Miles to Go: College Completion Under the Obama Plan
President Barack Obama has issued an ambitious goal: for the United States to once again lead the world in college attainment, by 2020. Though some programs show promise, college graduation is still out of reach for many Americans, for academic, financial and institutional reasons.
To meet the 2020 goal, community colleges and four-year institutions will have to graduate far more of the large numbers of poor, minority and unprepared students who enter their classrooms each year–and will have to get more such students in those doors in the first place. Initiatives will require cash-strapped states and schools to find their ways around huge funding gaps.
Do schools have the incentive to step up their game? Will students meet the challenge?
The Education Writers Association discussed these issues and more at “Miles to Go: College Completion under the Obama Plan,” a seminar for reporters and editors. Take a look at EWA’s meeting on Flickr. See our Tweets and blog posts. See the reporters (xls document) who attended the meeting. You can also view the agenda here.
The keynote session explored measures to make college more affordable. Panelists addressed whether the Obama goal that every American commit to at least one year of higher education or advanced training is sufficient to move the nation forward.
Here’s some supplemental materials to help with your reporting:
Reports
- Setting Up Success in Developmental Education released by Jobs for the Future
- Issues in Remedial Education at the Postsecondary Level released by Clemson University
- Some Public Four-Year Colleges and Universities Make Big Improvements in Minority Graduation Rates, released by The Education Trust
- Emerging Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs): Serving Latino Students, released by Excelencia in Education
News Coverage
- About 1 in 5 students need remedial help in college, Detroit Free Press
- Reinventing Remedial Education, Diverse: Issues in Higher Education
- The New Math on Campus, New York Times
- Reaching Black Men, Inside Higher Ed
- Obama’s 2nd budget sits better with leaders at historically black colleges, McClatchy Newspapers
- Changing the Measures of Success for HBCUs, Diverse: Issues in Higher Education
