The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will spend $100 million over five years to fund a group of nonprofit organizations working to help colleges "transform themselves" in the face of falling enrollment, increasing demands for educated workers and declining public confidence in higher education, it said Sept. 15.

That means overhauling colleges' business models, structures and cultures to boost student outcomes, which can be measured by metrics like graduation rates and successful transfers from community colleges to four-year institutions. The foundation also wants the effort to help institutions address stubborn equity gaps so race, ethnicity, family income and other demographics don't predict whether a student is likely to graduate from college.

The Gates Foundation is calling the six organizations receiving funding intermediaries. The effort is part of an evolving strategy for one of higher education's most recognized philanthropic funders.

Philanthropy hasn't always had all the pieces in place needed to to drive lasting change in higher education. Community is important for college leaders, because institutions don't operate in a vacuum.

Leaders talk to each other about what works and what doesn't, said Patrick Methvin, director of postsecondary success at the Gates Foundation. College presidents want to know who they can speak to openly about challenges.

In other words, access to communities or groups that can connect organizations with different areas of expertise is considered critical.

The number of organizations focused on equitable student success has also grown over the last decade or so, Methvin said. Today, there are more groups that know how to support institutions and that can point to a successful track record.

"We believe we've learned along the way from our grant-making," Methvin said during a conference call with reporters to discuss the new initiative. "I think we are going to learn as much from these intermediaries as they do from each other during the process."

The six organizations set to receive the funding are: 

• American Association of State Colleges and Universities, an association of almost 400 public colleges and systems.
• American Indian Higher Education Consortium, which represents 37 tribal colleges and universities.
• Complete College America, a national advocacy group spanning 48 states and higher ed systems.
• Excelencia in Education, a nonprofit focused on Latino success in postsecondary education.
• Growing Inland Achievement, a K-16 education collaborative in California's Inland Empire region.
• United Negro College Fund, a membership organization for historically Black colleges and universities.

The foundation has worked for several years under an effort it calls Intermediaries for Scale, spending $12.3 million to prepare organizations for college transformation work. Each intermediary organization receiving part of the new money will choose which colleges it will work with.

The American Association of State Colleges and Universities, for example, named 19 institutions participating in a program it calls the Student Success Equity Intensive. The colleges serve a total of 228,843 full-time equivalent students, and average 42% eligibility for federal Pell Grants, which are considered a proxy for students' low-income status.

"The level of support is significant and means that AASCU member institutions will continue to lead the nation on postsecondary student success for America’s new majority at state colleges and universities," AASCU President Mildred García said in a statement.

Together, intermediary organizations have the potential to reach a large number of students. Their umbrella covers 18% of all institutions and 48% of all undergraduates,  Chrystie Hill, postsecondary success deputy director at the foundation, said during Thursday's call.. 

"Most importantly, that represents 60% of Black students, 64% of Latino students, and 41% of Indigenous students in the entire system," Hill said.

The foundation chose the intermediaries based on several factors, evaluating how well they understand root causes driving the need for institutional transformation — such as financial sustainability or student success gaps. Other factors included the likelihood an intermediary's approach could drive large-scale changes, the likelihood changes will last and whether the organization is equity focused.

Philanthropy has for years targeted funding efforts to boost college students’ success. But the new effort makes equitable outcomes an explicit priority, Methvin said.

"We got 10 years of increased graduation rates," Methvin said. "That's good. Just under 1 percentage point per year. But we did not see those were equitable across the board."

The new money also fits into a larger effort by some funders to send money to a broader range of institutions than has traditionally received large donations. Methvin pointed to author and major Amazon shareholder MacKenzie Scott's donations — hundreds of millions of dollars over the last several years, many of which went to HBCUs, institutions without big endowments and colleges that serve a large number of low-income students.

Among its numerous other effects, the COVID-19 pandemic underscored the prevalence of accessibility issues within higher education. Because of safety concerns, students attended class virtually, with captioning, recording and text-to-voice options offered proactively at many institutions.

The services did not resolve every accessibility challenge. But the pivot to remote instruction resulted in colleges shifting their approaches to accommodations.

Providing support services became the default for a time, whereas prior to the pandemic, colleges often relied on students to request accommodations instead of taking institutional initiative to identify and remove barriers to their success.

At Beacon College, a 460-student private nonprofit institution in Leesburg, Florida, two- and four-year degree programs are specifically designed for students diagnosed with dyslexia, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and other learning disabilities. College leaders say neurodivergent students' success is their main focus, rather than a secondary priority or afterthought.

