Working to Close the College Completion Gap

DELAWARE STATE UNIVERSITY AND SALLIE MAE LAUNCH INNOVATIVE PARTNERSHIP TO HELP MORE STUDENTS GRADUATE

BY NICOLAS JAFARIEH

Earning a college degree is one of the surest paths to a better life. Higher education increases wages and enables economic mobility for graduates. We know that those with a bachelor’s degree typically earn 66% more – $1 million more over their lifetime – than those with a high school diploma.

Getting students in the door of colleges and universities is important, but that has never been enough. We need to invest not only in college access but also in college completion.

Today, more than 40 million students have some college experience but no degree. Here in Delaware, that’s more than 70,000 students. Typically, it’s students of color who are more likely to experience obstacles that get in the way of finishing college. Removing financial barriers through increased grants and scholarships is one way to address these issues. In fact, one study found that every $1,000 in grants provided to students increase their chances of college completion by 1.5 percent to 2 percent.

Public-private partnerships like the one recently announced between Delaware State University (DSU), Delaware’s Historically Black College and University (HBCU), and Sallie Mae, a Delaware-headquartered education solutions company, will put more students back on the road to graduation. Guided by a collaborative, student-centered and data-informed approach, the partnership will develop an innovative HBCU Persistence and Completion Program to help bring back and re-enroll students who have some college experience, but no degree.

The three-year, $1 million pilot program will build on DSU’s current near-completer program and endow a research fellow who will identify and study barriers to degree completion. The research will help advance policy recommendations and best practices that enhance student re-engagement at DSU, HBCUs, and other institutions nationwide.

The program will also provide students with scholarships to address food and technology insecurities, in addition to tuition, fees, books, and transportation. Students will receive hands-on mentoring and advising. In fact, nearly a thousand students have already been identified for re-enrollment through this new program. We know there is no better partner to lead this important initiative than DSU. DSU President Dr. Tony Allen, who also chairs President Biden’s Board of Advisors for HBCUs, knows the important leadership role HBCUs play in higher education and our nation’s workforce. DSU is already ranked among the top ten HBCUs in the country, with a proven track record of supporting students to degree completion. It was clear during Dr. Allen’s most recent visit to Sallie Mae headquarters how aligned our organizations are in our drive to help students complete their higher education journeys.

One study found that every $1,000 in grants provided to students increase their chances of college completion by 1.5 percent to 2 percent.

HBCUs have played a crucial role in propelling Black and lower-income students toward economic prosperity for decades. Through this partnership we continue to foster, together, a future where every student, regardless of background, can not only access, but complete, higher education. It can be a model not only for Delaware, but for the nation.

Nicolas Jafarieh is the executive vice president at Sallie Mae.