Reversing the trend will require stakeholders, from college administrators to state legislators, to act with urgency and pragmatism. The following four shifts are crucial for this to occur: 

First, high school college counselors and university admissions teams must frame college as a financial investment. Nationally, men cite college’s financial burden as a major factor for not enrolling, while women are overrepresented in the lowest-paying majors. This signals that it’s time to abandon the framing of college as an endeavor that is more social than academic. Despite growing angst about crushing student loan debt, college visits and marketing materials still often focus on factors like niche interest clubs, sorority rushes, sports teams and events, or a school’s geographical location. These non-academic factors drive college selection and spending and help to explain why twice as many American first-year students live on campus as their Canadian counterparts. 

College’s foremost value proposition lies in aligning advanced skills with marketplace demands, including forecasted trends. For instance, the demand for data scientists is from 2023 to 2033 — much faster than the average job growth rate. College advisers need to crunch the numbers with students and their families to ensure they are aware of the variety of professions, trades and the earning power of various college degrees.

Second, state legislators need to make it a central priority to expand opportunities for high schoolers to earn college credit. Entering college with some credits already in hand is like starting at first base instead of home plate. States can look to Ohio’s College program, which funds qualifying students’ costs to acquire college credits in high school.

Meanwhile, schools and districts can implement early college and dual-enrollment programs, Advanced Placement courses and the credit-by-testing College Level Examination Program are available for free or at a nominal cost. They can trim tuition expenses, bolster students’ self-perception as capable of succeeding in higher education, increase the odds of graduation and shorten the time to earn a degree by a semester, a year or more. In  England, for example, a standard university degree takes three years to complete and the graduation rate hovers around 80%; in the U.S., earning a degree takes four years — or more — the graduation rate is about 50%, and have some college education but no degree at all.

Third, college administrators and deans should take advantage of advances in artificial intelligence to increase graduation rates. In 2016, John Jay College used AI and predictive analytics to identify seniors at risk of not graduating. The initiative boosted completion rates by 34%, adding 600 graduates in the two-year pilot. AI predictive modeling is now in use at multiple City University of New York campuses and has increased graduation rates at state schools like Georgia State University by a significant percentage. Use of this technology to identify and follow up with vulnerable students is important, because everyone benefits when more seniors graduate from college on time. 

Fourth, education policymakers across the country need to embrace the fact that not everyone wants, or needs, to go to college. Bachelor’s degrees do confer significant advantages for those who earn them, but there are other postsecondary pathways to fulfilling, well-compensated vocations. For example, electricians, who gain entry to their trade through apprenticeships or technical schools, earn a median salary of $62,350 per year — more than $10,000 above the national average of all workers — while dental hygienists train in community college and have a median pay of $94,260 yearly. 

Intriguing coursework and exciting social escapades do make for memorable undergraduate experiences, but college is not summer camp; it is an investment in Americans’ individual and collective futures. In the face of declining enrollment, now is the time for policymakers, high school counselors and university administrators to respond to new realities by making these needed changes.

On a recent rainy day, several dozen students sat in a UC Riverside classroom, planning their path to college.

These weren’t high school seniors. They were seventh graders getting a jump-start on the competitive university application process. They’re part of a university program called the Middle School Initiative that aims to get Inland Empire students thinking about higher education long before they take their first AP class or submit an application.

With a four-year college graduation rate about half the , the Inland Empire is falling behind in educating students for well-paid, professional jobs, limiting the economic prospects of the region’s youngest inhabitants. In an effort to raise that ceiling, educators are trying to get tweens to envision their potential for a college education and career. 

The students from Riverside middle schools discussed how to write college application essays, toured the university campus and learned about admission standards for California universities. 

“I like that there’s something you can do in middle school so you can do more in high school,” said 13-year-old Simone Reid, a seventh-grader at Villegas Middle School who wants to major in business. “I want to get started early so I have more opportunities.”

UC Riverside Dean of Education Joi Spencer said she introduced the program this year to reach students who might not consider attending a university, or know how to prepare for it. Middle grades “are where kids get sorted into who’s going to go to college and who’s not,” she said.

The initiative aims to change that pattern. With an annual budget of $15,200, the program launched has so far reached 500 students, including more than 300 who joined campus tours at UC Riverside.

