Key points:
- College students confront many roadblocks to on-time graduation
- Course and program sharing is a powerful solution to address the challenges students face with on-time graduation
- See related article: How to recruit, keep, and graduate lower-income students
Looking ahead to the new school year, the biggest challenge for leaders across higher education is clear: how to make institutional changes that ensure more students can graduate on time. Many students find themselves falling behind because their institutions can’t offer access to the courses or sections they need – when they need them – in order to stay on track.
But here’s the thing: we know that enrollment, retention and completion rates can be improved when institutions collaborate, instead of compete, for students. When leaders work collaboratively with peer institutions by sharing access to their courses, they ensure students can earn the on-time degrees they need, with the equity, access, and opportunities they deserve.
The completion crisis in higher education today is acute: less than half of full-time students graduate within four years, and only 67.7% graduate by year six. Among part-time students, only about 20% graduate within four years, and only 33% graduate by year six. In addition, 25.1% of full-time students, and 54.2% of part-time students, leave college without earning a credential six years later.
Institutions are also struggling to enroll and retain students. To attract and keep students on the path to completion, forward-looking leaders are increasingly turning to innovative strategies that provide collaborative solutions. For these leaders, course sharing is gaining momentum as a powerful solution for both student and institutional success.
Alicia Policinski is the General Manager, Course and Credit Solutions at Parchment.
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