In the United States, equity gaps exist in many forms but are seen most often by race and economic status. In education, these gaps exist PreK through 12 and continue to exist in post-secondary education as well. Many of these gaps expose themselves through college completion rates that vary widely along racial lines. Racial disparities with college completion rates are a multi-faceted problem, but many colleges have implemented interventions aimed at addressing this issue. From the use of data analytics, academic advisors, and curriculum changes, colleges are attempting to put completion rate statistics to good use and do a better job at making college a place of success for all students while paying special attention to individuals from underrepresented backgrounds.
The good news is that over the past 40 years, college acceptance rates have increased along racial lines, “Between 1970 and 2014, the percentage of high-school graduates who went on to college increased from 49 percent to 68 percent for Whites, 45 percent to 71 percent for Blacks, and 53 percent to 65 percent for Hispanics” (Zinshteyn, 2016, para. 11). However, the bad news is that while the nation has done a better job at admittance rates along racial lines, there is still much work to be done with retention, especially with Black and Hispanic students.
According to a report released by the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center and reported by Emily Tate (2017), “On average, White and Asian students earn a college-level credential at a rate about 20 percentage points higher than Hispanic and Black students do” (subtitle).
Figure 1
6-Year Outcomes by Race and Ethnicity
Note. The chart shows the percentage completed, stopped-out (discontinued their education), and those still enrolled six years after enrolling from the 2014 entering cohort of students. Reprinted from Completing College National and State Reports (9th ed., p. 5), by National Student Clearinghouse Research Center. Copyright 2020. (Causey, J. et al, 2020).
One campus in particular has shown great success over the last 13 years in closing the achievement gap between race and economic status. Georgia State University is a multi-campus public research university with its main campus located in the heart of Atlanta and serving roughly 32,000 students (52,000 students overall including all of their campuses). What’s unique about Georgia State, and what makes them a great case study for college retention rates along racial and economic lines, is that their student body is 67 percent non-white, 33 percent first-generation, and 60 percent Pell grant recipients (Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges, 2020). These populations have historically had the hardest time succeeding in higher education. To start, Georgia State took a long, hard look in the mirror and asked themselves if they were the problem. Dr. Timothy Renick, Executive Director for the National Institute for Student Success at Georgia State said:
In the 2011 Georgia State University Strategic Plan, we committed to improving our graduation rates significantly, but not by turning our backs on the low-income, underrepresented, and first-generation students who we have traditionally served. On the contrary, we pledged to increase their numbers and to serve them better.”
(Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges, 2020, p. 3)
What they found was that by using predictive analytics they could help students that society deemed destined to fail by intervening early if there were academic setbacks and financial challenges. On a daily basis, Georgia State tracks 800 different risk factors for more than 40,000 students and according to their website in the last year, they intervened 90,000 times to help students stay on track (Georgia State University, 2021, Student Success Programs). These notifications can alert academic advisors about grades on tests or quizzes in a course needed for their major, course selection, and missing class, among many other alerts specified. “Georgia State uses predictive analytics and a system of more than 800 alerts to track all undergraduates daily, identify at-risk behaviors and have advisers respond to alerts by intervening in a timely manner to get students back on track” (Georgia State University, 2021, GPS Advising).
However, for this to work they also had to invest in more academic advisors. As Anya Kamanetz (2016) reported for NPR, “This wasn't just a tech fix. At the same time that it implemented GPS [Georgia State’s Graduation and Progression Success Advising program], Georgia State hired 42 additional academic advisers, bringing its caseload down to 300 to 1” (para. 9). This was a change from 700 students per advisor.
Academic advisors use an advising approach called Proactive (or sometimes called Intrusive) Advising. “[Proactive advising blends] the practices of advising and counseling into a form of student intervention that allows advisors to provide students information before they request or realize they need it” (Varney, 2013, p. 137). The alerts give the academic advisors a starting point to call, text, or email the student and begin a conversation to find out if the student needs extra help or references to additional resources on campus that can help them. “The real work was is in those face-to-face encounters, as students made plans with their advisers to get extra tutoring help, take a summer class or maybe switch majors” (Kamanetz, 2016, para 13). These are students who in the past weren’t making contact with their academic advisors on their own. Many of those same types of students were stopping out of college without seeking out a tutor or guidance from their academic advisor. The alerts combined with academic advisors using the proactive advising approach have changed that. In a keynote speaker presentation, Dr. Timothy Renick mentions that with the alert system, more than two-thirds of advising appointments are now initiated by the academic advisor with over 100,000 meetings happening annually (Renick, 2020).
