College Readiness, College Enrollment and Long-term College Success

Presented by The Midwest Office of ACT

Bonnie Weisz- Program SolutionsChris Mitchell- Program Solutions

ACT= Research

National Curriculum Survey

2009 National Survey available online. 2012 Survey will be available soon.

College Readiness Benchmark Scores

ACT CRS & Curriculum Review Worksheets—Coding Guide 

The following coding comes from the ACT College Readiness Standards Tables available at:

 http://www.act.org/standard/instruct/pdf/CollegeReadinessStandardsTables.pdf

 With this information in hand, schools using the Curriculum Review Worksheets

have coding to use with their curriculum alignment/mapping software. 

The level of the standard is related to College Readiness Standard (CRS) intervals, i.e.

      2XX - 13 to 15     3XX - 16 to 19     4XX - 20 to 23     5XX - 24 to 27     6XX - 28 to 32     7XX - 33 to 36

EPAS System/CCRIS

Connect the Standards to Instruction Assists in organizing instructional practices Offers a sequence for delivering content Provides clear scope of what is ideally taught to

all students

Mind the Gaps

• In 2009, ACT published Mind the Gaps: How College Readiness Narrows Achievement Gaps in College Success.

2009 ACT-tested High School Graduates: College Ready

White Underrepresented minority

2009 ACT-tested High School Graduates Taking a Core Curriculum

Reductions in Racial/Ethnic Gaps in College Enrollment Associated with Meeting All Four ACT College Readiness Benchmarks

Enrolled in college first year

Reductions in Family Income Gaps in College Enrollment Rates Associated with Meeting All Four ACT College

Readiness BenchmarksEnrolled in college first year

New ACT Research• Two studies conducted using data from COMPASS/ACT

tested students entering fall 2003 and the National Student Clearinghouse

• Tracked students through year 7 to obtain graduation rates

• COMPASS study was unique in that it looked at degree intent of students at two year institutions.

• Unlike previous studies and national statistics, this new research tracked degree completion from any institution so that degrees earned by transfer students counted as well.

• Recent ACT studies further validate previous research on college readiness and success

Study Sample Findings• Students from four-year institutions:

– Tended to be more academically-able than students from two-year institutions.

– More likely to meet the ACT College Readiness Benchmarks, to earn a higher ACT Composite score, to take a core curriculum, to take higher-level mathematics and science coursework in high school, and to earn a higher HSGPA.

– More likely to have a higher family income range and slightly more likely to be female.

Year 7 degree completion status for four-year students

(ACT study)

3530

410

22

0

20

40

60

80

100

Bachelor'sdegree

by year 4

Bachelor'sdegree

year 5 to 7

Associate'sdegree

only

No degree, still enrolled

No degree, not enrolled

Per

cen

t

Percentages do not sum to 100 percent due to rounding.

Degree completion rates over time for two-year students

(ACT Study)

02

58 9

03

8

121516

18 18 17 17

0.2 0.1

8

0

10

20

30

40

50

2 3 4 5 6 7

Year

Pe

rce

nt

Associate's and bachelor's degrees

Bachelor's degree only

Associate's degree only

Reported percentages in text do not always equal the sum of those shown in the figure due to rounding.

Six-year Bachelor’s Degree Completion Rates by Race/ethnicity and Number of

ACT Benchmarks Met for Four-year Students

37

44

52

59

66

48

56

63

70

76

41

49

56

64

70

47

54

62

69

75

0

20

40

60

80

100

0 1 2 3 4

Number of ACT College Readiness Benchmarks met

Pe

rce

nt

African American Asian Hispanic White

Degree attainment by academic readiness

(COMPASS Reading)

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

Not ready Almost ready Ready

Pe

rce

nt

ge

ttin

g d

eg

ree

Certificate Associate's degree Bachelor's degree Total

19.2%

26.3%

30.3%

Six-year Degree Completion Rates by Race/Ethnicity

45

1521

63

18

34

53

21

29

64

26

41

0

20

40

60

80

100

Bachelor's degree Associate's degree Associate's orBachelor's degree

Four-year students Two-year students

Per

cen

t

African American Asian Hispanic White

Retention Rates to the Same Institution at Year 4 by Family Income Range and

Number of ACT Benchmarks Met for Four-year Students

39

45

51

57

63

43

49

55

6166

49

5560

6671

0

20

40

60

80

100

0 1 2 3 4

Number of ACT College Readiness Benchmarks met

Pe

rcen

t

<$30,000 $30,000 to $60,000 > $60,000

Six-year Degree Completion Rates for EPA-tested Students who Met 1 to 3 Benchmarks in Grades 8 and 10 by Number of ACT Benchmarks Met

