(2017-02-27) Why Millions Of Americans Never Finish College

Why Millions of Americans Never Finish College

Community Colleges serve close to half of all American students, enrolling 10 million students each year, but just under 20 percent earn an associate’s degree within three years.

Students may be required to take anywhere from one to three developmental courses, which must be taken sequentially and don’t confer college credit

High school graduates from high-poverty areas are generally not well prepared for college-level work, so they get assigned to “developmental” (remedial) courses in math and English.

The second reason students don’t earn a degree is the difficulty of combining college with other commitments or navigating the higher education system.

Many are Single Parents

Because many community college students have had little prior exposure to higher education, they often struggle with all the moving parts that go into completing college successfully: choosing courses that lead to a degree, applying for financial aid, obtaining tutoring or other academic supports, and balancing work and school.

Our organization, Jobs for the Future (JFF), and its partners have developed some solutions to improve college completion rates nationwide:

Redesigning remedial education

Guided pathways through college

The solution, called “guided pathways,” is like a prix fixe menu. The universe of choices is narrowed and organized into sequences that help a student get and stay on a path to completing a certificate or degree