“Our first goal is to invoke a conversation across the Inland Empire related to university access and eventual success,” Spencer said. “First and foremost, too many youngsters do not even see university attendance as a possibility for them. This is our fault as adults and educators. We keep producing the same winners and losers in education and we need to break this cycle.”

The Middle School Initiative is open to students throughout Riverside and San Bernardino counties, with Jurupa, Moreno Valley, Alvord and Riverside Unified school districts among the first participants. Any students in the Inland Empire can participate, but in the early days of the program, administrators have prioritized students who have fallen through the cracks in class.

“Some of the students are high flyers, but are somehow overlooked in their school setting,” Spencer said. “Others may have average achievement, but high aspirations.”

The program isn’t just an introduction to college readiness. Program administrators plan to follow students along their academic journey, meeting with them throughout middle and high school and during the transition to college. They will also track college enrollment of students who participate in a related summer program called the STEAM Academy, which increases exposure to the fields of science, technology, education, art and math.

“This middle school period is the pivotal period to prepare for college,” said Elizabeth Benitez, Middle School Initiative coordinator.

For instance, she said, many middle schools have foreign language options. Taking that early, in seventh or eighth grade, can pave the way for advanced placement language classes in high school, which boost students’ grade point averages and allow them to earn credits for college. 

Some students may be a step ahead because of their family background, Frances Calvin, director of the university’s Early Academic Outreach Program, told the group. During the campus workshop she asked seventh graders to raise their hands if they spoke a second language. Several responded that they spoke Spanish, Portuguese or other languages at home.

“If you speak a second language you are becoming marketable because the world is getting smaller and smaller,” Calvin said.

Students at the campus event said they clearly heard the message about academic achievement and vowed to work on raising their grade-point averages.

“I personally think I should focus more on my GPA,” said Dike Okeke, 12. “Then when I have that figured out I could find work to save for college.”

Money matters loom large for many of the students, especially those hoping to be the first in their family to attend a university. The initiative offers instruction on how to fill out financial aid forms and tips on finding scholarships. Students can come back to the program later in high school to seek help with that process, Benitez said.

“My family didn’t have the resources to experience college,” said Jeremiah Stinson, 12, who aims to study business and play college football. “I think I need to start saving money to afford this. I need to focus on a scholarship. Debt lasts forever. I don’t want to struggle with that.”

Interestingly, the seventh graders also discussed personal discipline, and almost universally acknowledged that they needed to curtail electronics use and pay attention to school.

“I also need to get rid of all my devices because I spend a lot of time on social media,” said Tatum Tobios, an aspiring fashion designer who favors Victorian Gothic styles and plans to go to art school.

Her peers nodded in agreement. How will they scale back their TikTok and Instagram habits? 

Some of their solutions: “Delete the apps,” “Lock them away,” “Give it to my mom,” “Hide it from myself.”

Students attending South Dakota public universities may soon face a civics proficiency requirement to graduate.

Students will take three credits worth of civics education — either new classes created to meet the requirement or a general education class already in place that meets the standard. Students will not have to take more credits to graduate, said Shuree Mortenson, spokeswoman for the system.

“The student will be able to select from a list of courses that have been deemed as fulfilling that civics proficiency,” Mortenson said.

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The South Dakota Board of Regents held its first reading of the general education during its Thursday meeting at Black Hills State University in Spearfish. The policy will have its second reading in April and could become effective for new and transfer students in fall 2025, if approved.

“This requirement reflects our commitment to fostering informed and responsible citizens ready to meet the challenges of today’s society,” Executive Director Nathan Lukkes said in a news release.

The change comes amid a renewed focus on in the state. The South Dakota Department of Education will implement in 2025. The Legislature approved nearly $1 million this year to create a at Black Hills State to help prepare civics programming and curriculum statewide.

House Majority Leader Scott Odenbach, R-Spearfish, an advocate for more civics education, said he’s hopeful and enthusiastic about the regents’ change.

“The next generation in our universities will be leading our country one day,” he said. “Whatever major they have, they need to be able to take the reins of government.”

Civics proficiency will be defined as a student’s understanding of civic knowledge, values and skills, “enabling them to actively participate in civic life as informed and responsible citizens.”

