Improve Graduation Rate But At What Cost?
Klamath Community College (Oregon) is a recent example of a college that decided to go with research that points to several ways to improve their graduation rate.
Why wouldn't every college want to do the same kinds of things? Because some of those methods can hurt enrollment.
KCC introduced several new requirements. These are not extreme measures like requiring competitive SAT or ACT scores or toughening their own entrance testing. They added mandatory orientation for students, mandatory advising and the elimination of late registration for courses.
And the result? Klamath saw its enrollment decline roughly 20 percent last fall, when compared to the previous year. That also means less money ($800,000 or 7% less) from Oregon since the state uses a enrollment-driven funding formula.
Was it worth it? It's probably too early to say for sure, but so far their fall-to-winter retention rates have moved from 60% percent for first-year students to 80% this year. That could increase their current graduation rate of 17%.
Source: www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/02/20/community-college-learns-boosting-retention-comes-cost
Why wouldn't every college want to do the same kinds of things? Because some of those methods can hurt enrollment.
KCC introduced several new requirements. These are not extreme measures like requiring competitive SAT or ACT scores or toughening their own entrance testing. They added mandatory orientation for students, mandatory advising and the elimination of late registration for courses.
And the result? Klamath saw its enrollment decline roughly 20 percent last fall, when compared to the previous year. That also means less money ($800,000 or 7% less) from Oregon since the state uses a enrollment-driven funding formula.
Was it worth it? It's probably too early to say for sure, but so far their fall-to-winter retention rates have moved from 60% percent for first-year students to 80% this year. That could increase their current graduation rate of 17%.
Source: www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/02/20/community-college-learns-boosting-retention-comes-cost
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