credit-prior-learning

Can GPS help students graduate on time?


Implementing Guided Pathways to Success (GPS) could be key in helping more students graduate on time and, thus, save money

network-pathways-educationAccording to a new report called The Four-Year Myth released by Complete College America, a large majority of full-time American college students do not graduate on time, leading to a staggering spike of nearly 70 percent in debt in the next two years.

However, even though only 50 out of more than 580 public four-year institutions in America currently report on-time graduation rates above 50 percent, Complete College America offers a potential solution.

Specifically, they advise a restructuring of higher education that would focus on the implementation of Guided Pathways to Success, or GPS. Essentially, Guided Pathways to Success aims to help students determine the most direct route to graduating.

Starting out, GPS takes individual majors and organizes them by semester to help students map out the specific courses they need to take to allow them to sequentially, and steadily, progress towards graduating on time.

“Student loan debt has for the first time topped one trillion dollars – more than credit card and auto loan debt combined,” said Complete College America President Stan Jones. “Our Alliance of States is committed to shining a light on on-time graduation rates and pursuing reforms that increase college completion and shorten the time to degree. We know that the best strategy to make college more affordable is to ensure many more students graduate and graduate on time.

(Next Page: GPS, the “meta major,” and states that are using it)

In its core mission, GPS seeks to refine the higher education system by minimizing major inhibitors to graduating on time, such as credits lost in transfer, essential courses being unavailable, students not taking enough credits in a given semester, uninformed choice of majors, and sometimes unnecessary credit requirements.

Though GPS still allows for plenty of elective options and provides some freedom for exploration, the pathways helps students have a clearer sense of how they need to progress. GPS can also help undecided students to choose a major: By examining which early electives students chose to take and performed well, GPS can begin to suggest informed “meta major” options for students.

In many ways, GPS says it represents a partnership between students and institutions. When students agree to follow Guided Pathways to Success, they must take certain “essential” courses every semester so that they continue to get a “realistic picture” of their majors from the onset, instead of putting off difficult courses until changing majors becomes too drastic or expensive.

In turn, schools work to provide students with clear degree maps, make available critical courses when needed, and closely monitor student progress through extensive academic advising to ensure that students are accommodated as well as possible.

From this partnership, students and institutions will be able to maintain a constant dialogue, says GPS, allowing feedback from students to help shape and refine the Pathways in order to make the goal of graduating on time as easy as possible.

So far, institutions that make up Complete College America’s Alliance of States have implemented GPS strategies say they have found great success. For example, 20 states have either statewide or campus-based “15 to Finish” initiatives that encourage students to take 15 credits per semester or at least 30 credits per year in order to graduate on time. 22 states (and Washington D.C.) have committed to transforming remediation in order to see gains in the percentage of students who complete college-level math and English gateway courses within one year.

Additionally, almost every state seems to make some progress when they implement GPS strategies. Arizona State University, for instance, has seen an increase of 16 percent of students graduating on time since integrating GPS strategies within their eAdvisor system. Thanks to funding from the Lumina Foundation, Indiana, Georgia, and Tennessee are working to take implementation of GPS to scale. D.C., Idaho, Illinois, Massachusetts, Washington D.C., and Ohio are implementing GPS strategies in STEM initiatives.

For a full state-by-state breakdown and a host of case studies that provide detail on how to best implement Guided Pathways to Success, check out Complete College America’s full report.

Sign up for our newsletter

Newsletter: Innovations in K12 Education
By submitting your information, you agree to our Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy.

Oops! We could not locate your form.

Sign up for our newsletter

Newsletter: Innovations in K12 Education
By submitting your information, you agree to our Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy.