor

Valencia Community College; Orlando, Florida, sanford C. “sandy” shugart, President

Western governors University; salt Lake City, Utah, Robert W. Mendenhall, President

Western illinois University; Macomb, illinois, alvin goldfarb, President

Western Kentucky University; Bowling green, Kentucky, gary a. Ransdell, President

Winthrop University; Rock hill, south Carolina, anthony J. digiorgio, President

1 dr. sandra thompson was serving as interim President for FMU at the time of the “Beating the Odds” meeting in september 2010

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institutional Profiles

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Institutional profile

Berea CollegeBerea College is part of the “Yes We Must” coalition of schools

This information was submitted by Berea College

What is the institution’s mission?Berea was founded by abolitionists in 1855 as the first racially integrated and coeducational college in the South. The college was Christian but strictly nonsectarian and has remained unaffiliated. Berea enrolls only low-income students, and each receives a full-tuition scholarship, valued at $24,100 in 2010-11. All students work a minimum of 10 hours per week to cover a small portion of their educational costs. Berea also serves the Appalachian region through education and other services.

Statistical description of the institution 1:

83% of students currently receiving Pell Grant.

64% six year graduation rate (2008) 3

20% underrepresented minority 2

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HIGHEST LEVEL OF DEGREE OFFERED:

: Black: Hispanic : White: Asian : Native American

63%75%60%100%N/A

TYPE OF INSTITUTION: PUBLIC PRIVATE

SPECIAL MISSION, IF APPLICABLE (E.G., MSI, HBCU, HSI): N/A

TOTAL ENROLLMENT : 1,582

FULL TIME PART TIME

1,535 47

292 23%

Number of certificates and degrees conferred in 2009

increase since 2000

1 As reported to the U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) through the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), 2007.

2 “Underrepresented minority” includes black, Hispanic and Native American students

3 Rate represents 150 percent of time to graduation or 6 years for 4-year schools and 3-years for 2 year schools

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Berea, Kentucky

What are the institution’s goals or strategic plan for completion? How do they relate to statewide goals?Berea has the nation’s third-highest graduation rate among private liberal arts colleges based upon the population served, according to the Washington Monthly. Remarkably, African American students graduate at or above the rate for majority students. For example, the entering class of 2004 has a five-year graduation rate of 62 percent. The corresponding rate for African Americans is 66 percent. Despite this success and despite budget cuts, the college recently refocused and set out to boost the five-year graduation rate to 70 percent by 2015.

What are the greatest challenges to increasing completion?Berea’s funding relies heavily upon endowment performance. Its commitment to meet the financial need of every student through grant assistance and self-help is unique nationally. However, as endowment income has failed to sustain our operating budget, we have had to cut our workforce and eliminate staff members who are key to the success of students, especially first-generation students. We are also challenged by our special enrollment. Students arrive without the cultural capital that is the birthright of their more affluent peers. Their families could not afford private tutors, music lessons, or even extracurriculars. Their schools lacked accelerated or demanding pre-college curricula. Several of our students worked jobs in high school to support their families.

How is the campus working to increase on-time completion (e.g., through financial aid policies with incentives for persistence; remedial education strategies; restructured course and/or program delivery to meet needs of student population; and accelerated pathways to degree)? What is the impetus or rationale for this effort?Berea recently completed a strategic plan that refocused the college on “engaged and transformative learning” in a reduced-budget environment. We will better use technology to identify students in distress and marshal support more judiciously. We intend to identify at-risk students earlier and teach them strategies for academic success. We are developing a peer-mentor program that will ask all students as part of their work-study program to mentor an incoming student. We also have created campus centers that are “homes” for students with various interests and backgrounds. Our Appalachian Center, the first in the United States, provides outreach to communities throughout our region and “in reach” to students from counties described as “distressed” by the Appalachian Regional Commission. Our Black Cultural Center provides a peer-mentor program for minority students that foster deep engagement in the community. Our Center for Excellence in Learning Through Service facilitates community service and service-learning courses that bring together service-oriented students. Program participants have an outstanding retention rate.We have revised our academic calendar and added a four-week, one-course summer term for credit. Combining that with other summer offerings, we now expect all students to graduate in four years or less. We have also begun to collaborate with the Kentucky Community and Technical College System so that students with an associate’s degree can complete a bachelor’s degree at Berea in a timely fashion. This required several modifications to faculty-established policies governing transfer of credit. Yet we realized that many outstanding community and technical college students might not have the financial resources to complete an undergraduate degree outside a program like Berea. This year, we tripled the number of transfer students admitted to the college.

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Bloomfield CollegeBloomfield College is part of the “Yes We Must” coalition of schools

This information was submitted by Bloomfield College

What is the institution’s mission?To prepare students to attain academic, personal, and professional excellence in a multicultural and global society.

What are the institution’s goals or strategic plan for completion? How do they relate to statewide goals?There has been active trustee, faculty, and broader community participation in the preparation of Vision 21, a strategic plan for Bloomfield College. Continued emphasis is expected in pre-professional programs with a solid liberal arts foundation, emphasizing strong literacy skills (informational, multicultural, and financial) throughout the curriculum and providing service learning and internship opportunities that enhance student competency. State coordination is undertaken by active participation in the N.J. Presidents Council, which includes public research universities, state colleges, independent colleges, county colleges, proprietary colleges, and religious colleges.


55.6% of students currently receiving Pell Grant.

36.3% six year graduation rate (2008) 3


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36.1%41.9%35.7%30%N/A


SPECIAL MISSION, IF APPLICABLE (E.G., MSI, HBCU, HSI): PBI


FULL TIME PART TIME

1,577 479

1,695 81%


increase since 2000




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Bloomfield, nJ

What are the greatest challenges to increasing completion?Having so many students who received uneven and weak college preparation in K-12; continuing innovative programs to accelerate academic foundation programs; gaining greater access to campus-based technology through needed software upgrades, including state-of-the-art systems for programs that are highly dependent on technology (science, nursing, creative arts, and technology); hiring more full-time faculty; creating an enriched curriculum; providing a greater availability of residential living and learning experiences on campus; expanding state need-based scholarship, currently limited to eight semesters for students who usually graduate in 10-12 semesters.

How is the campus working to increase on-time completion (e.g., through financial aid policies with incentives for persistence; remedial education strategies; restructured course and/or program delivery to meet needs of student population; and accelerated pathways to degree)? What is the impetus or rationale for this effort?

• Developmental Education: The college has revised and accelerated developmental math and English to allow students to complete the pre-college courses within one semester. This strategy includes accelerated courses, embedded tutors, enhanced technology, and greater involvement of full-time faculty working with staff. In one year the success rate for the pre-college math program went from 67 percent to 91 percent. More than 80 percent of the students in the program completed their college-level math requirements and at least 18 credits of college-level courses at the end of their first year.

• Support Services: The college has put greater emphasis on co-curricular involvement and first-year student residential opportunities (the college remains primarily commuter).

• Financial Aid: Financial aid includes emergency funds for junior and senior students that face difficulty clearing bills and flexible payment arrangements over time. The college packages financial aid with the expectation that the student contribution is only $1,000 each year.

• Flexible Scheduling: Bloomfield is experimenting with new class scheduling procedures to maximize working student convenience. This has already led to fewer under enrolled courses, lower dependence on part-time faculty, and increased access to required courses for all students, particularly juniors and seniors.

• Transfer Policies: The college has launched an aggressive outreach campaign to community colleges, and implemented generous articulation policies allowing transfer students to enroll with the maximum number of credits toward the degree.

• Technology: The college has upgraded all classrooms with technology and provides and supports more than 600 computers. Including establishment of an online system through which students can view their academic progress (grades and requirements), register for courses and receive critical information regarding financial and academic issues, scholarship information and invitations to events.

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California state University, northridgeCSU Northridge was identified by Education Trust as a “Top Gap Closer” and IHEP as a “best practices” campus for the Building Engagement and Attainment for Minority Students (BEAMS) initiative

This information was submitted by CSU Northridge.

What is the institution’s mission?California State University, Northridge, is a regional, comprehensive university with a primary focus on teaching and learning. It is part of the 23-campus California State University (CSU) system.

What are the institution’s goals or strategic plan for completion? How do they relate to statewide goals?Cal State Northridge is part of CSU’s Graduation Initiative. By 2016, CSU aims to raise six-year graduation rates by 8 percent and reduce by half the gap in degree attainment for traditionally underrepresented students. Before the





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32%35%48%44%39%


SPECIAL MISSION, IF APPLICABLE (E.G., MSI, HBCU, HSI): HSI


FULL TIME PART TIME

22,022 7,738

6,416 24%


increase since 2000




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northridge, California

initiative, the university had already committed to improving student retention and graduation rates, having developed recommendations in 2000 that were incorporated into the campuses overall plan. (See a list of initiatives related to these recommendations in the response to the last question.)

What are the greatest challenges to increasing completion?Students are not prepared for university-level work. The California Master Plan requires CSU campuses to accept the top one-third of the state’s high school graduates along with a large number of transfers from community colleges. However, California’s K-12 students generally perform poorly in reading and math and are not exposed to a college-going culture. Typically, between 58 percent and 61 percent of the university’s freshman class needs remediation in reading/writing or mathematics—or both.


First, the university made these goals an all-campus responsibility. Discrete initiatives were then developed, with each measured and evaluated for effectiveness by analyzing evidence. These initiatives include:

• Revision(andreduction)ofgeneraleducationprogramrequirements;

• First-Year Experience/University 100 (The Freshman Seminar)/Freshman Convocation;

• SummerBridge(residentialandcommuterprograms);

• Living-learningcommunitiesinstudenthousing;

• Early start opportunities, traditional and online, to allow first-time freshmen to do remedial work in math and reading/writing before the start of their first fall semester;

• “Stretch” courses in freshman writing, which move the focus from developmental composition to a yearlong, six-credit writing cohort;

• Teachingofdevelopmentalandfreshmanwritinginfivedepartments:English,PanAfricanStudies,Chicana/oStudies, Asian American Studies, and Central American Studies;

• TheEarlyWarningSystem(anelectronicsystemtoalertadvisorstostudentsstrugglinginspecificclasses);

• Tutoringandpeermentoring;

• Supplemental Instruction (SI) linked to developmental and freshman writing, stretch writing, and courses with low pass rates;

• Linkedcourses(Freshman Connection, stretch writing) that create supportive student cohorts;

• Improved student advisement, including mandatory advisement for freshmen and course selection/placement;

• Onlineandself-administeredstudentadvisementtools;

• Newfinancial-aidlimitsat150units(downfrom180)tofocusstudentsonmovingtowardgraduation;and

• Reform of various administrative processes such as limiting the number of repeated courses, allowingadministrative graduation for students who have accumulated more than 140 units, and restricting enrollment after 140 units to courses required to graduate in the student’s major.

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California state University, stanislausCSU Stanislaus was identified by SREB as a “Promoting a Culture of Student Success” institution and IHEP as a “best practices” campus for the Building Engagement and Attainment for Minority Students (BEAMS) initiative

This information was submitted by CSU Northridge.

What is the institution’s mission?California State University, Stanislaus, is committed to creating a learning environment that encourages all members of the campus community to expand their intellectual, creative, and social horizons. We challenge one another to realize our potential, appreciate and contribute to the enrichment of our diverse community, and develop a passion for lifelong learning. To facilitate this mission, we promote academic excellence in the teaching and scholarly activities of our faculty, encourage personalized student learning, foster interactions and partnerships with our surrounding communities, and provide opportunities for the intellectual, cultural, and artistic enrichment of the region.





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25%50%56%51%43%




FULL TIME PART TIME

4,962 2,126

1,681 24%


increase since 2000




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Turlock, California

What are the institution’s goals or strategic plan for completion? How do they relate to statewide goals?California State University is leading a national initiative to increase the graduation rate of students in the next six years. The initiative, which involves all 23 campuses, also seeks to reduce by half the gap in degree completion between underrepresented students and their peers. CSU aims to bring its graduation rate to 54 percent—the top quartile of similar institutions—from the current 46 percent.CSU Stanislaus has long focused its efforts on degree completion and is already recognized for its success in this area. Reports by the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (2005) and the Southern Regional Education Board (2010) affirm the quality of the CSU Stanislaus campus environment and culture of teaching, learning, and student engagement. According to the Education Trust (2009), CSU Stanislaus has already achieved the goals set by the national graduation initiative. CSU Stanislaus’s 1999 six-year graduation rate was 51.3 percent, higher than the 46-percent rate system wide. Six-year graduation rates for underrepresented minority students in recent years have ranged from 44 to 53 percent. Even so, CSU Stanislaus has pledged to improve rates by an additional six percentage points by 2016.

