It’s the time of year when college students are graduating and getting ready to put their degrees to work. Unfortunately, many students never make it.
A high number of students are lost between enrollment and graduation, and the challenges can be the greatest for the 7.2 million students who need federal loans to attend college.
Only 55 percent of students with federal loans who attend private nonprofit colleges, graduate within six years, according to a new report by Third Way. Out of the 1,027 private colleges studied, 761 have graduation rates of less than 67 percent.
The report doesn’t cover public universities, but according to New York Times, the rate is even lower at only 46 percent.
This is extremely disappointing since traditionally, public universities are meant to provide education to all citizens.
Another disappointment Third Way reports, according to the New York Times, is that,
“High schools in which more than a third of students do not graduate on time are labeled to receive special attention by federal standards. If colleges were held to that measure, 74 percent of the private nonprofit colleges and 83 percent of public colleges would fail. But there isn’t a widely accepted bar for college graduation rates; a college can have a graduation rate as low as 2 percent and still preserve its accreditation.”
Graduation rates measure only first-time, full-time students. It does not include students who take longer than six years to graduate, and counts transfer students as dropouts.
What the report shows very clearly, is that colleges are not fulfilling their promise of upward mobility for students.
Colleges with high graduation rates tend to be more selective. Their students come from more privileged backgrounds, and are more academically prepared.
Students with Pell grants, which usually go to lower-income students, are admitted to colleges with lower graduation rates.
This means that the colleges with the lowest rates are taking the biggest risks. They admit the very students statistics shows will drop out by half. The low graduation rate will hurt the college, and according to Third Way’s author Lanae Erickson Hatalsky,
“There is a legitimate policy conversation about where you draw that line, but no one is even having that conversation right now.”
Basically, giving first-generation college students a chance to graduate presents challenges that more elite colleges don’t face.
An example is the University of La Verne, a commuter college 30 miles east of Los Angeles, which has a six-year graduation rate of 59 percent. 46 percent of all students are Pell grant recipients, and money is a huge struggle between enrollment and graduation. Beatriz Gonzalez, vice provost, lists money as
“That is the No. 1 reason our students give when they drop out.”
She says students have to work to support themselves or their families. Because of that they spend less time on campus, which in turn makes them feel less attached. And she also brings up the sense of belonging. Poor grades or any kind of setback may make first-generation students question whether they should be in college at all.
Students who are trying to become the first in their families to earn a degree are particularly at risk of dropping out. There are more struggles than just financial ones, as PBS News reported. Even when financial aid covers the student’s costs, they may have a sense of not belonging in college. One of the students interviewed explained,
“You feel different. You might have different mannerisms. […] It’s in the back of your mind. Getting in to that mental head space can be very damaging.”
Low-income and first-generation students drop out twice as much, even when their SAT scores are identical with students from affluent backgrounds.
College graduates earn higher wages, have lower unemployment rates, and even longer-lasting marriages. We are raised to strive for college and we work hard to be able to send our children there. A college degree is a door opener to a better life.
Featured image screengrab from YouTube.
