Continuing the discussion: The value and rationale of college

How does the concern of sequestration interface with ongoing discussions of value?

With sequestration concerns intensifying, matters of educational value are taking on heightened salience.

In a recent article in the Chronicle of Higher Education, “Sequestration Presents Uncertain Outlook for Students, Researchers, and Job-Seekers,”  Justin Draeger, president of the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators, laments “an air of uncertainty” for students, urging them to stay in close touch with their financial aid counselors.

This economic ambiguity can interface with discussions of educational value, threatening to compromise students’ commitment to college as well as a college’s staying power.

For instance, in our 2013 National Freshman Attitudes Report, 92 percent of first-generation students indicated, “I am deeply committed to my educational goals, and I’m fully prepared to make the effort and sacrifices that will be needed to attain them.”  However, 21 percent also reflected, “I often wonder if a college education is really worth all the time, money, and effort that I’m being asked to spend on it.”

Compounding the problem, first-generation freshmen indicated academic and financial concerns in responses such as these:

• Only 42 percent “have a very good grasp of scientific ideas I’ve studied in school.”
• Almost 40 percent “have financial problems that are very distracting and troublesome.”

Concerns about opportunity cost and priorities are not new.  For instance, Trueba (2004) observed that first-generation Hispanic students may lack a fundamental understanding of the rationale underlying college attendance in the United States: “The hardest part of becoming the first member of the family going to college is a series of assumptions on the part of the family about going to college. Is it worth all that money? Is it useful? Will it create serious problems for a child who has never left the home? And if a girl is the first to go to college, is the problem of letting her go even more serious?” (p. 210)

Indeed, we’re all too familiar with the challenging discussions of the value of college. For instance, in a blog by Carl Strikwerda on The Huffington Post,  “Is College Worth It?” we see yet another reference to “successful college dropouts” such as Bill Gates and Steve Jobs. Seeking to counter this, the author contends, “The unemployment rate for college graduates is half the national average. Even if you’re born in the lowest economic stratum, you’re much more likely to move out of poverty if you earn a degree.”

Challenges in student persistence even as expectations for college completion intensify

These themes of the value of college interface with heightened expectations not only for retention, but also, graduation.  The Southern Regional Education Board’s white paper, “Promoting a Culture of Student Success,” (PDF link) addresses two clarifying tenets of a  “graduation-oriented culture”: namely, “attentive leadership” and “focus on the individual student.” Yet, national data on college completion serve as evidence that these tenets are easier accomplished through words than deeds.

How are colleges responding? In my work with institutions across North America, I often hear how campus leaders are addressing questions about value and other issues that can get in the way of degree completion. For example:

• Using the analogy of college-attendance as a job, Monica Michalski, dean of freshman studies and academic enhancement, St. Francis College (NY), shares her approach in relating to first-generation college students: “We start the [advising] discussion with the idea that being a college student is a new ‘job’ and that this new ‘job’ will be in an environment which is different from that of their high school ‘job.’ We then remind them of their experience of taking the CSI and reinforce that the survey asked them to reflect on how they felt about college, their personal resources as well as college resources, and other factors which relate to their new ‘job’ as a college student.”

• Meanwhile, recognizing the importance of meaningful progression toward a goal, Tore Skogseth, student success counselor at Montcalm Community College (MI), discusses students in Efficient Study, a mandatory study skills course for students at the lowest level of developmental education. He notes: “We learned that students were still unsure of their direction, so we built in an assignment to map out classes from the course catalogue, helping their understanding of pre-requisites.”

• Jason Henry, coordinator of academic advising at Arkansas State University-Beebe, offers students opportunities to rebuild their life after financial or academic setbacks by providing mentors who work closely with them to develop an individualized Student Success Plans, in which students agree to “prescriptions” (interventions such as tutoring, academic advising, career services, etc.). There were 38 students in the pilot semester, four Student Success Coaches, and more than 200 contact hours between the coaches and students. Seventy-four percent of students were successful: The cohort saw their cumulative grade point average increase by 0.75 points and reported significant gains in multiple areas such as their communication skills with family/support systems and the ability to connect with the institution through positive relationships with peers, instructors, and success coaches.

How can you help your students through their roadblocks?

I welcome your comments and questions, and I would be happy to be a resource for you, sharing strategies that have worked with numerous retention colleagues at other institutions. Please e-mail me and I will respond with whatever insights I can. You can also join the conversation online with us and many other colleagues on Twitter via the #SAchat channel.