What are the greatest challenges to increasing completion?State budget cuts; the need for remediation for incoming students, particularly underprepared high school graduates; an enrollment largely made up of first-generation and low-income students who juggle education, work, and family demands. Few of our students can focus full-time on their education.


The CSU Stanislaus Strategic Plan, “Framing the Future,” outlines our future development in response to “opportunities and challenges provoked by the economic and social transformation of our region.” See:

CSU Stanislaus Programs• Student Support Services helps students stay in college and graduate. Its academic retention programs include

academic advising and counseling, curriculum planning, and tutorial assistance.

• The Tutoring Center provides academic support to all students. It provides a setting where students share techniques for academic success. Experienced peer tutors provide a supportive, judgment-free atmosphere where collaborative learning can take place.

• Promise Scholars, a federally funded program, provides the support services for former foster youth to succeed in college. Since 2006, the program has delivered individualized attention and supportive resources to former and current foster youth.

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College of staten Island / CUnyCUNY College of Staten Island was identified by SREB as a “Promoting a Culture of Student Success” institution.

This information was submitted by CUNY College of Staten Island.

What is the institution’s mission?Grounded in the liberal arts tradition, the College of Staten Island is committed to the highest standards in teaching, research, and scholarship. Drawing on the rich heritage of the City University of New York that has provided access to excellence in higher education since 1847, the College of Staten Island offers that same opportunity in New York City’s Borough of Staten Island. The college is dedicated to helping its students fulfill their creative, aesthetic, and educational aspirations through competitive and rigorous undergraduate, graduate, and professional programs. We embrace the strength of our diversity, foster civic-mindedness, and nurture responsible citizens for our city, country, and the world.





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40%29%49%42%N/A




FULL TIME PART TIME

8,112 3,476

2,014 20%


increase since 2000




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staten Island, new york

What are the institution’s goals or strategic plan for completion? How do they relate to statewide goals?Develop a richer array of rigorous undergraduate and graduate degree programs that meet students’ educational and professional aspirations. Enhance the quality and recognition of research, scholarship, and creative works for faculty and students. Become an even more vibrant center of intellectual and cultural exchange through community partnerships. Strengthen and increase our ability to serve a diverse campus community.

What are the greatest challenges to increasing completion?The greatest challenges are serving freshmen with remedial needs and also challenging highly motivated, high-performing students, while supporting faculty research and the expansion of innovative graduate programs. Additional challenges stem from the many demands and pressures faced by students in a fast-paced urban commuter environment.

How is the campus working to increase on-time completion (e.g., through financial aid policies with incentives for persistence; remedial education strategies; restructured course and/or program delivery to meet needs of student population; and accelerated pathways to degree)? What is the impetus or rationale for this effort?The college’s initiatives are:

• Learningcommunities forbothbetter-prepared students (Macaulay honors college, The Verrazano School) and at-risk populations (Search for Education, Elevation and Knowledge);

• Mandatory summer immersion for students not proficient in mathematics prior to the freshman semester; and

• Basicskillspreparationandtestinginitiativesincooperationwithlocalhighschools.

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dillard UniversityDillard University is part of the “Yes We Must” coalition of schools and identified by IHEP as a “best practices” campus for the Building Engagement and Attainment for Minority Students (BEAMS) initiative.

This information was submitted by Dillard University.

What is the institution’s mission?Dillard University aims to produce graduates who excel, become world leaders, and are broadly educated, culturally aware, and concerned with improving the human condition. Thanks to our highly personalized and learning-centered approach, Dillard’s students can meet the competitive demands of a diverse, global, and technologically advanced society.





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37%N/AN/AN/A N/A


SPECIAL MISSION, IF APPLICABLE (E.G., MSI, HBCU, HSI): HBCU

TOTAL ENROLLMENT : 956

FULL TIME PART TIME

880 76

171 10%


increase since 2000




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new orleans, Louisiana

What are the institution’s goals or strategic plan for completion? How do they relate to statewide goals?Dillard aims to increase academic performance at each level by 2 percent each academic year in core and major courses. It also will improve student persistence to graduation rate by 2 percent each year. To do this, it hopes to implement the QEP and the Learning Communities; enhance academic advising; recruit more faculty to engage in undergraduate research and more students to do high-quality internships; create retention plans in the educational programs; reduce academic probation and suspension rates; enhance graduate/professional school or employment readiness; and build a Dillard-specific retention model.

What are the greatest challenges to increasing completion?Hurricane Katrina had a unique impact on universities on the Gulf Coast, including Dillard, as hundreds of students left and never returned. That exodus has hurt Dillard’s completion statistics for cohorts enrolled at the time of the hurricane. Pre-Katrina completion rates were closer to 50 percent, and it is expected that graduation rates will naturally rise as post-Katrina cohorts matriculate. That said, students entering then and now provide similar challenges for the university. They are not prepared; they need content-specific study skills. Nationwide, HBCUs have low retention rates and high attrition rates because of academic deficiencies and challenges. Low-income and first-generation students have special needs and require support services such as developmental and remedial education. Among Dillard’s goals are to:

• Makefacultyandstaffpartoftherecruitmentteam;

• Promotecollegepreparednessatthepre-collegiatelevelandencouragethosestudentstotaketheACTearlyandoften;

• Considerwritingacrossthecurriculum;

• Minimizeuseofobjectivetests;

• Promoteandcelebratedevelopmentalandremedialsupportservices,evenforon-levelstudents

• Encouragestudyabroad;

• Offersummerenrichmentwithemphasisonacademicsupportservices(e.g.,EmergingScholars);and

• Assessstudentlearning.

How is the campus working to increase on-time completion (e.g., through financial aid policies with incentives for persistence; remedial education strategies; restructured course and/or program delivery to meet needs of student population; and accelerated pathways to degree)? What is the impetus or rationale for this effort?Student Integration Model for Success: This states that academic, social, psychological, financial, career, spiritual, and administrative integration are essential to student retention and success. It strives to facilitate institutional change that provides the support for all students to meet their academic and professional goals and objectives.It is incumbent upon the entire university community to help the student matriculate, become an asset to our society, and leave Dillard with a sense of pride. Student success will be defined through increased retention, graduation, and placement rates. Dillard administrators, faculty, staff, and students embrace the notion that “Student Success Is Everyone’s Business.”

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el paso Community CollegeEl Paso Community College was identified as an Achieving the Dream “Leader School”.

This information was submitted by El Paso Community College.

What is the institution’s mission?EPCC provides educational opportunities and support services that prepare individuals to improve their quality of life and contribute to their economically and culturally diverse community.

What are the institution’s goals or strategic plan for completion? How do they relate to statewide goals?Through our involvement with the Lumina Foundation’s Achieving the Dream Initiative and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation’s Developmental Education Initiative, we have worked to reduce barriers preventing students from completing their education. EPCC is committed to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board’s effort to significantly increase the number of degrees and certificates awarded from high-quality programs by 2015.



7% three year graduation rate (2008) 3


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7%7%5%16% N/A




FULL TIME PART TIME

9,509 15,514

2,552 111%


increase since 2000




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el paso, Texas

What are the greatest challenges to increasing completion?Because of the economy in Texas, we face significant reductions in state funding. At the same time, EPCC enrollment has increased more than 20 percent in the past year, and we are fast running out of space for classrooms and labs.

How is the campus working to increase on-time completion (e.g., through financial aid policies with incentives for persistence; remedial education strategies; restructured course and/or program delivery to meet needs of student population; and accelerated pathways to degree)? What is the impetus or rationale for this effort?College Readiness As part of Achieving the Dream, we worked with our 12 local school districts and the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) to require all high school juniors and seniors to take our placement test. The protocol includes an orientation to prepare students for the test, interventions to correct weaknesses, and an opportunity to be retested. For high school students placing into developmental education, we developed a five-week summer bridge program with skill-building and success strategies to increase college readiness. For entering students who are not recent high school graduates, we developed the PREP program. PREP closely follows the protocol offered high school students, with the added services of computer-assisted instruction, tutoring, and one-on-one advising. With funding from the Gates Foundation, we are scaling up PREP to serve more students on each of our five campuses.Accelerated PathwaysAgain working with the school districts and the university, we have increased dual-credit enrollment at area high schools by 176 percent since 2003. This initiative encourages students to enroll in college courses while still in high school and instills a college-going attitude in many students who may not have previously thought themselves college material.We have also opened on our campuses. When our Mission del Paso Early College High School held its first graduation this year, all but five of the graduates had already earned an associate’s degree and half of them were already taking upper-level courses at UTEP. Our fifth early-college high school opens next month, and a sixth opens next year. Such work is made possible by our partnership with the Texas High School Project and with start-up funding provided by the Gates Foundation, the Greater Texas Foundation, and the Texas Education Agency.Restructured Course/Program DeliveryOur math faculty redesigned our developmental math sequence and reduced the number of levels from four to three. Now students are taught in Math Emporiums, rooms equipped with computers and computer-based instruction. Students work through the modular instruction at their own pace, with the instructor available to provide assistance. They can complete the original course and move into the next course within the same semester. This restructuring was done in response to data showing that many students started the developmental math sequence but never finished. Funding from the Gates Foundation is allowing us to scale up Math Emporium to serve more students. Financial Aid PoliciesMany of our students take classes at UTEP while still attending EPCC, so we have developed a joint financial aid application, which allows students to get the aid for which they qualify.Reverse TransferOur students taking classes at both EPCC and UTEP no longer have to first get an associate’s degree before going to the university. We have established a data-sharing process with UTEP that allows us to examine student transcripts at the university. When students complete the requirements for an associate’s degree, we send them a letter of congratulations and notice of degree completion.

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Florida Memorial UniversityFlorida Memorial University is a member of the “Yes We Must” coalition of schools.

This information was submitted by Florida Memorial University.

What is the institution’s mission?Florida Memorial University endeavors to instill in students the importance of becoming global citizens through lifelong learning, leadership, character, and service that will enhance their lives and the lives of others.





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29%35%17%N/A N/A




FULL TIME PART TIME

1,519 150

196 N/A%


increase since 2000




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Miami gardens, FL

What are the institution’s goals or strategic plan for completion? How do they relate to statewide goals?Florida Memorial University has several remedial education strategies at work:

• MajorDeclarationDay;

• LyceumPrograms;

• Sophomore,Junior,andSeniorExperienceDays;

• ResearchandPerformanceDay;

• Freshman4thWeekAcademicReport;

• MidtermAllStudentAcademicProgressReport;and

• FMC101StudentPlacementbyMajor.

What are the greatest challenges to increasing completion?Availability of financial aid, college preparation, and Black male persistence and retention in college.

How is the campus working to increase on-time completion (e.g., through financial aid policies with incentives for persistence; remedial education strategies; restructured course and/or program delivery to meet needs of student population; and accelerated pathways to degree)? What is the impetus or rationale for this effort?Adequate and reliable financial aid is important to the success of many students at Florida Memorial University. We are increasing need-based financial aid, and we are increasing scholarship (merit-based aid) opportunities.

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georgia state UniversityGeorgia State University was identified by Education Trust as a “top gainer” and “top gap closer”.

This information was submitted by Georgia State University.

What is the institution’s mission?As the only urban research university in the state, GSU offers opportunities for traditional and nontraditional graduate and undergraduate students by blending the best of theoretical and applied inquiry, scholarly and professional pursuits, and scientific and artistic expression. With strong disciplinary-based departments and a wide array of problem-oriented interdisciplinary programs, the university provides access to quality education for diverse groups of students, educates leaders for Georgia and the nation, and prepares citizens for lifelong learning in a global society.





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44.5%46.7%42%48.4% N/A




FULL TIME PART TIME

14,519 5,370

6,103 30%


increase since 2000




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atlanta, ga

What are the institution’s goals or strategic plan for completion? How do they relate to statewide goals?In 2010, Georgia State completed a three-year strategic plan for raising retention, progression, and graduation rates. The plan focuses particularly on the needs of underrepresented, low-income, and first-generation students and explicitly places student completion at the center of the university’s mission. This plan was approved by the Board of Regents in 2010 as part of a statewide initiative to improve completion rates.

