Opportunity Squandered
Yesterday morning, AEI released a new report on Hispanic college graduation rates co-authored by Andrew Kelly, Mark Schneider, and myself. It shows how many colleges are falling short in helping Hispanic students earn degrees. And not just because of poor high school preparation and economic factors–our analysis found that colleges with similar levels of admissions selectivity have very different rates of success. The report includes interviews with colleges that had both unusually high and unusually low Hispanic graduation rates, as compared to similar institutions. The constrasts are striking. Colleges can make a real difference in helping students earn credentials, if they focus resources and attention in the right way.
Hours later, Congress announced a final compromise deal on student loan reform. In order to pass health care, and accommodate a maddeningly illogical downward estimate in the savings generated by the bill, negotiators gutted the provisions that would have helped improve Hispanic graduation rates. The $3 billion College Access and Completion Fund is gone, and all we’re left with is the uninspiring College Access Challenge Grant, which conspicuously omits the word