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TN’s Data-Driven Approach Helping Students Complete College

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Thursday, September 3, 2020   

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- New federal data shows adult learners, students of color and veterans still are far less likely to complete a college degrees than other groups, and state education officials say they're now using a data-driven approach to come up with targeted programs aimed at preventing at-risk students from dropping out.

In two new studies that tracked students between 2011 and 2017, researchers found only about a quarter of Black and Hispanic students had earned a bachelor's degree by 2017, compared with more than 50% of Asian students and 43% of white students.

Emily House, deputy executive director of the Tennessee Higher Education Commission, said Tennessee is working to collect information on which students need help, the reasons they struggle, and better ways to support them.

"Really helping the institutions to use their data," House said. "To focus on their data, to see where these gaps in attainment, gaps in completion exist and then what is the most appropriate intervention for the students on that campus. And it can range from a summer bridge program to a mentorship program to a technology lending library."

She said two years ago Tennessee implemented Reconnect, a program for adults going back to school.

Students are paired up with a community member known as a navigator, to help address challenges from enrollment through degree completion.

House added adult students who work with a Reconnect navigator are more likely to persist from semester to semester than an adult learner who doesn't.

Many of the resources adult learners rely on also have benefited the state's veteran students. House said the commission has a process for determining which institutions are good fits for veterans.

"Courses that are offered, credits given for prior learning, credits given for service, and T-HEC (Tennessee Higher Education Commission) gives them like a stamp of approval saying you are a vet-friendly campus."

The U.S. Department of Education study found veterans were half as likely to have earned a bachelor's degree as non-veterans within a six-year period.

House said administrators will likely have to expand resources for students who need it the most during the pandemic. She added Tennessee's colleges already are seeing changes in enrollment.

"Some institutions are saying that a lot of people have chosen not to enroll, and their enrollment is down," House said. "This is interesting because of the economic downturn. Typically, when you see an economic downturn, enrollment in higher education explodes. At least anecdotally thus far, that is not what we're hearing."

The longitudinal study also found students who started college more than a year after they graduated from high school were about one-fourth as likely to earn a bachelor's degree within six years.

---

Support for this reporting was provided by Lumina Foundation.


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