Strategies for Improving Student Success in Postsecondary Education. Changing Direction

Book excerpt: The U.S. record in promoting student readiness for, access to, and success in postsecondary education has been mixed. College participation rates are among the highest in the world, but other indicators are marginal, at best. Available data indicate that levels of college readiness in the U.S. are not what they should be, and degree-completion rates are average to below average among industrialized nations. This leads to two questions: (1) Why has the U.S. done so much better at achieving high levels of access than in promoting student readiness and success?; and (2) Why have equity gaps throughout the postsecondary educational pipeline proved so difficult to close over a prolonged period of time? This paper explores three possible explanations for the current state of affairs, and makes four suggestions for changes in state policies that would help improve retention and degree-completion rates for a broad range of students. The paper concludes with a brief discussion of what areas of research and analysis might be pursued to help better understand what policies may be needed to achieve higher levels of student success. (Contains 2 tables and 24 endnotes.).