2. Vice President of Strategy
Dr. Julie Johnson
Vice President of Strategy

3. @CompleteCollege
@JulieJJohnson1
#15ToFinish

4. Overview of Complete College America
Game Changer Strategies for Completion
15 to Finish

5. 42 The Alliance COMPLETE COLLEGE AMERICA CUNY System DC
Central Valley Higher Education Consortium
Houston
Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands
Puerto Rico
Thurgood Marshall College Fund Consortium

6. Our Approach
Work with states, systems and consortia to implement evidence-based strategies at scale to see double-digit gains in outcomes.
We are the megaphone. We don’t come up with the strategies, we highlight what others are doing.
There are a million things you can do on college completion. Do these. They work.
Is there an opportunity to pull these into what you’re doing or help some of these become an organizing force for your various intiiatives.

7. Four-Year
Recent report
- All starts with the data
MYTH

8. On-Time Graduation Rates
(Full-Time Students)
2-Year
Associate
4-Year
Bachelor’s
4-Year
Bachelor’s
(non-flagship)
(flagship/
very high research) 5%
19%
36%
ON TIME
ON TIME
ON TIME
Four-Year Myth

9. 13% 43% 68% 150% Graduation Rates 2-Year Associate 4-Year Bachelor’s
(Full-Time Students)
2-Year
Associate
4-Year
Bachelor’s
4-Year
Bachelor’s
(non-flagship)
(flagship/
very high research)
13%
43%
68%
IN 3 YEARS
IN 6 YEARS
IN 6 YEARS
Four-Year Myth

10. 80.9 134.6 133.5 Excess Credits 2-Year Associate 4-Year Bachelor’s
(Full-Time Students)
2-Year
Associate
4-Year
Bachelor’s
4-Year
Bachelor’s
(non-flagship)
(flagship/
very high research)
80.9
134.6
133.5
60 Credits Standard
120 Credits Standard
120 Credits Standard
Four-Year Myth

11. Total Cost of Each Extra Year
(Full-Time Students)
2-Year
Student
4-Year
Student
$22,826
$15,933
in cost of attendance
in cost of attendance
$45,327
$35,000
in lost wages
in lost wages
Why I love some of the work coming out of the CSU system with Grad initative and on-time completion.
On-time is an affordability issue!
$50,933
$68,153
Source: fly.temple.edu and utexas.edu/enrollment-management/messages/ut-strives-improve-four-year-graduation-rates
Four-Year Myth

13. TIME
CHOICE
STRUCTURE

14. 1. Corequisite Remediation
2. Math Pathways
3. Structured Schedules
4. Guided Pathways
- Purpose First
to Finish

15. Corequisite Remediation

16. Too many students start college in remediation.
61% in 2-year institution
28% in 4-year, non- flagship institution

17. Few Graduate or Transfer
Of 2-year students enrolled in remediation:
11% graduate in 3 years
18% transfer to 4-year institution (w/ or w/out a degree) in 4 years

18. Corequisite Remediation
Place students straight into college English and math.
Provide just-in-time remedial support.
- $90m for the Basic Skills Transformation to more than 60 colleges includes this as one of the options, which is great.

19. Corequisite Models Paired Remedial Course Accelerated Learning Program
Gateway Course
Required 0 Credit Lab
Structured Assistance
Gateway
Course
One Additional Credit
101+ Model
Gateway
Course

20. One Semester Scaled Results
Traditional Remediation
National Avg for Gateway Course Success
22%
English
Math

21. Completion of Gateway English by ACT Sub-score Community College Pre-requisite Model vs. Co-requisite Model

22. Corequisite at Scale 5 states have scaled corequisite support:
Colorado Georgia
Indiana Tennessee
West Virginia
13 states have committed to implement at scale:
Central Valley of CA Hawaii’
Illinois Idaho
Massachusetts Missouri
Montana New Hampshire - CCSNH
New Mexico Ohio
Oklahoma Rhode Island

23. Implementing Corequisite Remediation with CVHEC
National academy – 2015
In-state institute – 2016
California Acceleration Project training – 2017
Quarterly calls and ongoing assistance

