“When it comes to college, the central challenge for most
Americans in the 21st century is not going; it’s finishing.
Thirty-five million Americans now have some college experience but no degree.
More Americans than live in Texas, in other words, have spent enough time at
college to glimpse the promised land – but not enough to reap the financial
bounty. Some are worse off than if they’d never enrolled at all, carrying tens
of thousands of dollars in debt, not to mention the scar tissue of regret and
self-doubt.”
“Each year, students under age 24 must gather up their
parents’ tax information and fill out a 105-question form known as the Free
Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA. (A bill that would shorten the
application to two questions is awaiting action in Congress.) Those who file
the form early in the year typically receive twice as much money as those who
file later, but you of course have to know that bit of trivia to take advantage
of it.”
“Simply put, many Americans fail to finish college, because
many colleges are not designed to be finished. They are designed to enroll
students, yes. They are built to garner research funds and accrue status
through rankings and the scholarly articles published by faculty. But those things
have little to do with making sure students leave prepared to thrive in the
modern economy.”
“We know if you surround any student with love and attention
and good coaching and mentorship, they will succeed,” Daniel Greenstein, who
directs college-completion initiative at the Bill & Melinda Gates
Foundation, told me. Over time, Greenstein has become more and more convinced
that data-driven, student-centered university cultures can reverse the
college-dropout trends. “The research tells us that what really matters for
low-income and first-generation students,” he said, “is that you put your arms
around them.”
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