Oksana Hagerty, dean of the Center for Student Success at Beacon, shared how her college works to educate students who often get left behind academically, how Beacon navigated the pandemic, and what other colleges might learn from it.

This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.

HIGHER ED DIVE: Why is it important for neurodivergent students to have a higher education experience built with them in mind?

OKSANA HAGERTY: Learning and attention issues don't go away once you graduate from high school. It can seem like that because you transition from an educational setting to a professional setting, but those challenges are still there.

This year, we have a record number of transfer students. Very often, they're told to just go to community college and see if it works. That's probably not very good advice. And don't get me wrong, there's nothing bad to say about community college. But if you go to a college because of the cost or proximity to your home, chances are you will be re-traumatized because you won't be given services.

Students end up wasting time and destroying their GPA, while still needing to go to a school in which services are provided if they want to graduate.

How did the pandemic affect teaching at Beacon? When did students return to the classroom?

We came back to the classroom in the fall of 2020. We just knew that remote won't work for our students. About 40 students engaged remotely because they had conditions that made it too dangerous for them to risk being on campus. And unfortunately, their outcomes were much lower than those students who were learning with masks.

Even those students who were in the classrooms were affected. That was our most difficult semester by far. Any disruption for students with learning and attention issues is difficult because they very much rely on routines. 

We just knew that we have to come back and be in the classroom to provide one-on-one instruction in the physical space. There's something about being connected for the students. We are very happy that we didn't move to remote.

What advice do you have for faculty at larger institutions? What actionable steps can they take to help neurodivergent students in their classrooms?

There are quite a few simple ways to make your classroom more accessible. One of them is to provide lecture notes. Another is breaking big assignments into smaller chunks. Instead of just assigning a 20-page paper, we always break it down. Write the introduction, prepare the research, parts like that really help students build the paper. It's still that 20-page assignment, we just chunk it down and grade each piece separately.

How does this help students?

It allows students to see their progress and adjust course as necessary. It also gives them more opportunities to demonstrate their knowledge.

In other schools, there are maybe five grades and the final. Well, suppose you're not strong in presentations and some 20% of your grade is presenting. So you're just doomed? It's not because you don't know the material, but because your knowledge is evaluated based on a modality that you're not good at. 

It's very important for students to receive feedback. To that end, our faculty also grades very quickly. If grades are delivered weeks or months later, students don't learn from those. It's very important to grade papers as soon as possible because students can still use your feedback to adjust their behavior.

More grades and grades given immediately are incredibly important, and they're not really difficult to achieve. It takes some desire and consistency, because you have to do it all the time. But it's not a major disruption of the instruction in the classroom.

Does a lack of feedback wear down a student's ability to learn?

Absolutely. I always tell my learning specialists to think about a GPS. Imagine your GPS, instead of giving you directions, was only telling you that you're not quite there yet. That's what grades feel like if they're given the month later. 

We want to be a GPS for students. If they make a mistake, we want to recalculate the route and give them a different direction immediately. 

How does Beacon reach out to prospective students?

Since we're a fairly unique institution, some traditional methods do not work for us. We communicate with schools individually a lot and participate in conferences. It's especially important with parents, who want to hear the real deal. They want to hear about our services in detail because they've had so many disappointments.

It's really all about the best match. It's very important for us to really explain what and how we do, so that students who attend know what to expect. There's not a one-on-one aide who will negotiate their academic progress with the professor. We do not modify the curriculum because we have to achieve some standards of personal independence and responsibility. 

Our job is to create meaningful and sustainable academic progress. It has to be real. They have to be able to transfer the skills they learn at Beacon into their workplace.

Do you see a difference in the classroom between students who received a diagnosis early in life and those who got one later on?

Yes, and mostly because of the access to services. Learning and inattention issues are supposed to be diagnosed during preschool or the elementary school years. Somebody who is diagnosed at the age of 18, they received no services or assistance in school. Everything was one big struggle and the student is discouraged. The student doesn't have the skill that they need to compensate for the challenges that they have.

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By D2L

It has long been known that successful learning requires more than listening. When active learning occurs, instructors tend to see student engagement soar, exam scores are better, and learners’ critical thinking and problem-solving skills improve — even for the most complex subject matter. In one study of 225 STEM classrooms, researchers found that, on average, examination scores for students exposed to active learning were approximately 6% higher than for those taught via traditional lectures. It was also observed that failure rates in the same student population were about 1.5 times lower.¹ Beyond the empirical performance measures, active learning also has a positive psychological impact. Both students and instructors are more engaged and enthusiastic.

