What is Giving Compass?
We connect donors to learning resources and ways to support community-led solutions. Learn more about us.
Giving Compass' Take:
• Mark Schneider and Kim Clark conducted research at colleges across the United States and identified common themes among successful college completion reforms.
• How can philanthropy help institutions tailor programs to increase college completion rates and post-college success?
• Read about MDRC's findings from 15 years of post-secondary research.
From extensive interviews with staff and leaders of exemplary programs and with independent researchers who have examined the most successful higher education institutions, we distinguished four themes.
There Is No “Plug and Play” Solution:
Simple, affordable, replicable, and scalable improvements that significantly improve success rates remain elusive. Programs or reforms that improved student success in one college all too often fail, often spectacularly and expensively, at another college because of some unique characteristics of the first school’s student body or particular style of implementation.
Most Programs Help Only as Long as They Are Active:
Many colleges have found initial, immediate improvements in retention from programs such as summer bridge experiences for incoming freshmen or yearlong learning communities. However, once those programs end, longitudinal data find little to no significant impact on the later success of the group as a whole.
Holistic Beats Piecemeal:
The colleges reporting the most success in producing high-value degrees tend to provide holistic, wraparound support for students. Regrettably, comprehensive efforts tend to require large upfront investments and are difficult to implement in the balkanized environments of many colleges in which academic departments, student affairs offices, and career counseling often cannot or will not find the will to coordinate their efforts.
Investing in Access and Success Saves Money:
Short-term budget concerns have caused many colleges to stint on providing important services such as financial aid, tutoring, and advising. But when the horizon is lengthened from the cost per year to examine, for example, the cost of each degree awarded, many of these programs result in lower costs for students, colleges, and taxpayers.
Although there are concerns about the details of implementation, there is little debate over the nature of the big steps colleges need to take to improve Americans’ access to and success in high-value higher education: use evidence-proven teaching methods, offer plenty of guidance and support, and make college prices affordable.