Another important area where predictive analytics excelled is within the realm of financial aid. Georgia State found that students were stopping out due to unmet financial need of $1,500 or less—many of them seniors with only a semester or two left. “This means that even after grants, loans, scholarships, family contributions and the income generated from students working 20 hours a week, the students lack sufficient funds to attend college” (Georgia State University, 2021, Panther Retention Grants). The Panther Retention Grants program “uses data to identify academically qualified students facing financial trouble and automatically transfers up to $1,500 into their account, allowing them to remain enrolled and continue to advance towards their degree” (Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges, 2020, p. 1). The Panther Retention Grant program has awarded over 12,000 grants since the program began. In 2018 the program prevented more than 2,000 students from stopping out due to unmet financial need and since the program’s start “more than 86 percent of grant recipients have gone on to graduate, most within two semesters” (Georgia State University, 2021, Panther Retention Grants).
These are just a couple of the big changes Georgia State made to address the achievement gap regarding race and economic status. With the time and effort Georgia State and their staff have put into this new way of thinking the results have been impressive.
Graduation rates are up 6 percentage points since 2013.
Graduates are getting their degree on average half a semester sooner than before, saving an estimated $12 million in tuition.
Low-income, first-generation, and minority students have closed the graduation rate gap.
And those same students are succeeding at higher rates in tough STEM majors.
(Kamanetz, 2016, para 14)
In 2009, 1,001 bachelor’s degrees were awarded to Black students and in 2019, 2,199 bachelor’s degrees were awarded to Black students. That’s a 120% increase over 10 years. Hispanic students and Pell recipients also saw gains with a 222% and 174% increase respectively (Renick, 2020).
Figure 2
Georgia State University Graduation Rates by Race and Ethnicity
Note. Reprinted from Renick, T. M. (2020, December 16). A conversation on increasing student access and success [Keynote Speaker]. 2020 Student Advocates Conference, Indianapolis, IN, United States.
“Georgia State University’s efforts over the past few years show that students from all backgrounds can succeed at high rates and that dramatic gains are indeed possible—not through changing the nature of the students served but through changing the nature of the institution that serves them.” (Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges, 2020, p. 4) Georgia State’s desire is to meet students where they’re at instead of taking for granted that students will figure things out on their own. By the data, I’d say they’re on the right track and have set a standard for other universities to follow.
“Perhaps most importantly, the example of Georgia State shows that demographics are not destiny and achievement gaps are not inevitable. Low-income and underrepresented students can succeed at the same levels as their peers”
(Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges, 2020, p. 4).
Jayne Rohlfing
EDAC 698 Cultural Identities
Ball State University
May 1, 2021
References
Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges. (2020, June 17). Innovation in higher education: Georgia State University [Case study]. https://agb.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/case_study_innovation_georgia.pdf
Causey, J., Huie, F., Lang, R., Ryu, M., & Shapiro, D. (December 2020). Completing College 2020: A national view of student completion rates for 2014 entering cohort (Signature Report 19), National Student Clearinghouse Research Center.
Georgia State University. (2021). GPS Advising. https://success.gsu.edu/initiatives/gps-advising/
Georgia State University. (2021). Panther Retention Grants. https://success.gsu.edu/initiatives/panther-retention-grants/
Georgia State University. (2021). Student Success Programs. https://success.gsu.edu/approach/
Kamanetz, A. (2016, October 30). How One University Used Big Data To Boost Graduation Rates. NPR. https://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2016/10/30/499200614/how-one-university-used-big-data-to-boost-graduation-rates
Renick, T. M. (2020, December 16). A conversation on increasing student access and success [Keynote Speaker]. 2020 Student Advocates Conference, Indianapolis, IN, United States.
Tate, E. (2017, April 26). Graduation Rates and Race. Inside Higher Ed. https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2017/04/26/college-completion-rates-vary-race-and-ethnicity-report-finds
Varney, J. (2013). Proactive advising. In J. K. Drake, P. Jordan, & M. A. Miller (Eds.), Academic advising approaches: Strategies that teach students to make the most of college (pp. 137–154). Jossey-Bass.
Zinshteyn, M. (2016, April 25). The Growing College-Degree Wealth Gap. The Atlantic. https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2016/04/the-growing-wealth-gap-in-who-earns-college-degrees/479688/
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