Review of Literature
College education plays a crucial role in employing individuals for careers considering that it is an avenue for instilling requisite skills. While college education is so vital, it is not automatic that all the individuals who enroll in colleges will graduate. There are various reasons why students do not complete college, most of which have to do with existing policies and widening inequalities. Numerous research studies determine why college completion rates are on the decline despite an increase in high education funding. A review of existing literature aims at establishing why the US continues to grapple with low college completion rates and ways to avert this worrying trend.
The federal and state governments play a pivotal role in higher education as they formulate economic and educational policies for improving access and quality of education. However, the policies do not seem to yield positive results as the number of people graduating from college remains low. Rubin & Hearn (2018) establish that the reason for the decline is the fact that postsecondary education is decentralized. In this case, then there are no uniform policies since each state acts on its discretion, which makes postsecondary education appear less critical, and in turn, a drop in completion rates. Decentralizing postsecondary education paves the way for different financial policies as each state finds ways for funding students for a college education. Ragland (2016) notes that while state fiscal policies are directed towards improving college enrollment, they do not encourage completion. These policies seem to be negatively skewed since they appear to be tools for reinforcing existing economic disparities since it is the affluent students who get financial aid. The situation is worse for undocumented immigrants who, despite needing college education to thrive, cannot adequately access it owing to strict immigration policies. According to Terriquez (2014), students who get a chance to get into college end up dropping out since they become overwhelmed as they have to work to support their families. Most of the time, these students have to grapple with strict legal requirements associated with immigration.
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Economic and gender disparities are significant contributors to declining college completion rates since they point to skewed in the allocation of resources. Students from underrepresented and low- income families tend to spend more time in college as they tend to forfeit semesters and even drop out altogether. Scire (2019) asserts that up to 40 percent of full-time and first-time students drop out of college since they struggle with the financial aspect and demand for a college education. Economic disparities take on a geographical perspective in that rural students tend to drop out of college as compared to their urban counterparts. Marre (2014) establishes that rural areas appear to be overly neglected since the federal and state governments channel development projects to urban areas. Rural students who are lucky to enroll in college risk dropping out owing to financial challenges since most states offer grants based on qualification as opposed to merit. A failure to complete college worsens the existing economic disparities since college dropouts have limited chances of getting meaningful and gainful employment. Long (2018) advances the idea that college completion is the best way of gauging students’ success, and in this case, a failure to graduate impedes individuals’ social mobility. Individuals who fail to complete college limit not only their chances for economic empowerment but also burdens taxpayers’ who pay up to $130 billion per year to support higher education. Looking at the figures, one can conclude that economic disparities threaten to lead to a further decline in the college completion rate if unchecked.
College completion rates are on a decline with trends establishing the need for timely intervention measures to deal with factors contributing to the scenario. While federal and state governments have put policies in place to encourage enrolment, completion is still an issue. Shapiro et al. (2017) tracked a cohort for six years from 2011 to understand the factors that lead to a low completion rate. The study findings indicate that at the end of six years, only 56.9 % of the cohort graduated with Blacks and Hispanics displaying lower completion rates as compared to whites. The statistics indicate that minority racial groups still demonstrate a negative trend in college completion. Kantrowitz (2012) decries policies that seem to discriminate against low-income students and, in turn, lead to high enrolment rates but low completion rates. Most of these policies require colleges to increase the number of graduates, which forces them to select only the students with high GPAs. The requirement translates to awarding of scholarships on merit-based as opposed to needs-based, something that disenfranchises low-income students. These students may not complete college since they do not have adequate finances and are most often than not forced to drop out of college. Roble (2017) affirms that financial inequalities continue to be a major factor contributing to declining college completion rates. First-generation students whose parents did not receive a college education, which helps in enhancing social mobility, are likely to drop out owing to lack of finances. A lack of college education predicates a similar trend in the subsequent generations creating a vicious cycle of declining college completion rates.
A college education is quite demanding, especially when it comes to financial obligations related to academics, research, accommodation, and miscellaneous expense. The increased cost of education is a significant factor contributing to declining completion rates. Goldrick-Rab & Kendall (2016) decries federal and state policies that appear to be overstated and which do reduce the cost for college education in any way. Students who cannot afford the expenses are either forced to drop out since they cannot balance learning and working to sustain their studies and other needs. It is important to note that the quality of college correlates with costs with lower quality colleges charging less without guaranteeing the quality of education. Cohodes & Goodman (2012) focuses attention on the Massachusetts merit aid program that waives tuition for high performing high school students. The students are placed in lower-quality colleges despite performing well as such placement seems to demotivate them, considering that most of them drop out. The quality of education appears to be a significant factor that correlates with completion levels. Bound et al. (2010) affirm that lower-quality colleges tend to have limited institutional resources, which seem to limit the support the student gets. It is important to note that new students are not adequately prepared for college, the lack of support is likely to demotivate them, and some opt to drop out in the early years.
