All out for retention

Could it really be as simple as this?  From The Hechinger Report.

In Montana, small changes spur nation’s biggest jump in college graduates

Inside the student union at Montana State University, freshmen and sophomores dig into pizza and espresso brownies and listen to motivational speeches while the marching band belts out the fight song (“We’ve got the vim, we’re here to win!”). 

It’s just what it looks and sounds like: a pep rally. But not the conventional kind. 

The students in this room are on academic probation, have poor grades or are struggling to adjust to college. All are at risk of dropping out. They’re being exhorted to keep trying, lured here by dinner, entertainment, prizes, even $50 apiece in cash, for coaching in time management, study skills and test-taking. 

Thanks to this event, along with a relentless barrage of free tutoring, “success advising” and other support, an estimated three-quarters of these potential dropouts will buck the odds and stay in school, up from barely half who once did.

Race to the top

Tennessee's percentage of young adults with a college degree stays in the bottom ten, and dropping. From The Tennessean.


TN slips to 41st in young college grads

The percentage of young adults earning a college degree has increased slightly but still remains far below the level needed to reach the president’s goal of having the U.S. rank first worldwide in college graduates.

Tennessee’s percentage of degree holders stayed at about 33 percent from 2009 to 2010, but the state slipped a spot from 40th to 41st because other states added more. 

Data released Thursday by the Education Department tracked adults ages 25 to 34 who held an associate, bachelor’s or graduate degree in 2010 — 39.3 percent of Americans, up half a percentage point from 2009. 

Rising tuition is one of several reasons more young adults aren’t graduating from college.