Crossing the Finish Line:Completing College at America’s Public Universities

by William G. Bowen, Matthew M. Chingos, Michael S. McPherson

My goals today

• Present highlights from CFL

• Implications for leaders at system level

• Issues in promoting BA production(Not your only goal)

Table 1-1. Flagship Universities by Selectivity Cluster

SEL IUniversity of California–Berkeley

University of California–Los Angeles (UCLA)

University of Maryland–College Park

University of Michigan

University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill

University of Virginia

SEL IIPennsylvania State University

Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey

University of Florida

University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign

University of Texas–Austin

University of Washington

University of Wisconsin–Madison

SEL IIIIowa State University

Ohio State University

Purdue University

Stony Brook University

University of Iowa

University of Minnesota–Twin Cities

University of Nebraska–Lincoln

University of Oregon

TABLE 1-2. State System Universities by Selectivity Cluster or HBCU StatusMaryland North Carolina

SEL A SEL AUniversity of Maryland–Baltimore County North Carolina State UniversitySEL B University of North Carolina–AshevilleFrostburg State University SEL BSalisbury University Appalachian State UniversityTowson University East Carolina UniversityHBCU University of North Carolina–CharlotteBowie State University University of North Carolina–GreensboroCoppin State University University of North Carolina–PembrokeUniversity of Maryland–Eastern Shore University of North Carolina–Wilmington

Western Carolina University

Ohio HBCUElizabeth City State University

SEL A Fayetteville State UniversityMiami University North Carolina A&T UniversitySEL B North Carolina Central UniversityBowling Green State University Winston–Salem State UniversityCleveland State University

Kent State University VirginiaOhio UniversityShawnee State University SEL AUniversity of Akron College of William and MaryUniversity of Cincinnati James Madison UniversityUniversity of Toledo University of Mary WashingtonWright State University Virginia TechYoungstown State University SEL BHBCU Christopher Newport UniversityCentral State University George Mason University

Longwood UniversityOld Dominion UniversityRadford UniversityUniversity of Virginia’s College at WiseVirginia Commonwealth UniversityVirginia Military InstituteHBCUNorfolk State UniversityVirginia State University

Figure 1-1. Years of Schooling by Birth Cohorts, U.S. Native Born: 1876-1975

Figure 2-2. Bachelor’s Degree Attainment by Socioeconomic Status

Figure 3-10. Cumulative Withdrawal Proportions by SES, Flagships

Figure 5-7. Comparison of Overall Graduation Rates for Students Who Undermatched to a SEL B Institution and Students Who Did Not

Undermatch

Figure 5-5. Undermatch Rates by Family Income and Parental Education

Figure 7-2. BA Attainment Rates of White Students Who Started at 4-year vs. 2-year Institution

Figure 6-1. Predictive Power of SAT/ACT Scores and High School GPA on 6-year Graduation Rates, Standardized Regression Coefficients

Figure 6-5. Predictive Power of SAT/ACT Scores and High School GPA on 6-year Graduation Rates with High School Dummies Included,

Standardized Regression Coefficients

Figure 9-11a. 4-year Graduation Rate by Net Price among Full-time, Dependent, In-state Freshmen in the Bottom Income Quartile

Figure 9-14a. 4-year Graduation Rate by Net Price among Full-time, Dependent, In-state Freshmen in the Top Income Quartile

System-Level Challenges

• Do More with Less– Innovate While Sustaining Quality

• Balance System-Level Goals– Research and teaching– Bachelor’s/Associate’s/Certificates

Issues for BA CompletionFocus on limited goal of BA production

• Campus-level vs. System-level Completion Goals– Accounting for selectivity in measuring progress

• Community College Issues– Is this really a low-cost strategy for BA

production?– Can completion/transfer rates be improved?– Can community colleges produce BA’s of

equivalent quality to 4-year places?