The US higher education landscape has changed significantly over the years owing to educational policies that have created a different perspective on declining college completion. There seems to be a new trend of college enrolment and completion rates with minority races overtaking the predominant race though the completion curve is on the decline. Fry & Taylor (2013) establishes that the college enrolment rate for Hispanics is on the rise as they have surpassed the whites. However, Hispanics are more likely to enroll in two-years or selective colleges, and only 11% of those that enroll in full-time and four-year colleges graduate. Santiago & Galdeano (2015) echo these sentiments by establishing that Latinos, just like Hispanics, are benefiting from education policies that target to improve the educational outcomes of minority races. Nonetheless, a lack of race-conscious efforts leads to limited access to college education, which translates to lower completion rates. The lack of completion is creating a new reality for American students who are forced to retreat to their parents for support. Houle & Warner (2017) affirm that students who attend two-year or for-profit colleges realize that they have slimmer opportunities in the labor market and are forced to drop out. The students soon understand that they have no skills and that they are required to pay back student loans. These burdens pave the way for a continued cycle of non-completion as the students cannot possibly afford to educate their children in the future.
A college education may be the most reliable measure for ascertaining that individuals have the requisite technical skills for professional positions. While college education is so important, the US is yet to report graduation of entire cohorts that join its colleges. Instead, the nation continues to grapple with declining college completion rates, something that is threatening the availability of labor force. The reason for the sharp decline is weak and ineffective educational policies that thrive on racial and economic differences. Students from poor backgrounds and minority racial groups do not get the support they get, and they end up joining inferior quality colleges, which demotivate them. Students who manage to join high-quality colleges have to deal with high costs, which are out of reach for many. As a result, most of the students are forced to drop out sine the decentralized postsecondary educational policies are skewed against the minorities. Existing literature indicates that more needs to be done to ensure that students who are in a greater need for college education receive requisite support to bridge the college completion rate gap.
References
Bound, J., Lovenheim, M. F., & Turner, S. (2010). Why have college completion rates declined? An analysis of changing student preparation and collegiate resources. American Economic Journal of Applied Economics, 2(3), 129–157. https://doi.org/10.1257/app.2.3.129
Cohodes, S., & Goodman, J. (2012). First degree earns: The impact of college quality on college completion rates. John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University. https://dash.harvard.edu/handle/1/9396433
Fry, R., & Taylor, P. (2013). Hispanic high school graduates pass whites in the rate of college enrollment. Pew Research Center. http://assets.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/7/2013/05/PHC_college_enrollment_2013-05.pdf
Goldrick-Rab, S., & Kendall, N. (2016). The real price of college- College completion series: Part two. The Century Foundation . https://tcf.org/content/report/the-real-price-of-college/
Kantrowitz, M. (2012). The college completion agenda may sacrifice college access for low-income, minority, and other at-risk students. FinAid Page LLC. https://www.finaid.org/educators/20120910completionagenda.pdf
Houle, J., & Warner, C. (2017). Into the red and back to the nest? Student debt, college completion, and returning to the parental home among young adults. Sociology of Education, 90(1), 89-108. DOI: 10.1177/0038040716685873
Long, B. T. (2018). The college completion landscape trends, challenges, and why it matters. American Enterprise Institute and Third Way Institute. https://vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/bitstream/handle/10919/95151/TheCollegeCompletionLandscape.ppd?sequence=1&isAllowed=y
Marre, A. (2014). Rural areas lag urban areas in college completion. Amber Wave s, 11, 1-11. DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.210014
Ragland, S, E. (2016). The effect of state financial aid policies on college completion . [Doctoral thesis]. Walden University, Minneapolis, MN, United States.
Roble, J. (2017). Falling further behind: Inequality in college completion. Institute for Research on Poverty, University of Wisconsin. https://www.irp.wisc.edu/publications/factsheets/pdfs/FactSheet13-InequalityCollegeCompletion.pdf
Rubin, P. G., & Hearn, J. C. (2018). The policy filtering process: Understanding distinctive state responses to the national college completion agenda in the United States. Education Policy Analysis Archives , 26(60). http://dx.doi.org/10.14507/epaa.26.3447
Santiago, D. A., & Galdeano, E. C. (2015). Helping or hindering? State policies and Latino college completion. Excelencia in Education . https://vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/bitstream/handle/10919/83088/StatePoliciesLatinoCollegeCompletiSt.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y
Scire, D. (2019). The effect of state financial aid policies on college completion. Campus Compact. https://www.compactnh.org/wp-content/uploads/large/sites/62/2019/03/CCNH-Research-Brief-2_27_19.pdf
Shapiro, D., Dundar, A., Huie, F., Wakhungu, P.K., Yuan, X., Nathan, A. & Bhimdiwali, A. (2017). Completing college: A national view of student completion rates – fall 2011 cohort (Signature Report No. 14). National Student Clearinghouse Research Center . https://nscresearchcenter.org/wp-content/uploads/SignatureReport14_Final.pdf
Terriquez, V. (2014). Dreams delayed: Barriers to degree completion among undocumented community college students. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies , 41(8), 1302–1323. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369183X.2014.968534