And yet, despite this long-held understanding of the benefits of active learning, traditional postsecondary classroom size and structure is still oriented toward lecture-based instruction and passive learning.²

To address this shortfall, in 2017, EDUCAUSE research identified the Active Learning Classroom (ALC) as the top strategic technology. Together with makerspaces, ALC designs increasingly promote coursework that helps learners discover, invent, solve problems and create knowledge.

With regard to modern classroom design, active learning classrooms typically have the following characteristics:

• They typically feature round or curved tables with moveable seating, allowing students to face each other and thus support small-group work.

• Tables are often paired with their own whiteboards for brainstorming and diagramming.

• Many tables are linked to large LCD displays so students can project their computer screens to the group, and the instructor can choose a table’s work to share with the entire class.

• Wireless internet plays an important role in retrieving resources and linking to content management systems.

• Depending upon the size of the room, table microphones can be critical, so that every student’s voice can be broadcast across the room.³

Active learning strategies can be employed within the classroom to inspire engagement, debate and discussion. If you are looking to embrace active learning in your postsecondary institution, here are four particular strategies recommended by experts in higher education:

1. Establish commitment – instead of imposing strict rules and structure on students’ learning, offer students a chance to think critically about their learning and encourage them to devise their own solutions to challenges that they may face along the way.

2. Disrupt reality – Replace actual reality with an imagined one, presenting students with alternative or futuristic events and happenings.

3. Introduce imagined solutions – Ask students to use their own experiences and knowledge to explore course concepts.

4. Incorporate arts-based pedagogy – Integrate visual and theater-based activity to encourage students to think more creatively, abstractly and cooperatively when tackling complex subject matter.²

---

¹ Active Learning and Flipped Classrooms in Introductory Mathematics

² Transcending Convention and Space: Strategies for Fostering Active Learning in Large Post-Secondary Classes

³ Active Learning Classrooms: The Top Strategic Technology for 2017

Dive Brief:

• Barely over half of a group of first-time, full-time students — 51% — earned 24 or more credits in their first year of college, meaning most aren't on track to graduate in four or even five years, according to research released Aug. 2 by the National Student Clearinghouse.
• The average full-time student took classes worth under 27 credit hours and earned fewer than 22. Just 28% of students earned 30 hours of credit or more in their first year, which is the annual pace typically required to graduate on time from four-year bachelor's programs.
• Students earned nine of every 12 credits they took, on average. But rates varied widely based on factors like institution type, degree sought, college readiness, enrollment intensity, and race and ethnicity.

Dive Insight:

Concern that many full-time college students aren't completing enough credits to graduate within four years isn't new — it underpins efforts like the national "15 to Finish" campaign that encourages students to take 15 credits per semester to receive their degrees on time. It's also one reason data sources often report six-year or even eight-year graduation rates rather than the four-year rate long considered a benchmark for a bachelor's degree.

But the National Student Clearinghouse says its data offers new insight into how students are taking and earning credits — and which ones are more successful at doing so. That could suggest ways for college leaders to jump in and support students who need assistance early, before they risk stopping out of classes, taking on extra debt or running out of financial aid.

"Otherwise, students will continue to fall behind academically and financially by not completing college as soon as possible," said Afet Dundar, director of equity in research and analytics at the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, in a statement. Dundar is also co-author of a report on the data.

The new data released Tuesday comes from the Postsecondary Data Partnership, which the National Student Clearinghouse set up in 2017 to give colleges richer information, such as details on student demographics, their performance in high school, financial aid and course records. Colleges choose to take part in the Postsecondary Data Partnership, so the new data shouldn't be taken as nationally representative.

This particular dataset covers more than 905,000 unique students at 342 different postsecondary institutions. They were first-time students who started college from fall 2019 to summer 2020 and sought undergraduate certificates, associate degrees or bachelor's degrees.

The report on the data outlines one metric, the credit completion ratio. It shows the percentage of credits students earn out of those they attempt. It averaged 76% for the cohort studied. 

First-time transfer students posted a higher average, 79.3%, than did all first-time college students, 74.2%.

Among first-time, first-year students, the rate was highest for students who are not U.S. citizens or U.S. nationals, at 84.1%, followed by Asian students at 83.5% and White students at 79.8%. Hispanic students posted a rate of 73.6%, Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander students were at 72.8%, American Indian and Alaska Native students came in at 67.8%, and Black and African American students were at 66.8%.

Women completed more of the credits they attempted than men, 78% versus 73.4%.

In January, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced that, effective immediately, the State University of New York system was no longer withholding transcripts from students who owed outstanding balances. The move benefited thousands of students.