24. Central Valley Higher Education Consortium
Initial participating colleges:
Clovis Community College - English and Math
Modesto Junior College – English
Porterville College – English
Reedley College - English and Math
San Joaquin Delta College – English
West Hills Community College -  English and math
Merced College - English and math
College of the Sequoias - English
Fresno City College - English, ESL, and math

25. Math Pathways

26. College Algebra’s Only Purpose: Preparation for Calculus
STEM

27. What is the “right” math course?
Dunbar, S Enrollment flow to and from courses below calculus . In A Fresh State for Collegiate mathematics: Rethinking the Courses below calculus, N.B. Hastings et al. (Eds.). Washington DC: MAA Notes, Mathematical Association of America.
College algebra and traditional developmental math sequences were designed in the 1950’s to prepare students for calculus. However, with the exception of a few institutions such as the School of Mines, the majority of our students are in majors that do not require calculus. Is college algebra the right math course for students in the social sciences or the humanities or various other majors?
Dunbar [4] has tracked all students at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln for
more than 16 years and has examined enrollment patterns among about
150,000 students. He found that only about 10% of the students who pass
college algebra ever go on to start Calculus I and virtually none ever go on to
start Calculus III. He has also found that about 30% of the students from
College algebra eventually start business calculus.
Our state data appears to be similar. The CDHE pulled data from the academic year 2013 and found that of the roughly 13,000 students who completed college algebra with a C- or better, about 12% have gone on to pass a Calculus I course at any other state institution.

28. Math Is Aligned to Majors
Meta-Major
Gateway Math
Program
Classics
Performing Arts
Cultural Studies
Humanities
Arts
Quantitative Reasoning
Social Sciences
Health Sciences
Business
Psychology
Political Science
Communications
Statistics/Modeling
Welding
Carpentry
Technical Certificate Programs
Technical Math
Civil Engineering
Chemical Engineering
Chemistry
Engineering
Hard Sciences
College Algebra/Pre-Calc/ Calculus

29. Math Pathways at Scale
6 states implementing at scale beginning Fall 2016:
Montana Colorado
Missouri Nevada
Indiana Ohio
All 13 corequisite scale states building plans for math pathways.
Central Valley of CA Hawaii’
Illinois Idaho
Massachusetts Missouri
Montana New Hampshire - CCSNH
New Mexico Ohio
Oklahoma Rhode Island
West Virginia

30. Structured Schedules:
Scheduling for Completion

31. Structured Schedules Predictable, consistent schedule
Block schedules and sequenced courses
Students go full-time (15 credits) or year-round for 30 credits.

32. Structured Schedules Options
Morning, afternoon, evening or weekend blocks
Specific days
Shorter term
Organized by program

33. Scheduling is a Completion Strategy!
Drives by increasing:
% of full-time students
Credit accumulation
Retention and completion

34. Guided Pathways - GPS

35. NO CLEAR PATH

36. Too Many Choices and Too Little Guidance
Why GPS?
Most colleges have more than 100 majors and hundreds of courses.
Most students are unaware of their career options.
45% of students haven’t seen a counselor by the third week of class.

37. 1 counselor to 400 students

38. Behavioral Economics: Default
Organ Donation Rates
Austria (OPT-OUT)
99%
Germany (OPT-IN)
12%

39. GPS: Essential Components
DO THIS
Informed Choice - Purpose First
Default Pathways
Meta-Majors
Academic Maps
Intrusive advising

40. Informed Choice – Purpose First
Connect students career interests to their majors
Integrate career assessments, labor market data, ROI calculators into the new student onboarding to help students select the major (meta major) that fits their plans.

41. Default Pathways (opt-out)
Examples of defaults: 90% organ donation

42. Meta Majors STEM HEALTH BUSINESS SCIENCES HUMANITIES SOCIAL SCIENCES
ARTS
EDUCATION

43. Academic Maps

44. Intrusive Advising Students must see their advisors if:
they fall off the pathway
are at risk of not succeeding
need special assistance or their own pathway

45. GPS: Closing Achievement Gaps
GEORGIA STATE
Graduation rates increased to:
Pell students 52.5%
African American students 57.4%
Hispanic students students 66.4%
FLORIDA STATE
African Americans 77%
First-generation Pell students 72%
Hispanic students more than 70%

46. Guided Pathways at Scale
3 states have implemented it at scale:
Tennesse Georgia
Indiana
5 sites are working to implement it at scale.
Massachusetts New Hampshire - CCSNH
Houston region Washington DC
Missouri

47. 15 to Finish

48. 15 to Finish
- $90m for the Basic Skills Transformation to more than 60 colleges includes this as one of the options, which is great.

