SUMMER 2016
The work you do every day has a
Positive Impact that’s bigger than you might think. Great Lakes is well-known for its excellent service to borrowers, built by your hard work. And the more we do right by those we serve, the more students we can help through our education philanthropy.
ONLY
community college students graduate
1
Within six years per Bailey, Jaggars & Jenkins (2015)
1
In this issue of Good Works, you’ll learn about two recent grants we’ve made addressing barriers to graduation that community college students face. We’ve made these grants because we focus on helping students of color, first-generation students, and students from low-income backgrounds—students who attend community colleges in large numbers. While community colleges offer a lot to the 10 million students they serve each year, their students face numerous challenges to completion.
And we know that students who don’t graduate are the most likely to default on their loans. With these two grants, we’re partnering with colleges and research experts to get students on a clearer path to graduation and to learn whether summer school can help more students graduate.
A clearer path to
GRADUATION Would you take a trip to somewhere you’ve never been without a map or GPS? Probably not. You would likely get a little irritated, spending extra time and money searching for a route to your destination. You may be surprised to know that something similar to this routinely happens to community college students across the nation.
One of the challenges many community college students face is not knowing what classes to take (and in what order to take them) to complete their degree or certificate. This is because they need to choose from a huge list of class offerings and have limited access to advisors. So, students often start taking classes without a plan, leading them to spend precious time and money on classes that may not help them make progress toward
their degree. This can lead students to incur debt without improving their job prospects—and ultimately having trouble repaying their student loans. That’s why we’re working with the Community College Research Center (CCRC) to help give students in Ohio community colleges a roadmap to graduation with their route more clearly marked. These roadmaps are called “guided pathways.” Our grant supports CCRC as they
Guided Pathways Reform
work closely with colleges to put together defined program maps, progress milestones, and goals for students. Over the course of two years, we’ll learn how the program affects completion rates. We chose to support CCRC because they are national experts in finding ways to increase community college graduation rates. We chose to work with them in Ohio because all
of Ohio’s community colleges have already started implementing guided pathways. We are confident in CCRC’s expertise and look forward to their work confirming research showing a well-defined path to graduation can help increase completion rates. We believe our partnership with them will help more students graduate— and graduate faster.
USING
SUMMER CLASSES
to Help Students Graduate Faster
2
The longer a community college student remains in school, the less likely he or she will graduate. Earning the right number and type of credits as early as possible is an important driver of community college success. And one of the easiest ways to do that? Going to school over the summer. Going straight through fall, spring and summer sessions prevents a loss in momentum and can increase the likelihood that students will stay in school until they graduate. That’s why Great Lakes is partnering with MDRC, a social policy and education research center, to support a project called “Incentivizing Continual Enrollment” (ICE). It will help move students in Ohio community colleges toward graduation by encouraging them to enroll in summer classes. With this grant, we are seeking to help students earn credits over the summer AND boost the likelihood that they’ll return to school in the fall.
2
Within five years per Attewell, Heil, & Reisel (2011)
A large part of what MDRC will do is figuring out how to motivate students to take summer classes. Think of it like the way we carefully craft messages to borrowers—to help them make decisions that are in their best interests.
We’ll be working to test three ways of motivating students: Group A Let colleges do what they normally do to encourage students to enroll in summer classes Group B Increase messaging that explains the financial and academic benefits of attending school over the summer Group C Use the same “increased” messaging plus provide money for tuition
In the end, MDRC will determine if students who attend summer school do, in fact, graduate faster and in greater numbers.
ICE Grant
students at two-year colleges who take summer courses in their first year are more likely to graduate.
GOOD WORKS SUMMER 2016
You’re helping transform young lives, so keep up the
community.mygreatlakes.org ©2016 Great Lakes Higher Education Corporation & Affiliates. All rights reserved. (8/16)