Transcript holds prevent students from receiving official copies of their academic records. If students can't afford to pay their debts, their credits become stranded and they are left with no way to formally document their previous learning for employers or other colleges where they might want to enroll. 

New York is part of a wave of states and institutions enacting policies to help students regain access to stranded credits, according to a new report from Ithaka S+R, a nonprofit research firm focused on higher education.

An estimated 6.6 million students in the U.S. have stranded credits, according to 2020 Ithaka S+R research. While the federal government's guidance no longer promotes transcript withholding, the U.S. Department of Education has not released an updated directive on the subject, leaving the issue to states and institutions.

State efforts to limit transcript holds

Eight states have passed laws prohibiting or limiting the use of transcript holds: California, Colorado, Illinois, Maine, Minnesota, New York, Ohio and Washington. In one of the strictest bans, California prevents public and private colleges from withholding transcripts for students with unpaid balances.

But a ban does not address both parts of the issue — the transcript and the unpaid balance — according to Sarah Pingel, senior researcher at Ithaka S+R and author of the report. 

Under laws banning transcript holds, colleges can still block students with unpaid balances from registering for classes. They can also send unresolved accounts to collections, leaving students without the ability to negotiate or create a repayment plan with colleges.

"A transcript withholding ban would let a student access their transcript, but we don't know what other practices institutions or systems could still pursue to still collect on that unpaid balance," she said. "Addressing both is key."

Some states use debt referral to get unpaid balances off of colleges' books. Four states — Louisiana, New York, Ohio and Virginia — allow or require public colleges to transfer past-due balances to state debt collection agencies. 

However, the process may exacerbate the issue more than help, according to the report. Students with past-due debts are more likely to be low-income and can be hurt by state agencies' abilities to intercept tax refunds or garnish benefits like unemployment insurance.

Maryland, Minnesota, Virginia and Washington have issued legislative mandates to study the issue and release their findings publicly.

Institutions can rescue stranded credits

College-level policies can address stranded credits and help retain students at risk of stopping out. Individual institutions have added more flexibility in billing, including by reviewing a student’s balance along with their financial aid to ensure they received all the help for which they are eligible.

Institutions should increase communication and flexibility between campus units, such as the financial aid department and the enrollment office, according to the report. It also recommends colleges cooperate with nearby institutions to share transcripts and settle past-due debts.

Multiple tactics for rescuing stranded credits can be used at once. For example, Ithaka S+R facilitated a recent partnership between eight public colleges in northeastern Ohio. The colleges agreed to resolve students' outstanding institutional debts and create personalized plans to get them back in the classroom, often by helping them transfer to different colleges within the consortium. 

"We've heard from a lot of places interested in starting up their own kind of version of the Ohio compact," Pingel said. "We're learning and focusing on how we scale this kind of agreement for institutions and systems with different needs."

The arrangement is based on the belief that forgoing short-term revenue from student balances can make sense if it means colleges could collect tuition revenue from learners in the future, according to Pingel.

"To my view, it would be shortsighted to focus on a $100 debt now and then not collect any future tuition revenue from that student because you removed the possibility of them finishing their credential," she said.

Approximately 39 million people in the U.S. have some college experience but no credential, according to a recent report from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center. That means they likely have some of the debt that comes with attending college, but few of the benefits. 

As institutions search for ways to improve enrollment, targeting adults with some college experience might be one way to increase headcounts while helping people achieve personal and professional goals. But in the 2020-2021 academic year, just 2.4% of stopped-out students reenrolled.

Experts say that bringing students back to college after an absence doesn’t have to be a mystery. Here are some of their tips and recommendations.

Think creatively about flexibility

At Morgan State University, a public historically Black university in Maryland, flexibility is about more than just when classes are held.

Of course, scheduling is still critically important, with adult learners having more availability in the evenings and other off times. But flexibility at Morgan State also means the creation of degree options that maximize the number of previously earned credits that can transfer and count towards a credential.

“We worked to create a really flexible degree structure that’s interdisciplinary in nature, that values our students learning in their professional life as well, and helps students come back and use all the credits they’ve previously taken as efficiently as possible to get a degree,” said Nicholas Vaught, interim assistant dean for academics and student success at Morgan State’s continuing studies college, which the university created last year as part of a degree-attainment push.

Students often have to essentially start earning credits all over again when they change majors, such as if they go from nursing to sociology, Vaught said. But interdisciplinary degrees are broader and allow students to build on previously earned credits more efficiently.

Try a neutral navigator

Sallie Glickman is cofounder, president and CEO of the Graduate! Network, a nonprofit organization that works to improve college completion among adults who stopped out of higher ed.

