I believe that all young people can achieve their dreams. It’s just that they may require very different pathways to get there. That was part of the motivation behind the creation of EDWorks Fast Track Early College High School and Fast Track Academies for grades K-8. We are here and doing this work because we want every child to succeed, to reach his / her fullest potential, and to be prepared for any life choice they wish to make.
But I also think we – the team at EDWorks and at all groups working together on Early College High Schools – need to more boldly proclaim that the work we are doing addresses one of the most pressing issues facing our nation as a whole – the crisis in college completion rate at a time when our economy cries out for a more highly educated and skilled workforce.
We all know that college completion rates in this country are absolutely abysmal, especially for our target population. President Obama’s administration announced a goal for 50% of the United States population to have earned a higher education degree by the year 2020. And the Lumina Foundation is aiming for 60% by 2025. Currently, only about 39% of adults across the nation have college degrees; worse yet, only about 13-15% of low income and minority adults have college degrees.
This means that we’ll need about 300,000 more people to graduate college every year if we want to reach those goals. And the current, traditional college-going population is not enough. Projections show the U.S. will be a “majority-minority” nation by 2043. Given this reality, there is no way we can reach these higher education degree attainment goals without dramatically increasing in the number of first-generation, poor and minority students who earn degrees.
One of the primary reasons for such low college completion rates is the large numbers of students entering college underprepared. Higher education spends a great deal of time and resources recruiting students, only to see large numbers of them leave after the first year. In fact, more than 30% of all students drop out of college after the first year – and reports show that number can be as high as 50-75% for low-income and minority students. And the costs go beyond the higher education institutions themselves. Each year, states and the federal government spend a combined $1.8 billion – that’s billion, with a B – on students who don’t return to college for a second year.
Early College is a transformative enrollment and retention strategy. Our national data indicate that Early College High School students who earn 25-30 college credits while in high school are twice as likely to complete a 4 year degree as compared to their peers!
There are fewer than 300 early college high schools in the United States. Yet, there are more than 7,000 institutions of higher education in the U.S., of which approximately 3,100 are 2- and 4-year degree granting institutions. I am convinced that we can make a great case to them as to why they should embrace early college partnerships.
Two-year community colleges, some of whom are in highly competitive environments for enrolling students, should see early college as an attractive pipeline strategy; and others simply seek an innovation or differentiator that adds to their reputation or mission fulfillment.
Four-year private and selective public colleges and universities often struggle to attract and retain college-ready first generation, low-income and minority students, and should see early college as a potentially transformative enrollment strategy.
And of course nearly every public school district is expected to offer unique and high-quality choices for parents and students. Early college can fill that need. So I think there is a world of opportunity out there for us to dramatically grow this movement.
We’re aiming to lead the way to a new normal. We foresee a new normal where every high school student – and especially first generation, low-income and minority students – will experience college success and attain a meaningful number of college credits during their high school careers. More specifically, we want to be able to tell every youngster in grade school that if he or she works hard, stays with it, and takes full advantage of every available opportunity, he or she can complete 14 years of schooling in 12 years – and come away with an associate degree, up to 2 years of college credit, or perhaps a marketable certificate or accreditation that will lead to gainful employment. This needs to become our new normal.
When you consider that fewer than 15% of all low-income and minority students entering 9th grade actually earn a four-year degree, yet more than 87% of our early college high school graduates persist to a 4-year degree – this is perhaps the most promising strategy for moving those students, from those communities to college completion. And so, for anyone who wonders whether or not this work is “innovative” or worthy of further investment, the answer is a resounding, absolutely!