Bowen Book Addresses Topics of Interest to Community Colleges

Dr. William G. Bowen, an AIR member and the opening plenary speaker for the 50th Forum in Chicago, May 29-June2, 2010, has published another high-profile book: Crossing the Finish Line: Completing College at America's Public Universities. The book is co-authored by Matthew M. Chingos, a Ph.D. student at Harvard University, and Michael S. McPherson, president of the Spencer Foundation.

The book, reviewed by both The New York Times and Inside Higher Ed, focuses on the premise that America’s flagship public universities are not doing enough to help students graduate in a timely manner (less than six years), if they graduate at all. The problem appears particularly acute for minority students.

Noting the strong performance of transfer students and the effects of financial constraints on student retention, the authors call for improved transfer and financial aid policies as well as programs designed to improve student/institution matching. The authors’ conclusions point to the need for greater investment in Community Colleges – findings that are especially timely in current debates about the future of higher education.

AIR is especially proud of the attention this book has received. In addition to Dr. Bowen, 26 other AIR members are either acknowledged or cited in the book.

Dr. Bowen, president emeritus of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and Princeton University, is the co-author of 19 other books, including the acclaimed The Shape of the River: Long-Term Consequences of Considering Race in College and University Admissions and Equity and Excellence in American Higher Education.

For more information on Crossing the Finish Line, or to order, please visit http://press.princeton.edu/titles/8971.html

For more information on the AIR 2010 Forum, visit http://forum.airweb.org.

September/October 2009 Issue of Data Notes Available

Data Notes is a bimonthly newsletter that presents data from the national Achieving the Dream database. Achieving the Dream: Community Colleges Count, is a multiyear national initiative to help more community college students succeed. The initiative focuses particularly on student groups that traditionally have faced significant barriers to success, including students of color and low-income students.

The September/October 2009 issue of Data Notes has just been released, and can be viewed on the Achieving the Dream Web site at:

http://www.achievingthedream.org/DATARESEARCH/DATANOTESNEWSLETTER/default.tp

This issue of Data Notes is the first of a two-part series investigating the characteristics of late stop-outs – students who accumulate at least 30 credits within the first two years, only to stop out without completing credentials or transferring. Seventy-five percent of students at Achieving the Dream colleges who accumulated 30 or more credits in their first two years were either still enrolled (59 percent), transferred (2 percent), or completed their credential (14 percent) by the end of their third year. Native American students had the highest stop-out rate (59 percent) by the end of year 5, while Asian/Pacific Islanders had the lowest stop out rate (44 percent). Interestingly, Pell grant recipients were slightly more likely to stop-out than non-recipients (49 percent).

Achieving the Dream Colleges, Data Facilitators and Coaches – you can also view your individual college’s companion figures to this issue of Data Notes on www.dreamwebsubmission.org (the Achieving the Dream Web submission site). To view your college’s data, sign in using your username and password and select the Sept/Oct 2009 issue under the “Reports” tab.