Colleges have important roles to play in that effort, she said, but it’s crucial to recognize the difficult context in which they are working. Public disinvestment in higher education makes it more challenging for institutions to complete difficult work, even if it is of a tremendous societal benefit. Increasing funding for education is critical to hitting reenrollment goals, she said.

About 15% of the adult population has some college credit and no degree, according to the Census Bureau. If they all completed, it would mean additional wealth for communities, Glickman said.

“And that’s more wealth in primarily communities of color and communities that have been historically left behind,” she said. “There’s a big opportunity and it doesn’t all rest with individual institutions.”

To ensure students are going to institutions that are right for them, it can be helpful for colleges and universities to partner with each other. They should work together on advising and navigation for students thinking about going back to school who haven’t enrolled yet, according to Glickman.

Those efforts should be institution-neutral, she said. For example, ProjectAttain! in Sacramento, California, seeks to be a place to start for adults who want to finish their education. The organization says it works with colleges, businesses and other organizations to make transitions to education easy for students.

“The colleges got together to provide a model that was really human-centered,” she said. “Someone who works with a Graduate-trained navigator is four times more likely to return and is 40% more likely to complete.”

Neutral navigation before students matriculate can help them deal with the practical and emotional barriers to reentering college.

“One of the things that happens particularly with low-income adults who have been economically disadvantaged is they often aren’t given a whole lot of choices or options,” Glickman said. “Agency and locus of control is very empowering and helps the individual enter the institution ready to be there, while the institution does all of the things it should do to be student-ready.”

Make it affordable

Cost is always going to be a factor when students are thinking about college, but the specter of debt can be even more influential to adult learners, who have typically been in the workforce for some time.

The Graduate! Network encourages colleges to give out grants, scholarships and emergency funding to adult students. Efforts to cover books, transportation and other nontuition costs can be critical in helping students continue after reenrolling.

At Morgan State, Vaught said starting with low tuition for both in-state and out-of-state students makes price more intelligible to students. Undergraduate tuition is $250 per credit hour, regardless of where a student lives. The university also awards grants and scholarships specifically to reenrollees.

Overall, experts say one of the most important things in attracting, retaining and graduating reenrollees is making it easy. Where things are simple and easily understood, where barriers are brought down instead of thrown up, reenrollees will be most successful.

Offer Credit for Prior Learning

One of the keys to helping students reenroll is to remove academic barriers to success while maintaining rigor. That can sometimes be done by removing academic requirements that are holding students back, like physical education requirements.

In some situations, it may make sense to award students credit for prior learning, even if that learning didn’t take place in a traditional college classroom.

In a study of reenrollees, Higher Ed Insight, an education and workforce development consulting firm, found that credit for prior learning that occurred in military service was an important factor for veterans. Because military-involved students were often receiving greater financial assistance than other students, nonfinancial factors were more important in choosing whether to and where to enroll.

“For those students in particular, the idea of prior learning and whether they can get credit for that experience is a big deal for that group,” said Alisa Cunningham, director of research at Higher Ed Insight.

Understand why people reenroll

It’s often assumed that adult learners returning to school after an absence want to reenroll to give themselves a better standing in the job market. But many reenrollees have deeply personal reasons for continuing their education.

At Morgan State, Vaught said he sees many students who have more emotional reasons for enrolling. A student told their mother they would get a degree, or they pledged to themselves that they would do it.

“So much of the reason they come back is they’re fulfilling a promise they made to themselves,” he said. “In some ways it’s almost like this spiritual fulfillment that is so intrinsically motivating for students to come back and get their degree.”

That’s borne out in data, according to Cunningham. She said that in Higher Ed Insight’s research on people who successfully reenrolled and completed college, almost half said they were motivated by career goals. But 70% included personal goals as part of their motivation.

“You have to support the career goal, but you also as an institution have to support that they have personal lives, that they want to reflect that in their personal goals,” she said.

Understanding student motivations can also be critical to helping students persevere and graduate.

“Adult learners are more intrinsically motivated than their younger peers. Instead of motivated to get the highest grades, they’re motivated for the learning itself,” Vaught said.

Dive Brief:

• The portion of students who reported positive learning experiences rose 10.5% in the 2020-2021 academic year, when they were in classrooms where faculty members worked to make them feel that they belong, are valued and can succeed, according to a new report from the Student Experience Project, a consortium led by the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities and the Coalition of Urban Serving Universities.
• Black, Latina, and Native American women who were experiencing financial stress responded to efforts most strongly. Their positive experience rate jumped by 25% according to the report, which compares data from surveys covering the fall 2020 and spring 2020 terms
• Improvements in student experience were associated with better grades, the report said. Students' likelihood of earning an A or B in a course increased, and their likelihood of earning a D or F or withdrawing decreased, as they reported more positive experiences over the term.