What are the greatest challenges to increasing completion?The single greatest challenge is an acute and growing deficiency of student financial resources. Through extensive studies, we have discovered a disturbing (if unsurprising) correlation between increasing unmet need and dropout and stop-out rates. The average level of unmet need has risen markedly since 2005—by 148 percent for freshmen, for example. Only 1 percent of our undergraduates during fall 2009 had all their financial need met (down from 6 percent during fall 2005). We also have a rapidly growing number of students with more than $10,000 of unmet need annually, meaning that more than half of the annual cost of their education is unaccounted for.Deficiencies in students’ academic preparation constitute a second major challenge. With large numbers of first-generation, low-income, and minority students, we struggle to connect students to the academic help they need in a timely fashion—before their grades begin to suffer. In a HOPE scholarship state, this is critical, as students must excel (getting at least a 3.0 GPA) to maintain their scholarships. Losing HOPE is tantamount to dropping out for many of them. Our six-year graduation rate is 63 percent for students who hold on to the HOPE scholarship but 21 percent for those who lose it.

How is the campus working to increase on-time completion (e.g., through financial aid policies with incentives for persistence; remedial education strategies; restructured course and/or program delivery to meet needs of student population; and accelerated pathways to degree)? What is the impetus or rationale for this effort?Georgia State has made important strides in student success over the past few years. In January, the Education Trust reported that GSU had the biggest jump in graduation rates for minority students in the four years since 2005, with an increase of 18 percentage points. “Georgia State’s example demonstrates that public institutions can strive for access and success simultaneously,” the Trust said in a national press release. “Institutions should see these as twin goals, not an either-or proposition.” IPEDS reports that Georgia State grants more degrees to African American women than any other public institution in the country; it ranks GSU third in degrees granted to African Americans overall. This progress is the result of a multifaceted, campus-wide effort. The university offers one of the most successful freshmen learning community programs in the country. Some 1,400 freshmen participate each fall, and it raises their retention and graduation rates by four to five percentage points. We have developed an extensive peer-tutoring program, Supplemental Instruction, that targets freshman and sophomore courses with the highest DFW rates. Supplemental Instruction has raised the average GPA in these courses by almost half a grade and improved retention rates by several points. PATH, a comprehensive program for high-risk freshmen, starts with academic workshops in the summer before fall classes and includes special learning communities, an early alert program, peer and professional tutoring, and targeted advisement throughout the first year. Keep HOPE Alive is an academic-skills program to help students who have lost HOPE improve their grades and gain the scholarship back. For the student body overall, only 7 percent of students who lose HOPE gain it back; among the students in the pilot version of Keep HOPE Alive this past year, more than 40 percent won it back. Integrated Advising brings professional advisers into classrooms at critical junctures throughout the freshman year. In 2008, we established the first Office of Student Retention in the University System of Georgia, with a full-time director of retention (a tenured faculty member) and a campus-wide committee. Data show that each of these programs (and several others not mentioned) has helped students and raised progression and completion rates. Results are encouraging. Over the past nine years, the overall institutional progression rate (sophomore standing after one year) improved from 21.6 percent (2001) to 67.3 percent (2009). Georgia State’s overall graduation rate improved by more than six percentage points last year alone—to 49.6 percent. While this is good progress, it also means that we are less than halfway to where we need to be. There is much work still to be done.

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Loyola Marymount UniversityLoyola Marymount was identified by Education Trust as a minority gap closer.

This information was submitted by Loyola Marymount.

What is the institution’s mission?Founded in 1911, Loyola Marymount University (LMU) is a premier Catholic university rooted in the Jesuit and Marymount traditions. It is the eighth-largest of the nation’s 28 Jesuit colleges and universities. LMU understands and declares its mission to be the encouragement of learning, the education of the whole person, the service of faith, and the promotion of justice.

What are the institution’s goals or strategic plan for completion? How do they relate to statewide goals?LMU Interim President David Burcham has tasked the senior vice president for academic and student affairs to assemble a team of key stakeholders to study the issues surrounding undergraduate retention and graduation. LMU’s goal is to implement a university-wide strategic retention plan by fall 2011. LMU’s long-range goal is to increase its six-year retention rate to 85 percent (it is currently at 80 percent). Its most





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Los angeles, California

immediate goal is focused on freshman retention, with a goal of 95 percent. The current freshman retention rate is 88 percent, which is excellent by national standards. As a comprehensive, private institution, LMU does not have system or statewide goals. It does consider retention/success rates of its peer institutions, including Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities (AJCU) institutions as well as other Catholic institutions such as Notre Dame.

What are the greatest challenges to increasing completion?The first is competition for talented underserved students who have the potential to succeed at the postsecondary level. The second is the rising cost of education relative to the resources available to support students, especially as it relates to creating and sustaining supportive services.

How is the campus working to increase on-time completion (e.g., through financial aid policies with incentives for persistence; remedial education strategies; restructured course and/or program delivery to meet needs of student population; and accelerated pathways to degree)? What is the impetus or rationale for this effort?Loyola Marymount University’s success in retention stems from fulfillment of its mission to educate the whole person in an individualized, caring environment; a personalized approach to learning as evidenced by its low student-to-faculty ratio; and the development and sustainment of academic and nonacademic programs that encourage learning and service.LMU’s retention efforts focus on academic and social engagement as well as integration. Research has shown that students who live on campus are retained at a higher level. Ninety-five percent of LMU first-year students live on campus. LMU has strengthened opportunities for students to make connections early on in their academic careers through small Living Learning Communities (LLC) and programs that help students transition during their first year. There are six LLCs, enrolling about 15 percent of the freshman class. The LLCs, together with the Learning Communities (two communities that do not include the students living in residence halls), have a retention rate of 95-100 percent. These communities have dedicated faculty advisors, a one-unit course that brings students together to discuss their academic and social well-being, linked courses, and programming designed by highly trained student-affairs professionals.One of the LLCs, called COMPASS, is exclusively for undeclared students, a group that LMU has had difficulty retaining. The goal is for students to have chosen a major and to feel connected to the university by the end of their first year.The Learning Communities include the TLC@LMU Program for African American students (which has a 95-percent retention rate since it began in 2001) and the ACCESS Program for first-generation, underrepresented students in science and engineering. Only one year old, ACCESS has a 100-percent retention rate. LMU has received nationwide recognition for its success in retaining African American and Latino students.First-Year Experience (FYE), connects students to the resources of the university. FYE plans programs for students to help with their transition from high school to LMU. The staff also works with faculty advisors if a student is having difficulty. To engage students at all levels, three undergraduate research programs have been developed:

• TheUndergraduateResearchOpportunitiesProgram(UROP)providesstudentswithfinancialsupport(typicallythrough work study) for their work on a faculty-mentored research project.

• TheSummerUndergraduateResearchProgramenrolleditsfirststudentsinsummer2010.LikeUROP,studentswork for pay during the summer on a faculty-mentored research project.

• LMUhaslaunchedanUndergraduate Research Symposium in which students can showcase their work to the university, parents and general public. The symposium raises the academic bar for high-achieving students.

• Academicadvisinghasbeentargetedasagrowtharea.Partoftheworkfortheretentiontaskforceistoaddresshow to strengthen advising.

• A new program partners a first-generation student (freshman or transfer) with a faculty member who haspromised to meet informally with the student during the semester.

• Competitivescholarshipshavebeencreatedforhigh-achievingstudents.TheseincludetheArrupeScholarship,Trustee Scholarship, Presidential Scholars, Mexican American Alumni Association scholarship and the African American Alumni Association scholarship.

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Metropolitan state College of denverMetro State was identified by Education Trust as a “top-gainer”.

This information was submitted by Metro State College of Denver.

What is the institution’s mission?Metro State strives to provide a high-quality, accessible, enriching education that prepares students for successful careers, postgraduate education, and lifelong learning in a multicultural, global, and technological society. Metro State’s diverse college community engages the community at large in scholarly inquiry, creative activity, and the application of knowledge. A secondary mission is to become a Hispanic Serving Institution.

What are the institution’s goals or strategic plan for completion? How do they relate to statewide goals?One goal of the recently assessed 2005-10 Strategic Plan was to increase graduation rates using a variety of strategies, including advising; creative course scheduling; and aligning academic programs, support services, and admission policies. In 2008-09, Metro State graduated 2,588 students, a 19.2-percent increase since 1999. While the final numbers





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denver, Co

are not yet in, the college also graduated record numbers in 2009-10.Graduation rates can increase only if we increase our retention rates, so the college has emphasized restructuring policies and services to support that goal. Following are examples of increased retention rates:

• First-time,full-timefreshmen,from61.2percent(2004-05)to67.0percent(2008-09).

• Continuingstudents,from56.8percent(2004-05)to71.9percent(2009-10).

• Low-tomiddle-income(includingPell-eligible),from36.1percent(2005-06)to45.6percent(2009-10).

• First-generation,from24.8percent(2005-06)to30.2percent(2009-10).

• Studentsofcolor,from23.7percent(2004-05)to28.4percent2009-10).

Colorado is undergoing a strategic planning process for all of higher education, with the following four goals:• Coloradomustincreaseitsinvestmentandensureaffordabilityofhighereducation.Wecannotaffordtobelast.

• Coloradomustreduceregional,income,andethnicgapsincollegeadmission,retentionandcompletion.

• Coloradomustidentifysystematicwaystoimprovetheeducationalpipeline.

• Thegovernanceofhighereducationshouldbestructuredtoallowfortheadvancementofstatepriorities.

What are the greatest challenges to increasing completion?Amid declining state funding (Colorado ranks 48th), Metro State is the lowest-funded four-year institution in the state while continuing to break enrollment records. This, coupled with shifting demographics and a dramatically changing student body because of Colorado’s growing Latino population, has a dramatic effect on our ability to provide support services and maintain our small, 19-student class size.

How is the campus working to increase on-time completion (e.g., through financial aid policies with incentives for persistence; remedial education strategies; restructured course and/or program delivery to meet needs of student population; and accelerated pathways to degree)? What is the impetus or rationale for this effort?In 2005, Metro State participated in a study that monitors equity in four areas for historically underrepresented students: access, retention, institutional receptivity and academic excellence. The results indicated that:

• Thesestudentsearnpoorgrades,andfailtograduate,regardlessoftheirhighschoolgrades.Thesestudentsaremore likely to need remedial courses.

• ThereisalackofcontinuousadvisingandsupportfromMetroStatewhilestudentsaretakingremediationatthecommunity colleges.

• Thiscreatesa“trap-door”effectformanyofthesestudents,asMetroStateadmitsthembutthenallowsmostoftheir initial education to occur at community colleges.

To address these challenges, Metro State has adopted the following programs:

• First Year Success program – learning communities with a strong focus on paired courses, supplemental instruction, peer mentoring, and civic engagement.

• Metro Summer Scholars – an eight-week summer program that transitions first-time freshmen into the academic rigors of college.

• Metro Scholars program – provides scholarship recipients with services designed to support the development of academic, social, and leadership skills.

• MetroStateQuickStart–pilotprogramofferingacceleratedremedialcoursesforMetroStatestudentsonly.PerColorado statute, Metro State cannot offer remedial courses; that is done through Community College of Denver (CCD). Working with CCD, this program helps students complete the necessary college prerequisites for reading and English in one semester.

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Montclair state UniversityMontclair State was identified by SREB as a school “promoting a culture of student success”.

This information was submitted by Montclair State University.

What is the institution’s mission?Montclair State University is committed to serving the educational needs of New Jersey with programs characterized by academic rigor and currency in the development of knowledge and its applications. It offers a comprehensive range of baccalaureate, master’s, and certificate programs, as well as a focused portfolio of doctoral programs closely aligned with the university’s academic strengths and the needs of the state.

What are the institution’s goals or strategic plan for completion? How do they relate to statewide goals?Montclair State aims to increase its six-year graduation rate from 62 percent to 75 percent within five years. This target is self-imposed. There are no related statewide goals in New Jersey.





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Montclair, nJ

What are the greatest challenges to increasing completion?The most significant challenge is the inadequacy of scholarship funds, particularly given the comparatively high tuitions at New Jersey public universities. Many Montclair State students have limited financial means and must spend considerable time working. This pressure draws them away from their studies, hinders their integration into the academic community, and makes more difficult the timely completion of degrees. The university is making vigorous efforts to increase funds available for financial support for students and to focus the use of these dollars to improve time to degree.A serious shortage of residential space for students has been a second important challenge. Students from urban communities such as Newark or Paterson do better academically if they live on campus, close to libraries, advisors, and supportive activities, and away from distracting influences in their home neighborhoods. The university expects a 2,000-bed project scheduled for completion by fall 2011 to help improve student success. A third challenge stems from students’ lack of preparation for the rigors of college study and their unfamiliarity with what it takes to succeed. Montclair State is committed to creating a highly effective and efficient advising and academic support structure that will meet student needs at a university with a large enrollment and very limited state funding.

