article thumbnail

New research offers hope to first-generation college grads

The Hechinger Report

Nearly 36 percent of undergraduates who began college in 2003-04 were students whose parents had never attended college at all. It’s unclear from the current data if the dropout rates for first-generation students are improving or worsening. That figure reflects dropout rates, too.

Dropout 92
article thumbnail

OPINION: Why Black student parents are at the epicenter of the student debt crisis — and what we can do about it

The Hechinger Report

When I graduated with a bachelor’s degree from William & Mary in 2003, I desperately needed a job. But just 3,300 of the more than 4 million student parents received assistance through the program in the 2016-17 school year. In addition, I had $30,000 in student debt. In recent years, as U.S. student loan debt climbed to $1.6

Policies 131
Insiders

Sign Up for our Newsletter

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

article thumbnail

Colleges are using big data to track students in an effort to boost graduation rates, but it comes at a cost

The Hechinger Report

In 2016, after years of declines, national college graduation rates started ticking back up again and have continued rising for the past three years. The dropout problem got a lot worse in the 1990s when more people started attending college. million students dropped out of college with debt in 2015 and 2016.

Data 107
article thumbnail

Minnesota has a persistent higher-ed gap: Are new efforts making a difference?

The Hechinger Report

Though some programs have helped lower dropout rates and improved graduation rates for students of color, the gap in the percentage of students finishing a degree has barely budged across the 30 community colleges in the Minnesota State Colleges and University system. Paul College that shows students’ countries of origin.

Dropout 72
article thumbnail

School counselors keep kids on track. Why are they first to be cut?

The Hechinger Report

Aimed at curbing dropouts, improving graduation rates and sending more kids to college and other postsecondary programs, the corps is designed to offset a growing achievement gap in this relatively affluent but increasingly diverse state. “When there’s a budget cut, counselors are the first to go.”. Higher Education. Mississippi Learning.

Dropout 111
article thumbnail

Segregated schools are still the norm. Howard Fuller is fine with that

The Hechinger Report

In 2016 not a single child at “North,” as locals call it, tested proficient in math according to the state’s education department. It’s the first week of school at Milwaukee Collegiate Academy, a charter high school Fuller founded in 2003 that’s housed in a low-slung concrete warehouse just a five-minute drive from the North Division campus.

Report 97