Dive Insight:

The Student Experience Project partnered with 295 educators at six universities across the country — Colorado State University, University of Colorado Denver, Portland State University,  the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, the University of New Mexico and the University of Toledo. It surveyed 10,000 students each term about their experiences in the classroom.

Researchers emphasized the importance of faculty when developing best practices to create an environment conducive to student success.

"When campuses create learning environments designed to promote social belonging, students are more likely to take advantage of campus resources and actually succeed at the university," said Samantha Levine, associate director of the Coalition of Urban Serving Universities and co-lead on the Student Experience Project.

Students of color, first-generation students and low-income students often don't use campus resources for several reasons, including a desire not to perpetuate negative stereotypes, according to Levine. Outdated policies or cultural norms can also impede access.

The project chiefly theorizes that faculty are essential to improving the student experience and can do so with the right resources and institutional support. The report advises college leaders to partner with faculty on student success goals. The Student Experience Project developed over a dozen practice guides for faculty and administrators that are freely available on its website.

The project created resources for employees of all levels of higher ed so anyone can use the guidance, according to Levine.

"We fully recognize that most institutions are not able to turn around and implement every one of these practices quickly. That's very resource intensive," Levine said. "We've tried to create resources that can be easily incorporated into what institutions are already doing to support students."

The tools used to collect student feedback are also available. The report encourages faculty to gather real-time data on students' experiences, rather than waiting until a class is finished. 

"A lot of faculty are used to getting their course evaluations at the end of the term," Levine said. "That doesn't do anything to help the students who are already done with the course and maybe didn't have the most positive experience."

Researchers also found that instructors experienced an increased sense of belonging and job satisfaction through their efforts to improve student experience.

Dive Brief:

• The number of undergraduates earning a credential ticked up slightly in 2020-21, increasing after holding flat the year before, according to data released June 22 by the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center.
• Undergraduate credential earners totaled 3.7 million. That's up 1.1%, or about 39,000 people, from the number reported in each of the last two years.
• Growth came from students with prior awards who were stacking credentials. About 1 million students graduating in 2020-21 had prior awards, up 3.9% or 37,800 students from 2019-20. First-time graduates, meanwhile, held steady at 2.69 million after dropping from 2.71 million in 2018-19.

Dive Insight:

Undergraduate enrollment — the driver of many colleges' financial health — has been falling during the pandemic, sparking worries of a shrinking pie across higher ed. Concerns didn't abate in May when the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center released spring 2022 enrollment data, which showed a year-over-year decline of 4.7%, or 662,000 undergraduates.

But topline undergraduate enrollment numbers are only part of the equation for colleges. Retention and graduation metrics can reflect how well they're serving students once they get in the door.

There are two sides to Wednesday's data on undergraduates earning credentials, said Mikyung Ryu, director of research publications for the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, in a statement.

"The overall growth was led by stacked credential earners, but first-time graduates as a whole had no growth," Ryu said. "This implies a growing dichotomy of the haves and have-nots in postsecondary attainment."

A large majority of the 3.7 million students earning undergraduate credentials in 2020-21 — 72.8% — were completing college for the first time. That's a slight drop from 73.6% the previous year and upholds a long-running trend of first-time earners making up smaller shares of all students earning undergraduate credentials. In 2012-13, first-time earners comprised 76.9% of all students earning undergraduate credentials.

First-time graduates earning a bachelor's degree made up the largest chunk of all credential earners in 2020-21, at 41%. First-time graduates earning an associate degree accounted for another 20%, and first-time graduates earning a certificate were 12%.

Those earning a bachelor's degree after previously graduating with a credential accounted for 16% of all graduates. Previous credential earners who went on to collect an associate degree equaled 6% of all graduates, and previous credential earners taking home a certificate made up about 6% more.

But the number of students who earned a certificate as their first undergraduate credential slipped 2.6%, or 11,800 people, year over year. Those earning an associate degree as their first credential edged up 0.3%, or 2,500 students, after plunging by 3.7% the previous year. First-time baccalaureate earners rose 0.7%, or by 10,600 graduates.

Among college students of traditional age — under 25 years old — first-time associate and certificate completion fell. The age group added bachelor's degree earners year over year, but not enough to offset losses elsewhere. Overall first-time graduates under age 25 dipped 0.5%, or by 9,600 people.