How is the campus working to increase on-time completion (e.g., through financial aid policies with incentives for persistence; remedial education strategies; restructured course and/or program delivery to meet needs of student population; and accelerated pathways to degree)? What is the impetus or rationale for this effort?The university rigorously prevents creep in degree requirements and insists that four-year degree programs limit requirements to what can be completed within four academic years. Montclair State is aggressively requiring faculty to develop a rational progression to course offerings with sensible prerequisites. It is also encouraging delivery models that move students through programs in cohorts that serve as support structures.The university is expanding the provision of effective and user-friendly online instructional resources. Workshops are provided to teach students how to use these resources to keep in contact with faculty and fellow students on around the clock.The university instituted a required First-Year Seminar, through the First-Year Experience program, that is closely integrated with New Student Orientation. The seminar offers a thorough introduction to the university, its resources, academic programs, student life, advising and mentoring opportunities, and study skills. The university is building on its First-Year Experience program with one that targets sophomores, helping undeclared students choose a major and providing academic and career workshops appropriate to second-year students. New policies require students to declare a major in time to complete requirements within four years.As the university acquires adequate resources, it plans to work directly with high schools to increase students’ understanding of how to prepare for college. It also hopes to develop online resources through which students could do that preparation on their own. Montclair State would like to work with high schools to make clear that preparing students for college is their responsibility but also to provide tools that assist both the high schools and their students to meet that responsibility. In line with that effort, through new policies and programs, the university is aggressively making the prior completion of any required remedial work a prerequisite for enrollment in college. It is our view that subjecting enrolled college students to remedial courses is demoralizing and that it confuses students about the nature of college-level work.The university has systematically increased its intrusive advising and has implemented the Student Academic Monitoring Program, an online application that provides the means for both full-time and adjunct faculty and advisors to actively support student progress.

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north Carolina Central UniversityNorth Carolina Central University was identified by SREB as a “Promoting a Culture of Student Success” institution.

This information was submitted by North Carolina Central University.

What is the institution’s mission?The mission of the university is to prepare students academically and professionally to become leaders prepared to advance the consciousness of social responsibility in a diverse, global society. The university will serve its traditional clientele of African American students; it will also expand its commitment to meet the educational needs of a student body that is diverse in race and other socioeconomic qualities.Teaching, supported by research, is the primary focus of the university. As a part of that focus, the university encourages its faculty to pursue intellectual development and rewards effective teaching and research. The university recognizes, however, the mutually reinforcing impact of scholarship and service on effective teaching and learning. North Carolina Central University, therefore, encourages and expects faculty and students to engage in scholarly, creative, and service activities that benefit the community.





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durham, north Carolina

What are the institution’s goals or strategic plan for completion? How do they relate to statewide goals?The University of North Carolina has established the goals of 80 percent first-to-second-year retention, and a six-year graduation rate of 53 percent, by 2012. NCCU is working to meet these targets.

What are the greatest challenges to increasing completion?• Increasingfinancialaidforstudentsstrugglingtopayforcollege

• Inspiringacultureofstudentsuccessandaccountabilityamongeveryadministrator,facultyandstaffmemberoncampus

• Establishingpedagogythatmoreeffectivelyengagesstudentsemphasizingtheiruseoftechnology

• Providingintrusivementoring,tutoring,andadvisingonanindividualbasis

How is the campus working to increase on-time completion (e.g., through financial aid policies with incentives for persistence; remedial education strategies; restructured course and/or program delivery to meet needs of student population; and accelerated pathways to degree)? What is the impetus or rationale for this effort?NCCU allocated $1.2 million to transform its University College. This year, we’ll add another $300,000 to strengthen academic advising and mentoring for juniors and seniors. It is now a hub of academic support services for freshmen and sophomores. The students are subject to intrusive, weekly advising and mentoring sessions that entail tutorials, weekly writing assignments, progress reviews, and goal setting and academic planning.After the first year of this program, our freshman-to-sophomore retention rate increased from 68 to 77 percent. Eighty percent of last year’s freshmen are academically eligible to return this fall. University College staff members are calling all of them to offer assistance to ensure the successful start of their sophomore year.We’ve begun to engage School of Education personnel to assist struggling faculty in addressing learning styles, lesson plans, and syllabi through the formation of Faculty Learning Communities. Our goal is to help them to develop strategies to engage their students, especially with regard to the use of technology. This is part of an effort to redesign general education and gateway courses to increase student learning and reduce withdrawal and failure rates.The Division of Student Affairs staff is leveraging peer pressure and group dynamics to achieve student success. The Centennial Scholars program invites applications from incoming black male freshmen who are also Pell Grant-eligible. Last year, a total of 57 students participated in this pilot program. They took an out-of-state field trip together, volunteered at NCCU’s Habitat for Humanity house, served as tutors at local elementary and middle schools, and coached at the Boys and Girls Club. Furthermore, they lived together in the same residence hall. In addition to the academic tutoring they receive at University College, these students are monitored and mentored for one hour per week, and staff members are available to them on the phone and through electronic means virtually around the clock. Eighty-four percent of this first cohort was retained from first to second semester, and we look forward to seeing how many return for sophomore year. Their average GPA for the year was quite promising: 2.78. In fall 2011, we’ll offer the program to another group of freshmen, bringing the total number involved to 225, at a cost of nearly $400,000. Our objective is to serve 500 participants by fall 2012.The impetus for these initiatives was the clearly deficient graduation rate, particularly for African American males but also for the entire student body. A graduation rate of less than 50 percent is unacceptable.

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northern Virginia Community CollegeNOVA was identified as an Achieving the Dream “leader school”.

This information was submitted by NOVA Community College.

What is the institution’s mission?The mission of NOVA is to respond to the educational needs of its dynamic and diverse constituencies through an array of comprehensive programs and services that facilitate learning and workforce development in an environment of open access and lifelong educational opportunities.

What are the institution’s goals or strategic plan for completion? How do they relate to statewide goals?In 2007, the college set a goal of graduating 4,500 students by 2015. It is significantly ahead of projections to meet that goal. Under consideration in its revised strategic plan is the goal of achieving by 2020 a five-year graduation rate of 50 percent among first-time program-placed students. Virginia has a statewide goal of increasing by 100,000 the number of additional degree awards made by 2025.





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northern Virgina

What are the greatest challenges to increasing completion?NOVA’s greatest challenges are:

• Collegereadiness;

• Effectivenessofdevelopmentaleducation;

• Supporttostudentsoutsideofclass;

• Buildingacademicplansatearlystages;and

• Helpingstudentsmakeprogressasplanned.

How is the campus working to increase on-time completion (e.g., through financial aid policies with incentives for persistence; remedial education strategies; restructured course and/or program delivery to meet needs of student population; and accelerated pathways to degree)? What is the impetus or rationale for this effort?NOVA has a number of campus-wide strategies:

• Focus on developmental education in math and English. The Emporium Model redesign will be piloted inSpring 2011 to respond to data that show high enrollment and low success rates in developmental math. Faculty and student input and identified student behavior metrics indicate the need for increased time-on-task for students and a self-paced and mastery-focused course orientation. In addition, Developmental English learning communities are being piloted to respond to data indicating a need to increase overall persistence, success rates in developmental English, and progress from developmental to college-level English. The learning communities are focusing on collaborative and active learning, the introduction of students to college resources, and heightened faculty and peer support. A new diagnostic assessment for developmental studies is a response to the need for more finely tuned student placement and diagnostic and prescriptive data for program planning.

• First-Year Experience (FYE) initiative. The FYE initiative is being implemented to respond to Achieving the Dream baseline data that indicate lower rates of academic success for students entering from high school than for other groups and student and faculty focus group data indicating a need for student support in making the transition from high school to college.

• New Student Orientation (NSO). The NSO was developed in response to focus group data indicating that first-time students need a comprehensive orientation to NOVA and to college life. The NSO provides assistance with registration and information about resources and activities.

• Revamped Student Success course and expectation of enrolling in course during first year. This course wasinstituted to respond to faculty and student focus group data indicating that NOVA students require assistance in developing study and time-management skills, knowledge about course and career selection, and appropriate expectations for college success .

• Working with area high schools on college readiness to prevent the need for remediation. These discussionswere initiated to minimize the large number of students placed in developmental courses. Additionally, a college placement test is being administered to 11th grade students at selected high schools to decrease the likelihood of students being placed in developmental courses through increased student awareness of their readiness for college.

• Pathway to the Baccalaureate program. This program has provided special support services to selected high-risk high school students through completion of a NOVA degree and enrollment at a four-year institution.

• Financialaidpolicieswithincentivesforfull-timestudy.Basedondataindicatinggreatersuccessratesforfull-time students, NOVA has instituted scholarship assistance for select at-risk students who enroll full time and remain in good academic standing.

• Data-driven decisions related to student persistence and completion. NOVA is developing a new method ofmeasuring persistence based on students’ stated goals rather than general semester-to-semester progress. In addition, based on faculty input, an Early Alert system has been proposed to identify and refer for counseling developmental English students identified as at-risk in the first few weeks of the semester.

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oglala Lakota CollegeOglala Lakota College was identified by IHEP as a “best practices” campus for the Building Engagement and Attainment for Minority Students (BEAMS) initiative.

This information was submitted by Oglala Lakota College.

What is the institution’s mission?Oglala Lakota College is an institution of higher education chartered by the Oglala Sioux Tribe to coordinate all higher education on the Pine Ridge Reservation. Its mission is to offer a wide range of educational opportunities, from community service offerings to certificates to undergraduate degrees. The ultimate goal is the establishment of a Lakota University. In carrying out the mission, the Oglala Lakota College Board of Trustees stresses Lakota culture and tribal self-determination. The college prepares students to understand the larger society as well as the customs and beliefs of the Lakota people. Working toward these ends, the college has defined as its purposes:

• Tribal:ToprovidetheOglalaSiouxTribeasasovereignpeoplewitheducatedandtrainedhumanresourcesand





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rapid City, pine ridge and Cheyenne river reservations, sd

personnel. To assist people in being active, productive members of their families, their communities, and the Oglala Sioux Tribe. To provide the Oglala Sioux Tribe with expertise and information needed for its development. To actively seek to place graduates.

• Cultural:TopresenttheLakotaculturalperspectiveinteachingwithintheacademic,occupational,andcommunityprograms. To promote study of the Lakota culture as an area of study in itself. To research, study, and disseminate the Lakota language, culture, and philosophy.

• Academic:Tomaintainhighacademicstandards forstaffandstudents.Tomaintainopenenrollments.Tobeaccessible to potential students. To teach students necessary skills and human values that will assist them in fulfilling themselves and making a productive living. To work with other institutions and agencies in furthering the interests of the college.

• Community:Toassistwiththedeterminationofdevelopmentneedsofthereservationdistrictsandcommunities.To assist the reservation districts and communities in achieving their goals. To provide continuing and community education.

What are the institution’s goals or strategic plan for completion? How do they relate to statewide goals?To serve the needs of the Pine Ridge Sioux Tribe and Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe Indian Reservations with the graduation of teachers, nurses, school administrators, business administrators and social workers for reservation employment.

What are the greatest challenges to increasing completion?Unemployment on the reservation makes it difficult for students to complete school. Families are characterized as single-parent, reducing the ability of women to attend school. Native American youth require more remedial education than the overall average. This increases the time or number of credit hours to completion.

