The Higher Education Establishment’s Self-Interest Goes Unchecked—Again
Dec 12, 2016Jesse SaffronJesse SaffronStephanie KeaveneyStephanie Keaveney15 Comments
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Recently, a legislative proposal aimed at improving graduation rates at the University of North Carolina system’s 16 institutions was nixed due to vehement opposition from university leaders. In its place is a watered-down initiative that delays much-needed reform and emphasizes academic handholding rather than high academic standards and student readiness.
There is a strong connection between students’ high school GPAs and SAT scores and those students’ ability to perform well in—and finish—college. For instance, UNC-Chapel Hill, which boasts the highest entering student GPAs and SAT scores in the system, also has the highest six-year graduation rates in the system—consistently hovering near 90 percent.
But in the UNC system, Chapel Hill is an outlier. Only four other universities have graduation rates above 70 percent, and six schools with much less competitive entering student profiles have graduation rates at or below 50 percent. Schools that accept underprepared applicants set those students up for failure; many end up with poor grades and limited job prospects or dropping out with student loan debt and no clear way to repay it. The costs are borne by not only students, but the taxpayers who fund the system’s $9.5 billion annual operations.
http://www.popecenter.org/2016/12/higher-education-establishments-self-interest-goes-unchecked/