That's notable because the age group represents more than seven in 10 of those earning an undergraduate credential for the first time.

Meanwhile, the number of first-time graduates 25 or older rose 1.4%, or by 10,350 people. The growth was in large part because of graduates in their 30s, who increased by 4.3%, or 10,700 students. However, there are still fewer graduates age 25 and over than before the pandemic.

Dive Brief:

• The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation on May 24 announced a series of six-month grants each totaling about $175,000 to support regional design efforts to boost dual enrollment and early college credit offerings.
• A dozen groups of organizations around the country are receiving the grants under an initiative the foundation calls Accelerate ED: Seamless Pathways to Degrees and Careers. Students should be able to earn enough credit to finish an associate degree a year after graduating from high school, all while earning career experience at little or no cost, according to the foundation. These pathways are meant to lead to a good job or enable students to transfer to a bachelor's program.
• The grants are intended to allow leaders to identify what works in different communities and determine which elements can be scaled to be effective in larger partnerships among higher ed, K-12 and employers.

Dive Insight:

Gates Foundation officials cast the new effort as part of their work to promote education and workforce ecosystems in which student success isn't tied to race, ethnicity, gender or socioeconomic standing. It also fits into the foundation's focus on the value of postsecondary education.

Those who are Black, Hispanic, Latino and from low-income families have long faced harsher labor market and education outcomes. The pandemic dealt a further blow to many students' college prospects while also exacerbating inequities in the workplace.

About 1 million fewer students were enrolled in higher ed in fall 2021 than in fall 2019, the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center said earlier this year. Community colleges were hit worst. And throughout the pandemic, indicators have shown those employees who were most harmed include low-income, Black and Hispanic workers.

Almost two-thirds of jobs require some training past high school, according to the foundation.

The foundation says early college, career education and dual enrollment can help boost high school graduation rates and postsecondary attainment. Students who are able to obtain credentials or degrees that are in demand in the labor market can improve their economic mobility, said Sara Allan, director of early learning and pathways at the Gates Foundation, during a May 24 conference call.

"One of the main anchoring objectives you see coming out as part of our larger education work is this concept of value, the idea that our education systems need to be designed to deliver value to the student as they make their way," Allan said.

More than 50 different groups applied for the grants. The 12 teams chosen are made up of K-12 leaders, higher ed officials, employers and community organizations. A consulting firm, Education Strategy Group, will take part in the design efforts.

Groups winning grants are located in Arizona, California, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Texas and Utah. Although each group operates in a different regional economy, several sectors came up frequently among the grant recipients: healthcare, information technology, advanced manufacturing and teaching pathways.

"It's really been interesting to see that there are actually commonalities in terms of sectoral focus," Allan said.

Dive Brief:

• More than three-quarters of four-year undergraduate students who considered stopping out in the past six months said it was due to emotional stress, according to a survey from Gallup and the Lumina Foundation. That's up from just 42% in 2020.
• Nearly two-thirds of associate degree students said the same, up from 24% in 2020. Among bachelor's and associate degree students, about one-third cited the pandemic and attendance costs impacting their ability to remain enrolled.
• Researchers polled current students, prospective students and former students who stopped out either before or during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dive Insight:

The high levels of emotional stress should be a call to action for higher education leaders, said Stephanie Marken, executive director of education research at Gallup. 

"Mental health crises have been popping up on campuses across the country for several years, pre-pandemic, but COVID-19 really exacerbated these issues for students," Marken said. "This is a really critical time for educational leaders and institutions to refine their mental health programming."

Colleges face the continuous challenge of both offering resources to students and ensuring those who need them most are aware of what's available. If the support structures aren't easy to find, they won't serve their purpose, said Courtney Brown, vice president of impact and planning at Lumina.

"Institutions can't lack counselors or create offices that are down dark, unfindable hallways," Brown said. "You can't just provide academic help for students and ignore their mental well-being."

The quick pivot to virtual learning when the pandemic hit showed that colleges are capable of changing the status quo for the sake of student safety and success.

Offering virtual classes can be a good first step for colleges, but it alone is not going to break down existing barriers to an accessible education for students, Brown said. Providing emergency food and housing aid can show enrollees that colleges support them as people, not just students, she said.

Needed improvements to communication and outreach are a recurring theme throughout issues highlighted in the survey. When it comes to cost, colleges can reach more students by better conveying the true cost of attendance versus the sticker price, according to Marken.

More than half of students who aren't enrolled say the cost of college is a top reason they haven't resumed their education, the survey found. But many students pay far less than the sticker price, or advertised cost.