How is the campus working to increase on-time completion (e.g., through financial aid policies with incentives for persistence; remedial education strategies; restructured course and/or program delivery to meet needs of student population; and accelerated pathways to degree)? What is the impetus or rationale for this effort?OLC established a Foundational Studies Department in 2006 to address remedial education for entering students in a coordinated and consistent method. Mathematics and humanities faculty were grouped in a new department to increase institutional coordination of remedial education. The faculty members have been provided with specialized training in research-based approaches to remedial education. More than 65 percent of entering freshmen at OLC require some remedial education to prepare them for college-level coursework. Student success in these remedial courses leads directly to program completion in higher education.Oglala Lakota College maintains a conservative approach toward financing the educational needs of students. Financial aid through the college is limited to scholarships from its endowments and the American Indian College Fund, as well as federal Pell Grants. Student loan programs are not supported because of the repayment burden that a cash-poor reservation economy cannot service. Native American students’ tuition-due balances are waived at graduation through the support of generous donors, and growth in the scholarship endowment is an important initiative of the administration.The instructional division is also pursuing a Virtual Campus initiative to ensure a common platform for the delivery of Internet-based distance learning programs. Course quality and consistency are ensured through a peer review process, and online programs are restricted to upper-division coursework so students benefit to the full extent of the technology. Distance education is an important initiative to increase on-time completion because of the large geographic area served by OLC on the Pine Ridge and Cheyenne River Indian Reservations.

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patrick henry Community CollegePatrick Henry Community College was identified as an Achieving the Dream “Leader School”.

This information was submitted by Patrick Henry Community College.

What is the institution’s mission?PHCC is a comprehensive two-year institution committed to student success, lifelong learning, and the enrichment of the quality of life in the region it serves.

What are the institution’s goals or strategic plan for completion? How do they relate to statewide goals?PHCC’s overall goal for student completion is directly aligned with Virginia Community College System’s Achieve 2015 strategic plan goal. Patrick Henry Community College has as one of its eight major strategic planning goals the following: “Increase the number of students graduating, transferring or completing a workforce credential by 50 percent, including increasing the success of students from underserved populations by 75 percent. Increase the number of developmental education students graduating or transferring in four years to at least one-in-three students (33 percent).”





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Martinsville, Va

What are the greatest challenges to increasing completion?The high number of underprepared students who enroll, the decrease in funding for the institution, and the increasing dependency on the use of adjunct faculty.

How is the campus working to increase on-time completion (e.g., through financial aid policies with incentives for persistence; remedial education strategies; restructured course and/or program delivery to meet needs of student population; and accelerated pathways to degree)? What is the impetus or rationale for this effort?The rationale for this effort is to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of how faculty teach, how students learn, how we track and measure learning, and essentially how we increase the student’s odds for completion. Our goal is to improve student success. These are some of the steps we have taken:

• PHCChasaDualEnrollmentProgramthatallowshighschooljuniorsandseniorstobegincollege-levelcoursesbefore they graduate from high school. This provides students with a head start in achieving college-level program completion after high school graduation.

• PHCChasimplementedanAccelerated College Education (ACE) program for selected high school juniors and seniors. This program, designed for high-achieving students, allows the students to earn an associate degree at the time they graduate from high school.

• Remedial education strategies include fast-tracking, tutoring support, cooperative teaching and learning methods and techniques, modularized curriculum, team teaching, and curricular redesign to better accommodate individual student needs.

• Thecollegehasprovidedsignificantamountsoffacultyprofessionaldevelopmenttoimprovetheeffectivenessofteaching and learning. Areas of focus include cooperative learning, tutor training, and critical-thinking skills.

• ThecollegehasexpandedtheMath Lab.

• Thecollegehasintegratedadvancedinstructionaltechnologyintotheteachingandlearningprocess.

• Thecollegehasimplementedbettersystemsfortrackingstudentprogress.

• Thefacultyhasconductedannual“datasummits”toreviewandshareresultsofappliedresearchonteachingandlearning effectiveness.

• Amodelforpredictingstudentsuccesshasbeendevelopedforuseasatoolinadvisingenteringstudents.

• ThecollegehasimplementedaQuality Enhancement Plan focusing on critical thinking across the curriculum.

• ThecollegehasintegratedtheconceptsandprinciplesofAchievingtheDream:CommunityCollegesCountandis now serving as a lead institution.

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pine Manor CollegePine Manor College is a member of the “Yes We Must” Coalition of Schools.

This information was submitted by Pine Manor College.

What is the institution’s mission?Pine Manor College is a four-year liberal arts college dedicated to preparing women for roles of inclusive leadership and social responsibility in their workplaces, families and communities. We pursue this goal through: integration of an outcomes-based curriculum and co-curriculum demonstrated by portfolio presentations; active, collaborative, applied liberal arts learning; and college-wide mentoring teams and community partnerships—in an environment that celebrates diversity and respects the common good.





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Chestnut hill, Ma

What are the institution’s goals or strategic plan for completion? How do they relate to statewide goals?Fourteen years ago, Pine Manor was at a crossroads: Eight straight years of declining enrollment placed the college’s future in jeopardy. Without identifying new student populations from which to draw and a vision that could carry the college forward, there was no reason to believe Pine Manor could continue significantly into the new millennium. In response, the college hired a new president and adopted a mission of educating women for “inclusive leadership and social responsibility in their workplaces, families, and communities.” A new target population was identified: young women traditionally underserved by higher education—from minority communities and inner-city high schools, the first generation in their family to attend college, and often from families unable to make a significant financial commitment to higher education. PMC worked closely with urban public high schools and college access organizations in our area to reach this population.

What are the greatest challenges to increasing completion?Partnering with low-income students and their families to make Pine Manor even more affordable; discovering and implementing more engaging models of teaching and learning.

How is the campus working to increase on-time completion (e.g., through financial aid policies with incentives for persistence; remedial education strategies; restructured course and/or program delivery to meet needs of student population; and accelerated pathways to degree)? What is the impetus or rationale for this effort?Pine Manor’s efforts include:

• Considerationofincreasingtuitiondiscountrate;

• Expansionofsummerofferingstomaximizestudents’useoftheirPellGrants;

• Improvementinfacultydevelopment;

• Developmentofanadvisingcenter;

• ExpansionofcurrentoutreacheffortstoBostonpublicschooladministrators,counselors,andteachers;

• Revisionofourearlywarningsystem;and

• ImprovedtrackingofuseandeffectivenessofPMCresourcesbyallstudents;theresourceswewilltrackincludeLRC (tutoring), counseling, advising, and others to be identified.

Pine Manor’s five-year average graduation rate is above the norm for similar institutions serving our population. However, with the national imperative to reduce growing achievement gaps based on income, we understand that being above the norm is not nearly good enough. By improving PMC’s six-year graduation to 60 percent for the class entering in 2015, we will be substantially above our highest rate attained (53 percent for the cohort who entered in 2001, an achievement that brought us distinction as the national leader in actual versus predicted graduation rates from Washington Monthly). The college is also leveraging our position as a recognized leader in student success to mobilize other private institutions of higher education committed to serving low-income students. In spring 2010 PMC convened a summit of the highest-performing, low-income-serving, small private colleges with the expressed purpose of improving on the important work these institutions do. Achieving a 60-percent six-year graduation rate will set a standard and show the pathway for others to follow. In order to achieve the college’s academic, enrollment, and fiscal goals, we must increase persistence even further.

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richmond Community CollegeRichmond Community College was selected by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation as an “institution to watch”.

This information was submitted by Richmond Community College.

What is the institution’s mission?The mission of Richmond Community College is to provide lifelong educational opportunities, workforce training and retraining, cultural enrichment, and community services to support economic development and enhance the quality of people’s lives

What are the institution’s goals or strategic plan for completion? How do they relate to statewide goals?RCC 2016, the institutional strategic plan, specifically cites goals of increased goal completion, retention, and graduation rate. The state system goal integrates graduation with retention and transfer rates, so graduation by itself is not the goal. The system goal is for 65 percent of students to graduate, stay in college, or transfer. In 2008-09, 72 percent of Richmond Community College’s students graduated, were retained, or transferred.





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hamlet, nC

What are the greatest challenges to increasing completion?Among the challenges are the expectations/aspirations of students; the large number of students requiring a significant number of developmental courses; the large number of families with no history of graduation; problems with the students’ personal finances; the low percentage of male students; the lack of public transportation in a rural area; the lack of child-care services on campus; and the limited local employment options within degree areas.

How is the campus working to increase on-time completion (e.g., through financial aid policies with incentives for persistence; remedial education strategies; restructured course and/or program delivery to meet needs of student population; and accelerated pathways to degree)? What is the impetus or rationale for this effort?RCC is pursuing a multifaceted approach to increase student persistence and completion. The impetus for this effort is recognition of the need to provide our students with the training and education necessary to compete in today’s global economy and allow the region to develop economically. This recognition and the initiatives described below are the result of self-assessment through our institutional-effectiveness and strategic-planning processes.

• Reduced Barriers: Financial barriers are being reduced by a concerted effort to increase and more effectively use institutional financial aid. Geographic and temporal barriers are being addressed by increasing distance-learning offerings, increasing the number of faculty, and developing new instructional sites to support expansion of the times and locations of key courses.

• Developmental Initiatives: To reduce the length of developmental courses and increase success, RCC has implemented a new assessment and placement process and improved student/instructor ratios. Additionally, we have created exit portals from developmental instruction to college-level courses based on demonstrated individual progress rather than completion of a predetermined set of courses. Finally, we have instituted writing and math labs staffed by full-time faculty to meet individual needs in a structured environment.

• At-risk Groups: A minority male mentoring program has been implemented to increase recruiting and retention in this identified at-risk group. Through a Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE) grant, special retention programs are being employed for displaced workers, another at-risk group. In partnership with the local school systems, RCC hosts two Early College High Schools with more than 250 students. The schools target first-generation, low-wealth, and minority students.

• Multiple Completion Options: By developing degree and diploma programs within for-credit academic programs, we are offering intermediate goals. That approach permits students to complete individual goals and obtain credentials leading to early employment while building a foundation allowing them to return and achieve more advanced goals as their life circumstances change. Recognizing completion of certificates and diplomas that are nested inside AAS programs will increase confidence and encourage degree completion. Through the FIPSE grant, we are integrating Work Keys certifications into curriculum programs. This produces an employer-recognized credential and links degree completion to employability for our students.

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rio salado CollegeRio Salado was identified by McKinsey as a high-performing, low-cost institution .

This information was submitted by Rio Salado College.

What is the institution’s mission?Rio Salado College (Rio) transforms the learning experience through choice, access, and flexibility; customized high-quality learning design; and personalized service and organizational responsiveness. Established in 1978, Rio provides working adults with convenient, affordable educational opportunities and is known as “the college within everyone’s reach.” From its Tempe headquarters, the college leverages technology and forges partnerships with corporations, government agencies, and other educational institutions to deliver opportunities to diverse populations worldwide. Rio offers more than 600 online classes and more than 60 certificates and degrees as well as in-person and hybrid classes at college locations and workplaces. It is also Arizona’s largest provider of adult basic education.



45.5% three year graduation rate (2008) 3


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Tempe, arizona

What are the institution’s goals or strategic plan for completion? How do they relate to statewide goals?The college’s strategic plan emphasizes increased student success and completion as a goal: “We relentlessly review, measure, and improve processes, practices, and services to increase student success.” The college uses predictive analytics to discover drivers and predictors of success, including factors such as student engagement and behavioral patterns (logins, site engagement, and pace of coursework) in online learning as well as behaviors associated with successful course completion. It also has data-based systems to track and flag students to trigger outreach interventions.Arizona does not have a mature or coordinated degree-completion effort; its baccalaureate attainment rate is only 25 percent, which is below the national average of 28 percent. Rio’s efforts are aligned with the Maricopa Community College District’s strategic goal to increase the number of students who complete a two-year degree and transfer to a university.

What are the greatest challenges to increasing completion?Further data collection is critical to identify factors that influence persistence and completion, including Rio’s understanding of students’ educational goals. The college will continue to build clear and consistent articulation agreements to maximize student transfer of credit, including 2+2 and 3+1 agreements with university partners. Additional customized pathways are required to meet the unique needs of our communities, especially those considered “at risk.” These pathways encompass delivery options, programs, and student services that facilitate completion of a certificate or degree. Developmental education that helps students quickly fill in missing or incomplete knowledge in math, reading, and English is also a key challenge.Arizona has not built a comprehensive student-tracking system to measure persistence to degree completion. Policymakers must do more to integrate data systems and share knowledge about student behavior and trends that lead to completion.

