A new global focus on educational attainment is transforming how higher education approaches recruiting, retention, and student success.  Creating opportunities for today’s diverse students to succeed will require new ideas, new services, and new tools.  Join us on Monday, April 2 at 9:30 a.m. for Student Success: New Ideas for Today’s New Reality, and learn how you can help every student succeed.

With many new solutions on the market focused on helping institutions improve retention and student success, it’s important that you ask the right questions and involve the right people during your decision-making process. In a recent article by Academic Impressions, Jennifer Jones, adjunct instructor at Minnesota State University, Mankato and a visiting assistant professor at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln offers practical advice and a checklist of questions to ask as you evaluate early alert tools.

Achieving President Obama’s goal to improve our nation’s college completion rates by 2020 is going to take more than simply graduating more students--it will require colleges and universities to find innovative ways to make education more affordable for our nation’s students.

According to a new study by the American Association of Community Colleges, community colleges have seen a 127% increase in total credentials earned, both certificates and degrees, between 1990 and 2010 . The study reports the largest increases in earned credentials for students of color, including a 440% increase among Hispanic students, and 283% increase among black students. Credential attainment among white students increased 90% in the same time period.

Many argue that course redesign will be central to today’s completions agenda by helping higher education institutions educate more students better and faster. The American Association of State Colleges and Universities’ 2011 Academic Summer Affairs Meeting, July 28-30, focuses on just that.

Looking for fresh ideas about how to launch, expand, or strengthen your student success programs? There are lots of resources out there.

The Center for Community College Student Engagement has signed a pledge to boost student completion rates by 50% over the next decade. CCCSE joins five other community college organizations in a public pledge that draws attention to the importance of the completion agenda in community colleges. 

To learn more, visit CCCSE.

What can institutions can do today to design, develop, and launch retention and student success programs that work?

The mandate to help more students succeed is changing how we conceive and deliver education services in the U.S.