"Most students see the advertised total cost of attendance and aren't aware of grants or scholarships," Marken said. "I worry that if we don't better communicate the real cost, we'll continue to see either flat or continuously declining enrollments."

Colleges have shed about 1 million students since the pandemic began, according to fall 2021 enrollment data from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center. 

One positive note from the survey is how many past, current and prospective students see college as valuable. Some 61% of those actively enrolled said higher education will help them to pursue a more fulfilling career, and 60% said it will help them earn more money. Of students who were enrolled during the pandemic but stopped out, 68% said they were considering continuing their education to broaden their skills.

"Those who had stopped out or had never enrolled are still reporting that they think an education beyond high school is a pathway to a better job and a better life. The challenge is, cost is still keeping so many of them out of higher education," said Marken. "We need to affirm that their thinking is correct and that it's all worth it."

Associate degrees and certificate programs generally come with lower costs and shorter times to graduation than bachelor's degrees. Both have seen a bump in interest, according to Marken.

"We're seeing a real response from the market for short-term, credential-based experiences where students are confident they'll graduate with specific skills," said Marken.

Colleges are working to improve graduation rates for underrepresented student groups through changes at the administrative level, like releasing transcripts regardless of student debt, and at the individual level, like encouraging eligible students to apply for emergency funding. Now, a nonprofit organization focused on higher ed trustees wants college boards to take an active role.

The Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges is developing resources for governing board oversight of equitable student success, using a $150,000 grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Henry Stoever has been president and CEO of AGB since 2019. Carlton Brown leads its justice, diversity, equity and inclusion practice. Brown is also a former president of Clark Atlanta University and Savannah State University, two historically Black institutions in Georgia.

The two AGB leaders spoke with Higher Ed Dive about why equitable student outcomes matter and how engagement from college boards can affect the success of an institution's diversity and inclusion efforts.

This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.

When did AGB start incorporating equitable student success into its goals?

HENRY STOEVER: When I started, one of the first things we did with the AGB board was to review and sharpen our vision and our mission. During that process, we intentionally included equitable student success as one of the outcomes that boards need to oversee. We have working groups across the AGB staff and with our consultants that meet at least once a month to deepen our own knowledge and understanding of these important values. The work has to be internal and external. If you don't do both, the likelihood of success is going to be placed in jeopardy. 

What questions should boards ask themselves if they want to focus on student outcomes?

CARLTON BROWN: They range all the way from whether enough academic supports exist to how the curriculum is structured. What is the faculty's disposition? What are the support structures out of the classroom? How do we enable a strong enough sense of belonging that students feel like part of the college's family? 

It's looking at every aspect of the process. It's tough work, but everyone I interact with believes it's possible.

When did you first reach out to foundations for support?

HENRY STOEVER: About a year ago, we started talking to grantmakers, in this case, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, about how we could work together. Their work has been very comprehensive and incredibly thorough, but it didn't include the governing board, something they recognized. 

CARLTON BROWN: We're kind of embedding ourselves with the Gates Foundation to make sure we can incorporate all that they have learned so far. Their work has been oriented toward administrations, faculties and staff. Translating those concepts for a board audience is a big part of the lift we're engaging in.

What is the timeline for the project?

CARLTON BROWN: First, we're developing the curriculum and the tools, keeping in mind that there is a tremendous diversity in opinion across boards. This is journey work. It's a long journey for the board, but it is an individual journey for each board member. Next, we'll test it with some of the Frontier Set institutions that the Gates Foundation has been working with. That's through August. We're hopeful that, once all of that work is done, we will continue our work together past that time.

What are the challenges of getting boards to take on equity?

CARLTON BROWN: One of the issues that we've been dealing with is that boards have not always engaged on topics, even when their institutions do. For an institution to truly transform, the board has to be knowledgeable and supportive and, in some cases, leading parts of this work. It requires conversation on how the board looks at itself and putting an equity lens on its structures, processes and membership.

To what extent do you believe institutions are responsible for the success of their students?

HENRY STOEVER: One of the primary reasons colleges and universities exist is to educate students. There are other goals of course, focused on research, innovation and community engagement. But students are at the core. 

CARLTON BROWN: For too long, the institutions were simply saying, "If we can get our students of color to graduate at the same rate as our White students, we achieve equitable student outcomes." But if you have a 62% graduation rate, what have you really accomplished? 

What we mean by equitable student success is that everything that can be done inside of an institution to maximize the capability of each and every student is what ought to be done. 

HENRY STOEVER: I would go as far as saying, if an institution enrolls a student, whether it's a parent, a grandparent or a young student, the institution should make all efforts to financially help enable that person to get through the program.