How is the campus working to increase on-time completion (e.g., through financial aid policies with incentives for persistence; remedial education strategies; restructured course and/or program delivery to meet needs of student population; and accelerated pathways to degree)? What is the impetus or rationale for this effort?As mentioned above, Rio uses data analytics to create predictive models, forecast student success, and create appropriate interventions. Advisement has been required for at-risk populations, and an Electronic Student File system has been created to help students track their progress. The Communiversity is a site-based model that provides a pathway from community college through completion of a baccalaureate degree; students can take full advantage of postsecondary opportunities without leaving their community. The Adult ACE program builds a bridge to college readiness for young adults in developmental education. The RioPass program is an accelerated, cohort model with paired courses in a learning community designed for completion of the associate degree in less than two years. The Online Early College, a priority for the coming academic year, will serve additional populations.

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southern new hampshire UniversitySouthern New Hampshire University was identified by McKinsey as a high-performing, low-cost institution.

This information was submitted by Southern New Hampshire University.

What is the institution’s mission?Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU) trains intellectually and culturally enriched individuals to be successful in their careers and contribute to their communities. Its educational philosophy challenges students’ intellectual potential and prepares them for professional lives in an ever-changing and increasingly interconnected world. It provides a supportive and close-knit learning community, delivering engaging instruction in a variety of flexible formats. Students develop the knowledge to understand a complex world, the skills to act effectively within that world, and the wisdom to make good choices. They work within a community of teachers, staff, and peers that is encouraged to make scholarly, creative, and pedagogical contributions to the larger social good.





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Manchester, nh

What are the institution’s goals or strategic plan for completion? How do they relate to statewide goals?The university has a goal to improve its retention rate for second-year traditional undergraduates from 69 percent to 75 percent. For its nontraditional students, SNHU aims to boost its 68-percent completion rate to 75 percent.

What are the greatest challenges to increasing completion?Traditional-age students lack academic readiness, work long hours to make ends meet at home, and often aren’t engaged in learning. Older students juggle busy home and work lives and sometimes want a credential but don’t have the commitment to work to get it.

How is the campus working to increase on-time completion (e.g., through financial aid policies with incentives for persistence; remedial education strategies; restructured course and/or program delivery to meet needs of student population; and accelerated pathways to degree)? What is the impetus or rationale for this effort?SNHM’s initiatives include:

• Expanded three-year options for traditional-age students;

• A “no-frills” program for the students’ first two years at 40 percent of the typical cost;

• Strongarticulationagreementsandrelationshipswithtwo-yearprograms(basedonflexiblepoliciesregardingcredit transfer);

• Proactive advising (out-calling and frequent check-ins);

• Automatedmonitoringofstudentparticipationinonlinecoursesandretentionalertstoadvisors;

• Aretentionhotline,withthephonenumberavailablecampus-wide;and

• ArevisedPriorLearningAssessmentprocesstocreditworkandlifeexperience

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st. Clair County Community CollegeSt. Clair County Community College was selected by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation as an “institution to watch”.

This information was submitted by St. Clair Community College.

What is the institution’s mission?St. Clair County Community College (SC4) provides lifelong educational and enrichment opportunities. It also aims to lead the community’s renaissance by establishing dynamic partnerships and focused programs that are the top choice for students.





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port huron, Michigan

What are the institution’s goals or strategic plan for completion? How do they relate to statewide goals?In 2010 the college completed a new Mission, Vision, and Strategic Plan aligned to following four goals:Goal I: Maximize the success of our students. Goal II: Cultivate a campus culture that nurtures and supports students, faculty, and staff. Goal III: Provide high-quality certificates, degrees, programs, and training to meet present and future needs of students and the community. Goal IV: Develop and align quality partnerships and strategically manage resources to maximize benefits for our students and community.Goal I is focused on increasing the success of our students through more effective and efficient developmental education and support services. The college is reviewing and revising all student processes—including admissions, advising, class scheduling, financial aid, and tutoring—to make sure they help students stay on path to completion. Faculty members are reviewing course and program delivery options to ensure we are meeting the needs of our community and students.

What are the greatest challenges to increasing completion?Approximately 60 percent of incoming students place into developmental education and are not “college ready.” These students require additional support to be successful—support that’s difficult to provide with decreased state funding and local tax revenue.


• Allcampusinitiativeswillalignwiththenewstrategicplanandwillbeevaluatedtoensurethattheysupportstudent success and completion.

• ThecollegeisanewmemberoftheAchievingtheDreaminitiative,whichfocusesonhelpingcommunitycollegestudents reach their goals and earn certificates/degrees.

• ThecollegehascreatedaWriting Center with trained tutors to improve a skill where many of our students need help.

• Inourearly-alertgradingprocess,facultymemberssubmitgradesfollowingthesixthweekofthesemestertoprovide students feedback. Students performing below average are offered tutoring, advising/counseling, etc., to help complete what they started.

• ThecollegecontinuestostrengthenitsK-12relationships.Ithasestablishedtwoprograms,theRESA Math and Science Academy and Cros-Lex 5, for secondary students to complete enough credits for an associate’s degree while still in high school.

• The college continues to expand four-year degree options through our University Center partners and has entered into a partnership with Oakland University called SC2O, focused on degree completion.

• AprogramcalledAWAREhelpsadultstudentsimproveacademicskillsandprepareforcollege-levelworkbeforeentering college.

• Mandatoryplacementinreading,writing,andmathensuresthatstudentsstarttheircollegecareersinthecorrectcourses.

• Thecollege’snonprofitfoundationishelpingstudentswithfundingneeds.

• Thecollegeoffersprogramsinavarietyofformats,includingon-campus,off-campus,andonline.Full-semester,16-week classes as well as a variety of short-term courses are available as well.

The college understands the role it plays in improving the education of our service area. A strategic plan for local economic development recently highlighted the importance of higher education today. The college plays a critical role in our community and will continue to implement strategies focused on the success of our students.

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Tennessee Technology Centers part of the Tennessee Board of regentsTennessee Technology Centers were identified by McKinsey as a high-performing, low-cost institution.

This information was submitted by Tennessee Technology Centers.

What is the institution’s mission?The Tennessee Technology Centers continue to serve as the premier providers for workforce development throughout the state. The centers fulfill the mission by providing:

• Competency-based training through traditional and distance-learning instructional delivery systems of thehighest quality that will qualify individuals for employment and/or advancement in jobs;

• High-qualitytrainingandretrainingofemployedworkers;and

• High-qualitytrainingthat iseconomicalandaccessibletoallTennesseeresidents, therebycontributingtothedevelopment of the communities we serve.




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nashville, Tn

What are the institution’s goals or strategic plan for completion? How do they relate to statewide goals?The TTC System has overall goals for completion based on the standard of our accreditation agency, the Council on Occupational Education (COE). Each institution submits an annual report that includes its completion data. IPEDS data reveal that only 9 percent of two-year, public postsecondary institutions in the country (1,145) can report an average three year graduation rate above 50 percent for the past five years. All 27 of our centers are included in that group. No other state postsecondary system comes anywhere close to achieving those outcomes.

What are the greatest challenges to increasing completion?We see a number of students in these difficult economic times who have to leave school to find employment. Another issue facing students is balancing work, family, and school. Financial issues are also important. Nearly 70 percent of our students come from households with less than $24,000 annual income. Of those, 45 percent report an income less than $12,000.

How is the campus working to increase on-time completion (e.g., through financial aid policies with incentives for persistence; remedial education strategies; restructured course and/or program delivery to meet needs of student population; and accelerated pathways to degree)? What is the impetus or rationale for this effort?TTC offers students guided programs, integrated developmental education, structured support services and competency-based education. Together, these program and instructional strategies provide students with a clear pathway to completion. Program StructureStudents enrolling in a TTC program have two main decisions: which program, and whether they are full -time or part-time students. The student knows what classes will be taught, the objectives, how long the program is, and the approximate cost. Full-time students meet 30 hours a week, Monday through Friday. Part-time students meet a minimum of 16 hours a week. Students attend school for 72 days and have a break of about one or two weeks. They receive seamless and concentrated educational experiences. Subjects, including the basics, are integrated into their curriculum. Students have a great deal of interaction with the faculty, administration, and other students.Technology FoundationsThe TTCs offer a universal and integrated developmental education plan for all students. Upon enrollment and after a pretest, students receive an individualized learning plan. They attend the Foundations Lab for one to two hours twice a week. Technology Foundations is required training for all students and deals with reading, applied mathematics, and locating information.Student ServicesWe do what it takes to keep students focused. Our student services include recruiting and maintaining enrollment, counseling students’ attendance and progress, and assisting students to meet the challenges of school and life. Competency-Based InstructionOur programs are a competency-based structure that blends theory and academic study, technical applications, and hands-on experience. The program competencies are based on industry standards or the advice of advisory committees.

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Thomas UniversityThomas University is a member of the “Yes We Must” coalition of schools.

This information was submitted by Thomas University.

What is the institution’s mission?Thomas University is a rural, liberal-arts-based, non-sectarian, private institution, primarily serving Southwest Georgia. In addition, its growing number of distance education programs and satellite sites are expanding the market reach throughout Georgia and even across the United States. Thomas University is the school of choice for students in undergraduate and graduate programs to prepare for successful careers and responsible leadership in a rapidly changing and complex world. The faculty and staff value students’ individual strengths, capabilities, and will to succeed, providing the means by which they will achieve personal and professional transformation.





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Thomasville, ga

What are the institution’s goals or strategic plan for completion? How do they relate to statewide goals?Thomas University is driven by an overarching strategy that calls for the expansion of enrollment in each of the major constituency groups, including traditional and nontraditional students, undergraduate, and graduate students. The institution has further advanced its delivery in distance and satellite programs. Each year the senior staff members are charged with identifying and tracking strategic priorities for their areas that will advance this agenda. Fiscal responsibility is at the center of all strategic actions.

What are the greatest challenges to increasing completion?Reaching students so that the institution’s strong intervention strategies, designed to increase retention and ultimately graduation, have an opportunity to work. The faculty and staff are confident in their abilities to make a difference in these areas if the student is a willing participant. Being a private institution with a high-need student body also makes finances a perpetual issue.

How is the campus working to increase on-time completion (e.g., through financial aid policies with incentives for persistence; remedial education strategies; restructured course and/or program delivery to meet needs of student population; and accelerated pathways to degree)? What is the impetus or rationale for this effort?Thomas University has many intervention strategies in place, including remedial coursework options once students are tested in key topical areas; peer tutoring; supplemental instruction through dedicated staff and student support; group study; cultural enrichment activities; workshops in academic, personal, and career challenges; and counseling. Older Wiser Learners is a group of nontraditional students who serve as mentors and contacts for other adult students. Traditional Age Students Seeking Education and Leadership (SOAR) is a similar group for traditional students. In SOAR, first-time freshmen are assigned an advisor (beyond their normal academic advisor) who works with them every week for the first semester, and in the second semester they are followed up on every three weeks. Elluminate is one of several premier software applications used to reach out to students in both asynchronous and synchronous modes. Partnership with GOAL Line Ministries provides both individual and group counseling to traditional students away from home and arranges for local host families. Convenient access to courses is also a hallmark of the institution’s ability to retain students and achieve graduation. Currently one-third of all instruction is completely online; one-third is delivered in a hybrid format; and one-third is a traditional classroom delivery.

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Towson UniversityTowson University was identified by Education Trust as a “Top Gap Closer”.

This information was submitted by Towson University.

What is the institution’s mission?Towson, as the state’s metropolitan university, provides highly developed educational experiences and community service through a broad range of intellectual opportunities to a diverse student body at the graduate and undergraduate levels. Its academic programs and services provide a high-quality core environment for students to acquire the intellectual and social preparation to achieve their potential as contributing leaders and citizens of the workforce and a complex global society. Faculty, students, and staff serve the region through research and professional outreach that responds to the state’s specific socioeconomic and cultural needs and aspirations.





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Towson, Md

What are the institution’s goals or strategic plan for completion? How do they relate to statewide goals?Towson plays an active role in supporting student motivation to higher learning and student success. The university’s recently completed six-year strategic plan specifically named student experience and success as a major goal. It aims to “improve our graduation and retention rates to place the institution among the Top 10 percent of our peers.” In 2008, rankings of our 10 performance-peer institutions put Towson third in six-year graduation rates, second in second-year retention rates, and second in six-year graduation rates of African American and all minority students.The University System of Maryland joined the Access to Success initiative, a project of the National Association of System Heads that aims by 2015 to cut by at least half the gaps in college enrollment and success that separate low-income and minority students from other young Americans.

What are the greatest challenges to increasing completion?• Maintainazerominoritygap.Towson’sminoritygraduationratesexceedtheaverageperformanceofourpeers

by 20 percent.

