Dive Brief:
- A new report from the Education Trust, an advocacy group, argues that the federal government should cut off financial aid and tax breaks to “college dropout factories” and “diploma mills” that persistently fail to meet performance standards.
- According to the report, 600,000 undergraduates attend four-year schools that fail to meet even minimal standards, with dropout rates of 85% or more. And 300 colleges in this category receive more than $15 billion annually through federal grant, work-study, and loan funding.
- The report suggests creating a minimum threshold, where four-year colleges with performance rates in the bottom 5% that fail to improve would have their federal funding cut. Performance would be measured by low-income student enrollment and graduation rates, as well as student-loan repayment rates.
Dive Insight:
The report, "Tough Love: Bottom-Line Quality Standards for Colleges," says that for first-time, full-time students attending a college in the bottom 5%, as measured by graduation rates, the chances of leaving without a degree are six times greater than leaving with one. And students who drop out with no degree are four times more likely to default on their student loans.
