More college grads needed, but cost keeps climbing
By Roy Ockert Jr.
Aug. 5, 2014
Arkansas has had a slight setback in its attempt to produce more citizens with 4-year college degrees, a goal established by Gov. Mike Beebe in 2011, when he called for doubling the number of degree holders by 2025.
The state Department of Higher Education reported recently that the 6-year graduation rate for first-time students enrolled in state-supported universities dropped back below the 40 percent level — from a high point of 40.8 percent in 2012 to 39.5 percent in 2013. The rate had been climbing steadily from 37 percent six years ago.
These numbers mean that of the first-time students who entered our universities in 2007, only two in five graduated by the end of 2013. That’s woefully short of the national average of 57 percent.
Worse, only one Arkansas institution of higher learning beat the national average. The University of Arkansas’ flagship campus at Fayetteville graduated 59.8 percent; otherwise the state average would have been much worse. That was a slight drop from its 60 percent mark reached the previous year, but to put things in perspective, UAF’s 6-year graduation rate in 2000 was 45 percent.
The UA has set graduation rate goals of 66 percent for 2015 and 70 percent for 2021. That’s part of its Quality Initiative Proposal, which includes the establishment of an Office of Retention and Graduation, charged with leading a campuswide dialog to foster retention and graduation of students.
Retention of students is critical for any college or university to produce a high graduation rate, and the first year is the biggest obstacle. Too many students enter college unprepared in one or more ways. About 30 percent of Arkansas students entering 4-year state universities require remedial courses just to “catch up” academically in the critical skills of English, math and-or reading.
UAF already keeps about 83 percent of its entering freshmen until at least their second year, partly because fewer than one in 10 of its beginning students need remediation. Overall, Arkansas’ universities retain about 70 percent of their first-year students into their second year, according to ADHE.
The state’s nine other public universities have much further to go to get their graduation rates up to the national average, an important step if Arkansas is to overcome its pitiful 19.8 percentage of the population with bachelor’s degrees, second lowest in the nation.
Only three schools — University of Central Arkansas, UA-Monticello and UA-Little Rock — improved their 6-year graduation rates in 2013. Only four — UAF, UCA with 42 percent and Arkansas Tech with 40.1 and Arkansas State University with 36.3 — were even above 30 percent.
UALR’s chancellor, Joel Anderson, has a legitimate beef with the 6-year graduation rate standard. Many of UALR’s students are “nontraditional” — that is, they started college when they were younger and didn’t finish within six years but came back later to get their degrees. Those students don’t count, hence UALR’s state-low rate of 21.6 percent.
The state department already produces tons of studies on the retention of students, as presented to its board of directors in April, but missing from the data is any definitive answer as to why so many students fail to finish college.
Cost surely must be an important factor.
Student debt has become a national crisis. Defaults on student loans are nearing the 15 percent mark nationally, and the U.S. Treasury, which finances more than 90 percent of new student loans, is looking at ways to make repayment more affordable. Higher education debt has reached $1.2 trillion, and the burden of this debt has long-term consequences for students and their families.
Like most states, Arkansas has reduced its share of state revenue for higher education. According to the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems, Arkansas contributed $5,810 in state aid per student to its colleges and universities in 2011, about $500 less than the national average.
That means colleges and universities are shifting more of the burden for financing their operations to students. As a result of higher tuition and fees, those students entering college in 2007 were borrowing more money — an average of $4,907 for Arkansas undergraduates. While Arkansas ranks near the bottom of almost every financial comparison we can make, starting with per capita income, here we are near the top. Only seven states have a higher average.
Don’t tell me that isn’t causing a lot of students to drop out.
Our national leaders are proposing various solutions to student debt, but they are focusing on making it easier to repay loans, not on reducing the need to borrow so much money to get through college. Thanks to 2005 federal legislation, private student loans are one of the few forms of debt that can’t even be discharged in bankruptcy.
Arkansas’ rate of high school students going to college is climbing — up to 54.3 percent last fall, and we want them to succeed by obtaining a bachelor’s degree. We shouldn’t saddle them with a lifetime of debt. We need to make college more affordable for them, and that will take more than a lottery.
Roy Ockert is editor emeritus of The Jonesboro Sun. He may be reached by e-mail at royo@suddenlink.net.