• Remainahigh-quality,affordableoptionandaddressissuesoffinancialsecurity.Towsonhasbeenrecognizednationally for its value and low student debt by Princeton Review, Forbes, and others.

• Provideandfundearlyinterventionandadditionalacademicsupportservicesasnecessary.

How is the campus working to increase on-time completion (e.g., through financial aid policies with incentives for persistence; remedial education strategies; restructured course and/or program delivery to meet needs of student population; and accelerated pathways to degree)? What is the impetus or rationale for this effort?Towson’s Summer Trimester is heavily marketed to students as an opportunity to accelerate their college studies or focus on difficult coursework. Financial aid is available comparable to spring and fall semesters. Towson’s Pathways to Success Plan is widely recognized for increasing retention rates and eliminating differences in graduation rates among minorities and other students.Towson is also committed to increasing course availability and enhancing academic scheduling by fully utilizing space available, all days of the week. Taking completion a step further, Towson is considering two accelerated completion programs, Towson Edge/Towson Pledge, to reduce time-to-degree. These would discount the student’s tuition if studies are completed in four years or less and would ensure availability of courses necessary for timely graduation.To provide more access to high-quality education, Towson’s Top 10% Scholars Program offers admission to any Baltimore City and County public school students in the top of their high school class. The Community Enrichment and Enhancement Partnership Award, administered by Towson’s Center for Student Diversity, is designed to increase the access and success of culturally diverse and traditionally underserved undergraduate students. Towson’s Freshman Transition Program, a partnership with the Community College of Baltimore County, allows CCBC-enrolled students to live on Towson’s campus and take their CCBC classes from CCBC-paid faculty in Towson buildings. This integrates students into the four-year institution before their full admission during sophomore year. Students experience Towson and have the opportunity to transfer as a degree candidate after meeting program requirements during the first or second term. After successful completion of the program, students are admitted and may enroll and transfer credits.

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Valencia CC was identified by McKinsey as a high-performing, low-cost institution and recognized as an Achieving the Dream leader school.

This information was submitted by Valencia Community College.

What is the institution’s mission?Valencia provides opportunities for academic, technical, and lifelong learning in a collaborative culture dedicated to inquiry, results, and excellence.

What are the institution’s goals or strategic plan for completion? How do they relate to statewide goals?Valencia has adopted four goals through its Strategic Plan: Build Pathways; Learning Assured; Invest in Each Other; and Partner with the Community. The goals and objectives align with the state’s focus on improving student success, particularly in developmental education, and graduation rates.



Valencia Community College


37.7% three year graduation rate (2008) 3


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These are some of the key objectives of the college’s Strategic Plan:• Increasethegraduationrateto50percentinthecomingdecade.

• Increasethepercentageofstudentswhopersistthroughkeyacademicthresholds.

• Increasethecourseandprogramcompletionratesbydecreasingthewithdrawalrate.

• Increasethepercentageofstudentswhocompletethemathsequencewithintwoyears.

• Increasethepercentageofstudentswritingatthecollegelevel.

• Closetheachievementgapsfacingstudentsfromdiversebackgrounds.

Valencia has also committed to these goals as part of its Developmental Education Initiative, which aims to move students more rapidly through the developmental education program. The goal is to increase students’ mastery of content and success skills through the infusion of reading, critical thinking, and other critical skills throughout the curriculum.

What are the greatest challenges to increasing completion?Like many colleges across the country, Valencia sees its resources constrained by declining state funding deficits and increasing enrollment. Though full-time enrollment grew approximately 35 percent from 2007 to 2010, funding has not kept pace. Developmental education is another challenge. Although the college is making incremental progress in this area, there is still much work to do. Coordinating developmental education across a large college is also difficult, particularly when working on curriculum change, learning initiatives, and faculty development. Finally, improving student engagement is another challenge. Because the majority of students work at least part time, it’s difficult to engage students outside the classroom in academic and co-curricular activities.

How is the campus working to increase on-time completion (e.g., through financial aid policies with incentives for persistence; remedial education strategies; restructured course and/or program delivery to meet needs of student population; and accelerated pathways to degree)? What is the impetus or rationale for this effort?Supplemental LearningIn this program, a student who previously did well in a course helps current students and teaches a variety of learning strategies. Supplemental learning sections now support developmental mathematics courses (Pre-Algebra, Beginning Algebra, and Intermediate Algebra) as well as three high-enrollment gateway courses (Freshman Composition I, U.S. Government, and College Algebra). Learning CommunitiesValencia’s Learning in Community program links two courses and provides coordinated instruction for students. In most instances, the program links a developmental mathematics course and the three-credit Student Life Skills course that has a long association with improved student performance. Student Life Skills CourseValencia requires students who test into all three developmental disciplines (reading, writing, and mathematics) to enroll in this course. Bridges to SuccessThis program closes the achievement gap for students of color by providing an opportunity to begin college in the summer following high school graduation. They receive special advising and mentoring and attend workshops and supplemental learning activities aimed at increasing academic progression and success. They also participate in specially designed Student Success courses and linked courses where students take the courses as a group and professors teach as a team. Bridges students receive follow-up advising and support throughout their years at Valencia as well as a full tuition and book scholarship. They are strongly encouraged to develop leadership skills and are required to give back to their communities. Participation has been proven to close achievement gaps.College Success Infusion ProjectThis focuses on integrating course curricula with college success skills. Having analyzed and revised the course outlines for developmental English, math, and reading courses as well as key gateway courses such as College Algebra and Freshman Composition, staff and faculty have infused the following college success skills: critical thinking, reading, motivation, note-taking, goal-setting, and study skills. As part of this project, faculty members have created integrated lessons that teach college success and content skills.

orlando, FL

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University of Maryland, Baltimore CountyUMBC was identified by Education Trust as a “Top Gap Closer”.

This information was submitted by UMBC.

What is the institution’s mission?UMBC is a dynamic public research university integrating teaching, research, and service to benefit the citizens of Maryland. As an Honors University, the campus offers academically talented students a strong undergraduate liberal arts foundation that prepares them for graduate and professional study, entry into the workforce, and community service and leadership. UMBC emphasizes science, engineering, information technology, human services, and public policy at the graduate level. UMBC contributes to the economic development of the state and the region through entrepreneurial initiatives, workforce training, K-16 partnerships, and technology commercialization in collaboration with public agencies and the corporate community. UMBC is dedicated to cultural and ethnic diversity, social responsibility, and lifelong learning.





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Baltimore, Md

What are the institution’s goals or strategic plan for completion? How do they relate to statewide goals?Student success and providing a distinctive undergraduate experience are major goals in UMBC’s strategic plan, which was adopted in 2003.The state has a goal of seamless transition from two-year to four-year public institutions. UMBC has made a great deal of progress in building program articulation agreements with our community college partners.Per a University System of Maryland (USM) directive, we also have goals for closing the achievement gap: It is UMBC’s goal to increase the six-year graduation rate of all transfer students entering as full-time to 62 percent by 2015. In doing so, UMBC will reduce the difference between African American transfer students and white transfer students to less than 5 percent and increase the African American male six-year graduation rate to at least 50 percent.

What are the greatest challenges to increasing completion?Limited Resources: Achieving our goal of supporting every student with an engaging, active First Year Experience (FYE) will require continued increases in resources. We have allocated funding (by creating a matriculation fee) and reallocated funds to build access for programs that work. Student Background: The students most in need of the support provided by an FYE are the least likely to enroll in these programs. Students “don’t do optional.” We do not yet have a campus mandate that all new students, or even all new students with certain risk factors, must engage in an FYE. The financial situation of many of our students and their families poses a challenge. The students’ need to work compromises their ability to focus on academics, which is critical given the rigor of our academic program. Student employment can also increase time to degree. Transfer Student Preparation: State regulations require that we accept all students seeking to transfer with an associate of arts degree from a Maryland community college who earned a GPA of 2.0 or higher. These students all too often face “transfer shock” and academic difficulties at UMBC. We cannot require placement testing for incoming transfer students, nor can we require transfer students to retake courses they passed elsewhere. This hampers our ability to advise students toward a successful academic plan.

How is the campus working to increase on-time completion (e.g., through financial aid policies with incentives for persistence; remedial education strategies; restructured course and/or program delivery to meet needs of student population; and accelerated pathways to degree)? What is the impetus or rationale for this effort?Financial Support: UMBC made a commitment, beginning in FY 2007, to increase need-based institutional aid annually by at least 5 percent over any increases in tuition rates. From FY 2006 to FY 2010, need-based institutional financial aid increased by 60 percent. With no tuition rate increase for resident undergraduate students over this time period, all of these funds have gone directly to expand support for our neediest students. UMBC has proposed another 13-percent increase in need-based aid in FY 2011, exceeding the proposed 3-percent resident undergraduate tuition rate increase by 10 percent.Bringing To Scale Programs that Work: Participants in UMBC’s nationally known Meyerhoff Scholars Program attain graduation rates above 90 percent year after year. The university extends to all students the program’s key elements: a cohort-based summer bridge program, intrusive academic advising, support in obtaining summer research internships, and community building. In addition, campus leaders agreed that programs to improve retention and graduation rates should:

• Bebasedinbestpracticesandproducemeasurableoutcomes.

• Reachlargenumbersofstudents,ideallyearlyintheiracademiccareers.

• Beeffectiveacrossdepartments,collegesanddivisionsandbeleveragedwithothersolutions/resources.

• Beaffordableandsustainable.

Campus-wide Strategies: Many student success initiatives have been developed because of campus-wide concerns about retention and graduation rates. Freshmen who participate in a FYE program during their first semester at UMBC are about 10 percent less likely to drop out after their first semester, first year, and second year, according to analysis by the Office of Institutional Research. Other innovative practices include: supplemental instruction, revisions to repeat policy with a focus on tutoring and advising, student support services, restructured courses and K-12 outreach.

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University of Missouri-st LouisUniversity of Missouri-St. Louis was identified by Education Trust as a “Top Gainer” and “Top Gap Closer”.

This information was submitted by University of Missouri-St. Louis.

What is the institution’s mission?The University of Missouri–St. Louis (UMSL) is a public metropolitan research university located in Missouri’s most populous and economically important region. UMSL provides excellent learning experiences and leadership opportunities to a diverse student body through the university’s outstanding faculty, ranked programs, innovative research, and community partnerships.





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st. Louis, Mo

What are the institution’s goals or strategic plan for completion? How do they relate to statewide goals?The strategic plan, Gateway for Greatness, specifies a six-year graduation rate for all native students of 47 percent and underrepresented minorities of 38 percent by 2012. The University of Missouri System accepted the campus goals for its Accountability Measures, which also reflect goals set by the state Department of Higher Education. After these plans were made, the Access to Success (A2S) initiative set the goal of cutting in half the graduation gap between majority and minority native and transfer students, which would increase UMSL’s target for underrepresented minorities to 39 percent by 2015. Simultaneously, the president of the UM System announced a Degree Completion initiative and charged the UMSL chancellor with leading it. In short, various initiatives and plans have come together to solve this critical problem.

What are the greatest challenges to increasing completion?• Finances:Thecampushasbeenunderfundedsinceitwasestablishedin1963,makingUMSLthemostexpensive

public university in the state despite serving students with some of the greatest need. The campus just initiated the public phase of its first comprehensive campaign, which includes scholarships specifically to address high-need students. Most students work full time, which affects their performance in the classroom and delays their graduation.

• Decentralization:Thereisnosingleentityresponsibleforgraduationrates.Collegesthattrackcompletionratesfor specialized accreditation tend to solve problems by dismissing students from those programs, leaving students to find another program and, consequently, delaying graduation. Our challenge is to establish structures and processes so that everyone takes responsibility for increasing completion rates.

• Resistancetochange:Changealwayspresentsrisks,andourplansrequiregreatercollaboration;datacollection,analysis, and application; and accountability. Some staff or faculty members are unwilling to change or give up unproductive tasks; others have insufficient expertise to meet the needs of our changing student population. Some faculty members hold on to the belief that having high standards equates to creating hostile learning environments; others retain biases about the academic abilities of nontraditional students. UMSL also has a robust faculty governance structure and considerable autonomy in the colleges. Changing policies requires effort and time for proposals to wind their way through the colleges and committees.

