Dive Brief:
- Research by The Education Trust found a bump in overall graduation rates at four-year public and private nonprofit colleges, but among the improvers, the gaps between white and underrepresented students remain large.
- Diverse reports that “Rising Tide: Do College Grad Rates Benefit All Students?” reveals the higher overall rate obscures differences across schools, where a third of private nonprofits backslid, as did one in five public colleges.
- Among the 255 schools that improved their graduation rates, more than 20% didn’t make any progress with underrepresented students at all, and more than half that did still didn't close existing gaps.
Dive Insight:
The Education Trust report reveals the extent to which institutional initiatives matter. Researchers examined the outcomes at schools serving similar types of students, finding persistent disparities. San Diego State University is one outlier, decreasing the gap in graduation rates from 15% in 2003 to 7% in 2013. According to Diverse, their success can be attributed to partnerships with local high school districts to identify and support promising students from underrepresented groups, training within those districts, and on-campus advising that pushes full courseloads. To close existing gaps, colleges must do more work to support the groups that have traditionally lagged behind.