By: Catherine Brown, Senior Director of Policy and Advocacy
Reading time: 3 min.
On Thursday, Secretary Cardona announced a new federal grant program aimed at raising college completion rates. The College Completion Fund for Postsecondary Success will provide $5 million to community colleges and minority-serving institutions to increase college persistence and completion.
The program is designed to help students who are approaching graduation
cross the finish line and to re-engage students who stopped out during the pandemic. Institutions that experienced severe enrollment declines in recent years will also receive priority for funding. The U.S. Department of Education will award two-year
grants of about $800,000 to colleges proposing to implement programs with promising evidence and high-quality evaluation plans. There is no match required but the grant must supplement current institutional investments.
Only about half of students who enroll in higher education complete a degree, and large racial
gaps in degree attainment persist. A full 20% of Americans has some college, but no degree. Low completion rates exacerbate
the racial wealth gap and contribute to the student debt crisis. Those who leave college with debt and no degree
are three times as likely to default on their student loans because they are forced repay their loans without the benefit of the earnings boost that a college degree or credential provides.
Research shows that the cost of college is a major factor in non-completion. NCAN’s Growing Gap Analysis finds that less than a quarter of bachelor's degree programs and only 41% of associate degree programs are affordable for the average Pell recipient. At the same time, other factors, such as lack of support
and community, contribute to the college completion crisis too. The good news is that there is a growing body of research about what works to improve graduation rates.
CUNY ASAP | ACE, for example, has been found through rigorous research to double graduation rates for participants with intensive advising
and comprehensive support. These results were consistent across racial lines and the model has been replicated in seven states.
Secretary Cardona announced this new initiative at a one-day “Raise the B.A.R.: Bold + Action + Results in College Excellence & Equity Summit,” where he laid out a new vision for higher education focused on rewarding equity and upward mobility rather than prestige and selectivity. “For far too long, our higher education system has left our nation’s most accessible, inclusive colleges without
adequate resources to support student success, while many institutions chase rankings that reward privilege and selectivity over equity and upward mobility,” said Secretary Cardona.
The focus on helping students through college represents a new frontier in federal higher education policy. The Biden Administration has consistently prioritized improving college completion for students of color and students from low-income communities.
The Administration’s first budget, in 2021, proposed $62 billion for evidence-based college completion initiatives,
and this year, the Biden Administration proposed $110 million to improve retention and completion rates. The U.S. House committee on education funding
passed a bill in June that provided $200 million to improve postsecondary success. The Senate has yet to act on an education
funding bill but don’t be surprised to see greater federal investment in this area.
The application is due October 11th. Interested in learning more? See here for eligibility requirements and other details on how to submit an application!
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