50. Start with the data

51. Full-time enrollment is not on-time enrollment.

52. Minority students are less likely to be on track for on-time graduation.

53. Low-income students are less likely to be on track for on-time graduation.

54. on-time graduation really
Is being on track for
on-time graduation really
that important?

55. Students who complete 30+ credits in their first year are more likely to graduate.

56. Students who complete 30+ credits in their first year are more likely to graduate.

57. Momentum Benefits: CC Students
In first semester, 28% of CC students were momentum students
In first year, 1/5 of CC students maintained momentum
Source: Belfield, Jenkins & Lahr, 2016.

58. Okay, but do we really
want to encourage our
students to take more
credits?

59. “The best strategy for reducing the cost of college is to ensure more students take the credits needed to graduate on time.”
(Complete College America, 2016)

63. Affordability is good, but taking too many credits in
a term can hurt students
academically.

64. Retention is higher for those coomunity college students taking >=15 hours

65. At every level of academic preparation students taking >=15 hours had higher GPAs

66. Hmm. But not all students
can take 15 credits a term
or 30 credits in a year.

68. City Colleges of Chicago
Outcome: 30% increase in full-time enrollment of 15 credits.
Retention, GPA and credit accumulation were higher for students taking 15 credits

69. Make the case

71. Supporting our students
All students deserve
a pathway and expectation
for on-time or timely completion.

73. Relevant to other CA initiatives
Graduation Initiative
Guided Pathways
Promise programs
Innovation grants
Equity efforts
Corequisite remediation and math pathways

74. Fifteen to Finish DC Statewide Initiatives
States with Campus-Based Initiatives

75. SHARED PRINCIPLES Far too few full-time students graduate on time.
Graduating late or “taking an extra year” comes at great cost for students and their families.
Advisors play a critical role in boosting student success.
Many more students can take 15 credits per semester or term, greatly increasing their likelihood of on-time completion.
#15toFinish informs students of their choices and ensures they know what it takes to graduate on time.

76. CCA Calls for “On-Time” Status in Pell

78. % First-Time, Full-Time Students Enrolled in 15+ Credit Hours (1st semester)

79. Projected Enrollment Revenue Opportunity
Estimated Impact for
Purdue University - Calumet
Revenue Gains vs. Baseline
Model Inputs:
Total Enrollment:
8,639
Net Revenue Per Student:
$10,565
(net tuition and fees plus state appropriations)
Retention Improvement
0-29 credits
4.7% total over 1 year
30-59 credits
0% total over 1 year
60-89 credits
credits
120+ credits
Investments in advising can yield dividends that should be reinvested back into further efficiencies and support

80. Nuts and bolts

81. 15-Credit Strategies & Policies
Type of Strategy
Communications campaigns
Degree maps
structured schedules
Financial incentives
Type of Policy
Banded tuition or aid to support 30-credit enrollment
Degree credit cap (60 or 120 credits)
Default scheduling

82. Academic Maps

84. Think 30 Linked to affordability and debt Public awareness campaign
NSO, parents, faculty, advisors
Modified scheduling
Added winter and summer sessions
Institutional aid
Merit aid tied to 15 credits
Initial outcomes:
5% increase in first year students who completed 30 credits.

85. Indiana Legislation: HEA 1348
Financial Incentive:
Requires students to complete 30 credits per year to remain eligible for full state aid.
Students w/ a 3.0 gpa or higher are eligible for more aid.
Structural Reforms:
Required institutions to:
provide degree maps and guarantee course availability
Allow full use of state aid during summer terms
Encouraged institutions to use banded tuition
Supports:
Public awareness campaign
Additional academic advising

86. Reforming Student Financial Aid to Increase College Completion: Early Progress from Indiana HEA 1348

87. University of Akron New Student Orientation presentations
Poster (right)
timed to registration
TV information screens on campus/residence halls
Campus and student announcements
Infomercial

88. Complete College America
Resources

93. Thank You Julie Johnson jjohnson@completecollege.org