College Access and Success: Organizing Our Systems To Secure Big Improvements

1. College Access and Success:Organizing Our Systems To Secure Big Improvements Access to Success: Organizing Our Systems To Secure Big Improvements and Close Gaps A2S Annual Meeting Baltimore, MC April, 2010

2. For nearly thirty years now, the numbers seem to be going steadily up.

3. College Going, African American +12 Immediate College-going refers to the percentage of high school completers who were enrolled in college the October after completing high school. Percent attaining their BA refers to the percentage of 25 and older with a BA or higher Sources:Condition of Education 2008,Table 24-1. Current Population Survey (1980 to 2002), Annual Social and Economic Supplement to Current Population Survey (2003 to 2007)

4. College Going, Latino +6 Immediate College-going refers to the percentage of high school completers who were enrolled in college the October after completing high school. Percent attaining their BA refers to the percentage of 25 and older with a BA or higher Sources:Condition of Education 2008,Table 24-1. Current Population Survey (1980 to 2002), Annual Social and Economic Supplement to Current Population Survey (2003 to 2007)

5. College-Going, Low-Income Students Source: U.S Dept. of Education, NCES, The Condition of Education, 2008, Table 24-1

6. But as we celebrate our “increasing diversity,” we forget three important things.

7. We forget, first of all, that though college-going up for minorities, gains among whites have been greater

8. All Groups Up In College-Going from 1980-2006, But Gaps Also Increase Source: U.S. Department of Education, NCES, The Condition of Education 2006.

9. We forget, second, that results are what matters. And once again, while everybody is going up, gaps are widening.

10. Gaps WidenCompletion of BA or Higher for All Groups (Age 25 to 29): 1980 to 2007 Source: 1980 to 2005, Current Population Survey, 2003 to 2007 Annual Social and Economic Supplement to Current Population Survey

11. And we forget, finally, to look at our increases in the context of our even faster changing states.

12. CSU: Entering Freshmen, URM

13. High School Grads/Entering CSU Students, URM

14. 6 Year Graduation Rates: CSU Freshmen, Race

15. 6 Year Graduation Rates: CSU Transfers, Race

16. CSU: Bachelor’s Degrees Compared to Young Adult Population

17. Getting Traction on This Problem Requires New Roles for Systems • Confront and change attitudes that gaps are inevitable, and colleges powerless to influence; • Set goals, monitor leading indicators and hold campus leaders accountable for results.

18. Confronting Sense of Powerlessness

19. 1. Similar Institutions, Similar Students, But Very Different Results

20. Research InstitutionsSimilar Students, Different Results Source: College Results Online 2007 data

21. Research InstitutionsSimilar Students, Different Results Source: College Results Online 2007 data

22. Research InstitutionsSimilar Students, Different Results Source: College Results Online 2007 data

23. Masters Institutions – LargeSimilar Students, Different Results Source: College Results Online 2007 data

24. Historically Black CollegesSimilar Students, Different Results Source: College Results Online 2007 data

25. 2. Institutions Making Very Different Rates of Progress

27. Figure 4: Top 5 Gainers in Underrepresented Minority Graduation Rates Among Public Research Universities 2002-07 IPEDS and College Results Online Dataset

28. Figure 5: Top 5 Gainers in Underrepresented Minority Graduation Rates Among Public Master’s Institutions, 2002-07 IPEDS and College Results Online Dataset

29. IPEDS and College Results Online Dataset

30. 3. Some institutions have significantly narrowed gaps; some have closed gaps entirely

31. IPEDS and College Results Online Dataset

32. IPEDS and College Results Online Dataset

34. Setting Goals, Monitoring Leading Indicators

35. Consistent Finding Across High-Gainers:THEY CONSTANTLY MIND (and mine) THE DATA!

36. Top Gainer and Gap Closer: Georgia State University • Downtown Atlanta with about 19,000 undergrads • 1/3 Minority, Mostly African American • Enrollment has grown more diverse in recent years Adapted from Top Gainers: Some Public Four Year Colleges and Universities Make Big Improvements in Minority Graduation Rates, and Top Gap Closers: Some Public Four Year Colleges and Universities Have Made Good Progress in Closing Graduation-Rate Gaps, January 2010 Note: URM stands for underrepresented minority students and includes African American, Hispanic and Native American Students. Non-underrepresented minority students include white and Asian students.

37. Keys to Georgia State’s Success: Focusing first and foremost on the data • Identified potholes on path to bachelor’s degree such as high intro course failure rates • Program evaluation data pinpointed strategies most effective for minority students • First year learning communities were instrumental in lifting overall retention rates, but even more so for minority students Adapted from Top Gainers: Some Public Four Year Colleges and Universities Make Big Improvements in Minority Graduation Rates, January 2010

38. Cal State Northridge

39. CSUN • Approximately 40% URM • Student success is strong presidential focus • Provost and IR Office collaborate on data mining, present frequently to campus departments • Tightened up policies on course drops, repeats, major changes • Overall grad rates up from 30% to 40% between 2002 and 2007

40. Historically Black CollegesSimilar Students, Different Results Source: College Results Online 2007 data

41. Elizabeth City State • Attendance mandatory. Faculty members monitor; call when absent. • Faculty advisors track absences, mid-term grades. Expected to meet with students in trouble. • Deans, Provost monitor the data—and ACT when involves one faculty member. • Everybody on campus assumes responsibility for acting on warning signs.

42. Black/White Graduation Rate Gaps:Similar Institutions

43. Florida State CARE Initiative • Many black students come from local school districts; • Care program works with them in high school; • Admission standards relaxed, but summer transition program required; • ONGOING SUPPORT, MONITORING ON CAMPUS; • Example: special sections of freshman math courses, smaller and meet every day.

44. Results? • CARE students entering SAT: 940(average success nationally: 56%) • Non-CARE students entering SAT: 1204 (average success nationally: 73%) • But at Florida State, CARE students persist to second year at higher rate than non CARE students; and, • CARE students graduate at exactly same rate.

45. The goal of Access to Success is NOT to replicate programs and initiatives, but to spread the focused, goal-orientation of the high gainers and to share some of the strategies they use to stay on track.

46. Why is all this so important?Last year, more than 48 percent of all births were to women of color.

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