How is the campus working to increase on-time completion (e.g., through financial aid policies with incentives for persistence; remedial education strategies; restructured course and/or program delivery to meet needs of student population; and accelerated pathways to degree)? What is the impetus or rationale for this effort?The impetus for change reflects both practical and moral reasons. Some realize that the campus could cover our significant state budget cuts if we retained students in good standing that we lose each year. Others emphasize that attending to this issue is the right thing to do. A2S provides a means not only to talk openly about the causes for our low graduation rate but also to assign accountability for overcoming them. In A2S we emphasize acculturating students to university life and their new responsibilities through mandatory orientations, first-year experiences, financial and career counseling, and Graduation Teams consisting of an advisor, life coach, and mentor for each new student. We ask faculty to design classes with rigor as defined in the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) and provide more feedback to students through online grades before midterm and Academic Alert. Faculty members get feedback from students through midterm feedback on classes, end-of-term course evaluations, and NSSE. Through A2S we also keep track of student progress by measuring leading indicators to address performance gaps early and develop regular reports to hold campus leaders accountable.

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The University of north Carolina at greensboroUniversity of North Carolina at Greensboro was identified by Education Trust as a “Top Gap Closer”.

This information was submitted by University of North Carolina at Greensboro.

What is the institution’s mission?The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG) will redefine the public research university for the 21st century as an inclusive, collaborative, and responsive institution making a difference in the lives of students and the communities it serves.

What are the institution’s goals or strategic plan for completion? How do they relate to statewide goals?In January 2008, the UNC Board of Governors approved The University of North Carolina Tomorrow (UNCT) plan to shape priorities, strategic plans, and missions of the system and its 17 institutions. UNCT projects that the system by 2017 will enroll 280,000 students, up from roughly 200,000 today. By 2014, North Carolina will need 400,000 new Statistical description of the institution 1:




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greensboro, nC

workers, which makes it important to knock down barriers to obtaining postsecondary education.Against the backdrop of this plan, UNCG crafted its strategic plan with five central values: inclusiveness, collaboration, sustainability, responsibility, and transparency. Additionally, the UNCG plan establishes 29 strategic goals, including these:

• Expandandenhanceprogramsandservicesforstudentsatriskofnotperformingatpotential.

• Meetestablishedsuccessgoals.Retentionrateswillincreasefrom75.6percentin2008to80percent;four-yeargraduation rates will increase to 34 percent; and six-year graduation rates will increase to 60 percent.

• Implementfirst-yearlearningcommunitiesforfirst-timeUNCGundergraduates.

What are the greatest challenges to increasing completion?These include the declining academic profile of entering students as the university embraces access; insufficient resources following the Great Recession; greater emphasis on research and less on undergraduate pedagogy; and the absence of a robust, centralized faculty development presence. UNCG is addressing these challenges.


• InJuly2009,theUndergraduateStudiesdivisionwascreated.Itsmissionistoarticulatebestpracticesinteachingand learning; offer a variety of faculty development opportunities; provide a comprehensive array of student success services; support undergraduate curricular development; enhance writing and speaking skills; manage and propagate learning communities; promote undergraduate research; enhance advising; and maintain academic technology in all learning spaces.

• InOctober2010, aRetentionSWOTTeamwas formed toanalyze retentionandpersistencedata inorder toefficiently allocate academic support services for students most in need.

• In January 2010, the UNCG Guarantee Program was initiated to provide access and success to students in greatest need. Eligible students must demonstrate academic promise and must be at or below the federal poverty level. The program fully funds the cost of UNCG for four years; students in turn are required to participate in a full array of academic support services. Under the direction of a program administrator, students receive a customized plan to support their academic success. At current funding levels, the program can admit up to 40 new students each year.

• InFebruary2010,theUNCG in 3 plan was launched. It provides eligible students an advisor and priority class registration so they can complete a UNCG degree in three years.

• InMarch2010,aJointVentureforAcademicSuccesswasbegun.Itraisesthefirst-semesterGPAthresholdforfinancial aid renewal, giving several hundred students an additional semester to reach the benchmark for aid continuation. During this “grace” semester, students are strongly encouraged to take advantage of support services and specialized advising.

• Infall2010,themathdepartmentdevelopedanimplementationplanforaMathEmporium,modeledafterthehighly successful program at Virginia Tech. Other schools using this model have seen dramatic improvements in required courses. Eventually, other gateway courses will be encouraged to investigate course redesign.

• During2011theuniversitywillre-examineitsadmissionpracticesandpoliciestoelevatetheacademicprofileof entering students while at the same time maintaining access to underprepared, minority, and low-income students.

• Overthenextseveralyears,UNCGwillundertakeoneofthenation’smostambitiousadditionstoresidentialhousing capacity, a move that will double on-campus residency for undergraduates. UNCG has committed to building learning communities and, especially, living-learning communities for all first-year students (freshmen and transfers) and, to the extent possible, for all interested undergraduates through the senior year.

Impetus for these efforts, among others, is twofold. First, UNCG is committed to student success. Second, the UNC System has mandated improvements in success and persistence benchmarks, likely tying future funding increases to attainment of these goals.

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Western governors UniversityWestern Governors University was identified by McKinsey as a high-performing, low-cost institution.

This information was submitted by Western Governors University.

What is the institution’s mission?The principal mission of Western Governors University is to improve the quality of and expand access to postsecondary educational opportunities by providing a means for individuals to learn independent of time and place and to earn competency-based degrees and other credentials that are credible to both academic institutions and employers.

What are the institution’s goals or strategic plan for completion? How do they relate to statewide goals?WGU’s overall completion goal is a graduation rate of 60 percent by 2015. WGU is not part of a system.





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salt Lake City, UT (and online to all 50 states)

What are the greatest challenges to increasing completion?• Weneedtomoreeffectivelyhelpstudentsdealwith“lifeevents”(family,health,job,financial,etc.).Whilethese

events affect most students, some are able to persist, while others drop out.

• Weneedincreasinglybetterlearningresources(computer-basedlearningmodules)thatallowstudentstolearnmore efficiently, thus becoming more successful.

• Weneedamoreeffectiveadmissionsscreeningprocessbackedupbyresearchintowhatmakesastudentsuccessfulat WGU; the key factors seem to be personal attributes (self-discipline, self-esteem, competitiveness) rather than academic skills.

• Weneedamodeltohelpallstudentsdevelopthesekeypersonalattributesofself-discipline,self-esteem,andcompetitiveness as part of their WGU experience.

How is the campus working to increase on-time completion (e.g., through financial aid policies with incentives for persistence; remedial education strategies; restructured course and/or program delivery to meet needs of student population; and accelerated pathways to degree)? What is the impetus or rationale for this effort?The university:

• Isintroducingafreelifecounselingserviceforallstudentstohelpwith“lifeevents.”

• Created “student success” specialists to work in a concentrated way with students who have fallen below“satisfactory academic progress.”

• Developedpre-assessmentsanddetailedcoachingreportsforeachclass,toallowstudentsandmentorstobetterdiagnose areas of learning that need additional focus.

• Introduced a new mentoring strategy, involving both student and course mentors, to provide greater facultysupport for student motivation and encouragement as well as student learning.

• Eliminated,right-sized,orotherwiseimprovedthosedegreesthathadlowcompletionrates.

• Createdanew,moreintuitivestudentportal,andweb-basedcoursesofstudy,tofacilitatestudentlearning.

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Western Illinois UniversityWestern Illinois University was recognized by AEI as an institution “Rising to the Challenge”.

This information was submitted by Western Illinois University.

What is the institution’s mission?By enacting our values and supporting the synergy between instruction, research, creativity, and service, Western Illinois University prepares a socially responsible and diverse student, faculty, and staff population to lead in the global society.





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Macomb, IL

What are the institution’s goals or strategic plan for completion? How do they relate to statewide goals?Institutionally, WIU has placed an emphasis on recruitment and retention. The University is working with a consultant to identify best practices to recruit and retain students. Additionally, the president has developed a campus-wide retention task force that is co-chaired by the assistant vice president for academic affairs and the assistant to the vice president for student services. The co-chair model helps to ensure significant participation by academic affairs and student services personnel within the institution.

What are the greatest challenges to increasing completion?The greatest challenges the University faces with respect to degree completion are budget and cash flow. Due to increased budgetary issues, the institution cannot offer courses that help to meet the needs of articulation and collaboration programs with community colleges. Additionally, limited funds make it difficult to provide scholarships to students who need help paying their tuition and fees.

How is the campus working to increase on-time completion (e.g., through financial aid policies with incentives for persistence; remedial education strategies; restructured course and/or program delivery to meet needs of student population; and accelerated pathways to degree)? What is the impetus or rationale for this effort?WIU has created a linkages program with local community colleges. The linkages program provides access to freshman and sophomore students taking the majority of their courses at community colleges. The benefits of the program are: access to early academic advising services offered by Western academic advisers; students receive an audit of degree report (which provides information on the remaining courses needed to earn a degree in the chosen major); seamless transition to a senior-level institution; and students are allowed to take one course per semester at WIU. Additionally, another benefit, if students remain continuously enrolled, is that students will qualify for the cost guarantee plan, which guarantees that tuition will not increase during the four-year period for which they are enrolled at WIU.

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Western Kentucky UniversityWestern Kentucky University was identified by SREB as a school “promoting a culture of student success” .

This information was submitted by Western Kentucky University.

What is the institution’s mission?Drive Kentucky’s economy and improve the quality of life for those within the University’s reach. Educate students, engage in relevant research and meaningful services.





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Bowling green, Ky

What are the institution’s goals or strategic plan for completion? How do they relate to statewide goals?Western Kentucky’s goal is to drive up four-, five-, and six-year graduation rates. Degree productivity is a statewide goal: 60 percent by 2015.

What are the greatest challenges to increasing completion?Improve public school curriculum to better prepare students. Focus on early intervention and retention.

How is the campus working to increase on-time completion (e.g., through financial aid policies with incentives for persistence; remedial education strategies; restructured course and/or program delivery to meet needs of student population; and accelerated pathways to degree)? What is the impetus or rationale for this effort?The campus is emphasizing early engagement, individual assessment and advising, early intervention, higher expectations, and focus on completion. The impetus is our responsibility to do so.

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Winthrop UniversityWinthrop University was identified by Education Trust as a “Top Gap Closer” .

This information was submitted by Winthrop University.

What is the institution’s mission?Winthrop University provides personalized and challenging undergraduate, graduate, and continuing professional education programs of national caliber within a context dedicated to public service to the nation and to the state of South Carolina.





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rock hill, sC (Charlotte, nC, metro area)

What are the institution’s goals or strategic plan for completion? How do they relate to statewide goals?Winthrop University uses a dynamic strategic planning process that is manifested annually in the Vision of Distinction publication for the coming academic year. This publication serves as the work plan for the year, setting out annual initiatives that will be pursued in fulfilling the value statements in six key areas: Community, Student Body, Academic Life, Facilities, Support Services, and Partnerships and Collaborations. At the end of each year, progress in each area is posted online as part of the university’s accountability to stakeholders.In the area of retention, persistence, and degree completion, the 2010-11 Vision of Distinction included this initiative: To increase the number of students matriculating to degree completion, Winthrop will continue to balance in-state and out-of-state recruitment and enrollment of all populations, including new freshmen, transfer students, international, and nontraditional students.

What are the greatest challenges to increasing completion?More than 50 percent of state funding has been lost since September 2008. The university now receives only about 10 percent of its revenue from the state of South Carolina.

How is the campus working to increase on-time completion (e.g., through financial aid policies with incentives for persistence; remedial education strategies; restructured course and/or program delivery to meet needs of student population; and accelerated pathways to degree)? What is the impetus or rationale for this effort?The foundational rationale of Winthrop University’s retention and persistence efforts is that student success is achieved through an approach that is connected and coherent, rather than through activities that are disconnected and discrete. Through our emphasis on this concept, we are creating a comprehensive, institutionalized effort to engage and retain students and improve retention/graduation rates.Student learning and engagement are being improved through work across usual boundaries between academic and student life areas, to focus on specific student learning needs. Our current programs begin with a transition to college class and involvement with residential learning communities, including a writing center and a pilot program for African American students in the STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) fields.Concurrently, Winthrop University continues to implement strategies to enhance residential learning and academic support services for all students. We are expanding current programs as well as developing and assessing new programming, such as increasing student performance in core curriculum classes; creating intervention strategies that will decrease the instances of academic probation, suspension, or dismissal; and enhancing freshman and transfer student advising. Over time, these approaches have enabled Winthrop students of traditionally underrepresented backgrounds to succeed at levels equal to or exceeding those of the overall student body.

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