In a struggling economy and tough job market that demand more adults have two- and four-year college degrees and specialized career training, SREB's 16 member states — and the nation — need more students who enroll in college to actually graduate.

That's why SREB is convening all 16 states in the coming year to develop state policies and recommendations for improving degree completion substantially.

The challenge ahead is great: Less than one-third of degree-seeking, full-time freshmen in public four-year institutions graduate in four years. The 2009 SREB Fact Book on Higher Education reports that in the SREB region, only 52 percent of the freshmen who enrolled at those institutions in 2001 graduated by 2007 — and the national rate of 55 percent was not much better. There are many explanations for this low graduation rate, but SREB is urging and helping states to do better.

North Carolina Central University Chancellor Charlie Nelms speaks on pushing students to graduate.

Clearly, the nation’s success in attracting students to college has not been matched by success in graduating them. Students’ chances of completing college decline even more if they are from disadvantaged economic backgrounds or have low SAT/ACT scores.

Some institutions appear to have “beaten the odds,” increasing graduation rates without jeopardizing quality. These schools also often serve a comparatively high percentage of low-income students and many who have average to below-average test scores, yet the institutions’ graduation rates are near the national average for all students.

SREB’s major report, Promoting a Culture of Student Success: How Colleges and Universities Are Improving Degree Completion, examines strategies that states and public higher education institutions have used to help more students earn bachelor’s degrees, with particular interest in students who enter regional colleges and universities with academic and/or economic disadvantages. The study includes on-site interviews to identify institutional actions that have contributed most significantly to their graduation rates. To determine whether state policy has influenced the higher completion rates, a review of relevant state and systemwide policy documents is part of the study.

A major new SREB report and set of recommendations challenge the16-state region to lead the nation in improving college completion in the same way it did in K-12 education reforms in the 1990s. The report, No Time to Waste, sets an ambitious goal for the region: having 60 percent of adults ages 25 to 64 earn a college degree or technical certificate by the year 2025. The report’s recommendations include setting specific goals for awarding more of each degree type and raising graduation rates; more attention to college costs and targeted financial aid; improving high school students’ readiness for college; new institutional practices to help more students succeed; greater efficiency in institutions’ operations and in students’ paths to degrees; bringing many more adults back to finish college; and more. For details, see the press release.

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Click on Featured Facts to see the latest higher education data report for every SREB state, including graduation rates for two- and four-year public colleges and universities, persistence rates, degrees earned, and other data, based on the SREB Fact Book.

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Degree Completion

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