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Higher EducationMatthew Lynch
Home›Higher Education›Higher Accountability for College Dropout Rates

Higher Accountability for College Dropout Rates

By Matthew Lynch
October 5, 2015
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There are a lot of metrics in place that gauge the effectiveness of P-12 schooling in the U.S. and shine a particularly bright light on public schools, particularly when they are failing students. Dropout rates are just one of the factors taken into account when these numbers are calculated and tend to weigh heavily on the schools and districts who have low percentages. The same does not seem to be true once the high school years pass though. Compared to P-12 institutions, colleges and universities seemingly get a pass when it comes to college dropout rates – perhaps because in the past, higher education was considered more of a privilege and less of a right. A college dropout was simply walking away from the assumed higher quality of life that came with the degree, but still had opportunity to excel without it.

That’s not the case anymore. As of 2013, 17.5 million students were enrolled in U.S. colleges and universities.  More than ever, colleges and universities have a responsibility to not simply admit students, but ensure they are guided properly to graduation. In other words, institutions of higher education should not be able to just take their student’s money and say “good luck.” They should provide the tools necessary for students to successfully achieve a college education and anticipate the issues that could prevent that.

Authors Ben Miller and Phuong Ly discussed the issue of the U.S. colleges with the worst graduation rates in their book College Dropout Factories. Within the pages, the authors encouraged educators at all levels to acknowledge that colleges and universities should share responsibility for successful or failing graduation rates, and that the institutions with the worst rates should be shut down. Perhaps the most terrifying suggestion in the book (for colleges and universities) was that public institutions with low graduation rates would be subjected to reduced state funding.

The book was written based on findings from Washington Monthly that ranked the U.S. schools with the lowest six-year graduation rates among colleges and universities, including public ones like the University of the District of Columbia (8%), Haskell Indian Nations University (9%), Oglala Lakota College (11%), Texas Southern University (13%) and Chicago State University (13%). These stats were published in 2010 so they are not the most current available but a quick scan of the University of the District Columbia’s official page shows graduation rate numbers through the end of the 2003 – 2004 school year. The past nine years are nowhere to be found. The school boasts 51.2 percent underrepresented minorities in the study body, including 47 percent that are Black – but what good are those numbers if these students are not actually benefitting from their time in college because they receive no degree?

In the case of Chicago State University, the latest statistics show some improvement from the 2010 ones. The six-year graduation rate is up to 21 percent – but the transfer-out rate is nearly 30 percent. The school has 92 percent underrepresented minorities that attend – 86 percent who are black and 70 percent who are female – but again, what good does any of that do if these traditionally disadvantaged students are not graduating?

In all cases of college dropout factories, the P-12 institutions chalk up a victory on their end. They graduated the students and also saw them accepted into a college. What happens after that is between the students and their higher education choices.

This, to me, is a problem. The accountability for student success extends beyond the years that they are in P-12 classrooms. Graduation from high school, and acceptance into college, should never be the final goal of P-12 educators. That is not a victory. That is only halftime.

As far as the colleges and universities are concerned, higher accountability should be demanded from educators, students, parents and really any Americans that want the best economy and highest-educated population. Public institutions, in particular, should be subject to restructuring or take over if dropout rates are too high. The lack of delivery on the college degree dream at many of these schools is appalling, frankly, and has gone on long enough.

What do you think an accountability system for colleges should look like when it comes to dropout rates?

 

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5 comments

  1. johanna 25 May, 2014 at 18:54 Reply

    Maybe accountability needs to begin at the admissions department. A lot of admissions departments are driven to increase the student population and tend to overlook issues that may indicate a student dropping out. Accountability at the forefront would eliminate a lot of issues.

  2. BananaMan54 26 May, 2014 at 00:32 Reply

    Colleges and universities should definitely be held accounable for drop-out rate. Further than that, liberal arts education should also take a que from their bretheren in vocational education — Colleges and universities should be evaluated on job placement rate for their graduates as well.

    • HeidiBelt 31 May, 2014 at 22:04 Reply

      I wholeheartedly agree. I know too many college graduates who are flipping burgers and working at Wal Mart yet they have college loans to pay. Colleges should be preparing students for their profession and should be held accountable if those students don’t get jobs in that profession.

  3. hollysuel 26 May, 2014 at 01:05 Reply

    Money is the main reason students drop out of school in the USA–look at other countries where the students study for free and the drop out rate is lower. In those countries, the admissions rates are lower because it is highly competitive and not everyone who can fill out a fafsa and qualify for financial aid can go to university.

  4. LondonCalling79 3 October, 2014 at 07:31 Reply

    Absolutely! Colleges and universities need to be held accountable for the promises that they made it students, and for all the money they take. I hope that this issue gets a lot more regulation in the coming years.

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