| Not everyone who sets out on a path toward an | | | | difficult to keep up even with their studies, 2000 and |
| online degree sticks with the program. About one in | | | | 2010 reports respectively in the Chronicle of Higher |
| every two Americans who begin college distance | | | | Education and USA Today noted. |
| learning or traditional college never finish it, according | | | | Rising to the Challenge recommends that colleges and |
| to the Lumina Foundation of Education. Now, some | | | | universities focus on and commit to high levels of |
| states are working to improve college graduation | | | | retention and completion; that they provide Hispanic |
| rates. | | | | students with better consumer information, including |
| Through an alliance known as Complete College | | | | information about schools within their academic and |
| America, representatives from 17 states plan to | | | | financial reach and schools with successful Hispanic |
| work with colleges and universities to improve | | | | student track records; that schools improve financial |
| graduation rates, according to a March 2010 | | | | aid counseling and that students are encouraged to |
| Associate Press report. As part of a separate | | | | attend more selective schools if they qualify. Rising |
| initiative intended to boost college completion rates, | | | | to the Challenge also suggested tying university aid |
| Rhode Island, Connecticut, Massachusetts, | | | | to school performance standards, including student |
| Pennsylvania, Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire and | | | | graduation and labor-market success, rather than on |
| New Mexico plan to next year allow high school | | | | enrollment. |
| students to take college entry exams in the 10th | | | | It's becoming increasingly unusual for students, |
| grade. Students who pass the exams have the | | | | particularly working adults, to enroll at one institution |
| option to earn their diplomas immediately and move | | | | and remain there for their entire college education, |
| on to community college, while others would have a | | | | the American Council on Education has reported. |
| better idea early on of what's expected at the | | | | Some 60 percent of bachelor's degree recipients |
| college level and be able to retest in their junior and | | | | attend more than one institution - in some instances |
| senior years, The New York Times reported. | | | | taking classes at two different institutions |
| Maintaining alternative high school credentials or a | | | | simultaneously or moving among multiple institutions, |
| full-time job, delaying college entry, having | | | | with non-enrollment intervals in between, the council |
| dependents and attending college part-time have | | | | noted. Studies related to online college programs |
| been among the risk factors associated with not | | | | have shown a strong relationship between student |
| completing college, according to U.S. Department of | | | | self-motivation and academic persistence, according |
| Education info cited from the Pew Research Center. | | | | to the Distance Learning Association report. Studies |
| A student's single parent and financially independent | | | | and reports have also suggested that successful |
| status can also make a difference, the information | | | | distance learning programs include those where |
| suggests. African-American and Hispanic | | | | instructors maintain some form of personal contact |
| undergraduates at the time maintained more of | | | | with students, let them know what's required of |
| these risk factors than white undergraduates did, the | | | | coursework, respond quickly to their questions and |
| research center reported. | | | | concerns, offer interaction through message boards |
| The percentage of minority college students, and | | | | and similar technology and provide flexible course |
| Hispanic students particularly, has been increasing, | | | | formats that better enable them to schedule studies |
| according to the National Center for Education | | | | between work and family responsibilities. |
| Statistics. A recent American Enterprise Institute for | | | | Colleges, universities and non-profit organizations such |
| Public Policy report confirmed that fewer Hispanic | | | | as the Lumina Foundation and the National |
| students complete college than those of other racial | | | | Association of System Heads have, like states, been |
| and ethnic groups. Only 51 percent of Hispanics at the | | | | making strides to improve college graduation rates. |
| average college or university complete a bachelor's | | | | One university in Texas has long offered an online |
| degree in six years as compared with 59 percent of | | | | bachelor's degree program that it touts as a degree |
| white students at those same schools, the "Rising to | | | | completion program and that reportedly provides as |
| the Challenge" report noted. | | | | many as 59 hours of college credit for technical and |
| Likewise, enrollments in online college classes, which | | | | experiential credit. A community college and a |
| the Council for Adult and Experiential Learning says | | | | university in Arizona have more recently begun |
| tend to appeal particularly to adults, also are rising. | | | | working together to point students toward |
| Online college enrollment for fall 2008 had increased | | | | coursework that's required for certain degrees, to |
| by 17 percent over the previous year, with 4.6 million | | | | guarantee these students university admission and to |
| students - or one-quarter of all college students - | | | | make them eligible for limits on annual tuition |
| taking at least one online college class, according to a | | | | increases, according to a March report in the Sierra |
| Sloan Consortium study. One study dating back to | | | | Vista Herald. A California college is working to add a |
| 2000 found that online college drop out rates can | | | | personal touch to online classes by employing a |
| extend beyond 40 percent at some institutions, | | | | program that allows professors to deliver lessons and |
| according to a report from the United States | | | | messages to students with Webcam video |
| Distance Learning Association. Students who choose | | | | recordings and to use the service, Skype, for live, |
| the flexibility of online learning because they're too | | | | video conversations with students, the USA Today |
| busy to enroll in classroom courses might find that it's | | | | article reported. |