44

19

32

61

26

41

76

35

52

0

20

40

60

80

100

Bachelor's degree Associate's degree Associate's orBachelor's degree

Four-year students Two-year students

Pe

rce

nt

Met 1 to 3/Met 1 to 3/Met none Met 1 to 3/Met 1 to 3/Met 1 to 3

Met 1 to 3/Met 1 to 3/Met all 4

College Enrollment Rates by Combined EXPLORE/PLAN Benchmark Attainment

and Student Demographic Group for EPA-tested Students

5652

47

53

48

53

59

69

78

7276

80

5451

7470

64

71

65

71717173

7780

7876

0

20

40

60

80

100

Male Female AfricanAmerican

Asian Hispanic White <$30,000 $30,000 to$60,000

> $60,000

Gender Race/ethnicity Family income range

Per

cen

t

Met none/Met none Met 1 to 3/Met 1 to 3 Met all 4/Met all 4

Degree Intentions: What level of education do you want to obtain?

Degree Intent Sample

Classes only 3.9%

Certificate 4.1%

Two-year Degree 31.7%

Four year Degree 29.1%

Grad/Prof Degree 12.5%

No response 18.8%

Degree intent, by age group – Two-Year

Institutions

0%5%

10%15%

20%25%

30%35%

40%45%

less than 19 20-24 25 and older

Missing Classes only Certificate

Associates Deg. Bachelor's Deg. Grad./Prof. Deg.

Degree attainment by age group

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

Less than 19 20-24 25 and older

Pe

rce

nt

wit

h d

eg

ree

Certificate Associate's Degree Bachelor's Degree Total

32.2%

23.3%

26.1%

Age and Intent

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

Associate's Deg. Graduate Deg.

Degree Intent

Pe

rce

nt

ge

ttin

g d

eg

ree

19 and younger 20-24 25 and older

Summary of Findings• NCES/IPEDS Graduation Data not true measurement of success for

all students

• Academic readiness, degree intent, and enrollment status matter in determining degree completion rates; age does not.

• New studies affirm findings of those found in earlier ACT studies

• Students meeting the individual ACT College Readiness Benchmarks were substantially more likely to enroll in college, to persist in college through degree completion, and to earn a degree in a timely manner.

• As the number of ACT Benchmarks met increased, students’ likelihood of success also increased.

• College success rates were also higher for student who – Earned a higher ACT Composite Score– Took a Core Curriculum in High School– Took Higher-level Math and Science Coursework in

High School– Earned Higher GPAs

• Average ACT Composite scores and HSGPA were higher for four-year students who completed a bachelor’s degree by year 4 than those who took longer

• Students completing a bachelor’s degree by year 7, on average had higher ACT Composites and HSGPA than those earning an Associates Degree or no degree

• Consistent with findings from other studies, there were gaps across demographic groups. College readiness helps to reduce these gaps.

• Completion rates for any degree were higher for females, higher-income students, and white students.

• Students who returned to the same institution were more likely to complete a degree.

• Students taking EXPLORE/PLAN/ACT were more likely to enroll in college immediately following high school, to persist at the same institution, and to complete a degree than ACT tested only students.

• Those meeting E/P Benchmarks had higher college success rates than those who met one or none.

• As the number of E/P Benchmarks met increased, college success rates also increased.

To view newest ACT research visit: www.act.org/research

What can colleges do to improve retention and graduation rates?

• Reinforce the need for entering students to be college and career ready to maximize their chances for college success.

•Offer remediation/resources to those not college ready to get skills to college level.

• Track your own students for more accurate graduation statistics. Look at enrollment status, intent, age, college readiness vs. remediation, transfer students.

• Use EOS PLAN buys to recruit those on track for college readiness earlier.

•2010 Report, What Works in Student Retention”

www.act.org/research/policymakers/reports/retain.html