The Board of Regents said key learning outcomes for the new requirement include:

• Civic knowledge: understanding the American political system, including foundational concepts such as the Constitutional framework, participatory democracy and the evolution of institutions.
• Civic values: articulating “core principles” of democracy, justice and equality, and applying them to modern and historic situations.
• Civic skills: communicating viewpoints on political issues, engaging in civil discourse and analyzing the impact of participation on democratic processes.

“The pendulum is moving in the right direction,” Odenbach said. “We’ll keep an eye on it. We’ll see if it’s enough.”

is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. South Dakota Searchlight maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Seth Tupper for questions: info@southdakotasearchlight.com.

Many college students don’t have enough time for their studies. This “,” as we call it, is often due to inadequate child care access or the need to work to pay for college and living expenses.

It’s graduation weekend for North Dakota’s public colleges, with the University of North Dakota and North Dakota State University accounting for more than half of the degrees and certificates to be handed out.

Which of the nine remaining schools would be next in line? If you guessed Bismarck State College, you get an A.

UND accounts for about 33% of the graduates and NDSU 28%, according to 2023 figures. Bismarck State accounts for 9.6% of program completions.

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Not all the program completions mean a two-year or four-year degree.

Bismarck State offers a list of certificate programs that are less than one year, such as mobile app development, as well as  two-year programs such as nursing and a few four-year programs.

She said that in the last year alone, out of the 210 academic programs that came through the North Dakota University System office and were approved by the State Board of Higher Education, 142 out of those were certificate programs.

“Some of that is just campuses looking at programs, for example, an associate degree, and thinking about how to bundle, how to repackage existing programs into smaller sort of increments that students might complete as a certificate, possibly even as a student in high school,” Johnson said.

While the number of graduates from North Dakota colleges and universities has declined almost 6% in the past five years, the number of program completions is down only about 3%, with some students completing multiple degrees or certificates.

Johnson looked at data from 2019 through 2023, the last year of complete data on program completions that includes fall, spring and summer graduates.

While the 11 public colleges are having their graduations either Friday or Saturday this weekend, Johnson said the data for the 2024 class isn’t finalized just yet.

She said the graduation trend aligns with the enrollment trend.

A factor in recruiting students is the strong job market. The unemployment rate in North Dakota was at just 2% as of March.

The number of graduates for the spring semester, as compiled by the NDUS office, are:

• North Dakota State University – 1,988
• University of North Dakota – 1,896
• Bismarck State College – 903
• North Dakota State College of Science – 660
• Minot State University – 385
• Dickinson State University – 224
• Dakota College at Bottineau – 179
• Lake Region State College – 145
• Mayville State University –  138
• Williston State College – 136
• Valley City State University – 119

Many of the certificate programs are aimed at filling specific needs in the workforce, such as meat cutting at North Dakota State College of Science and Dickinson State University.

Some are designed to help professionals acquire or maintain a license.

“Sometimes teachers will come back and get a certificate, for example, working with individuals on the autism spectrum, because that was something they didn’t have when they went through college,” Johnson said. “But maybe they’ve changed jobs, or they’re trying to have some additional job responsibilities, so these certificates nicely complement those without having to return to get an entire two year or four year degree in these very specific areas.”

Other certifications may be for personal enjoyment or a side business.

“You’ll see photography and digital design, and those two meet the needs of the community from a different angle,” Johnson said.

Outcomes are starkly different for those who have that opportunity. High-achieving Black, Latino and lower-income students who do gain access to advanced math classes in high school have better academic outcomes across multiple measures: stronger high school graduation rates, higher GPAs and greater college admission and persistence rates. They were also more likely to attend a highly selective college and earn more STEM credits there, a pathway to landing lucrative jobs in those fields.

Just Equations and The Education Trust released their report Thursday. Together, they analyzed eight years of data following 23,000 ninth graders from 900 private and public schools throughout the country, information collected by the National Center for Education Statistics. The study group was tracked through high school and college starting in 2009. 

Both Ed Trust and Just Equations advocate for educational equality with a focus on children who have been traditionally underserved. Earlier research cited in the report shows Black, Latino and impoverished students, regardless of their capabilities, are less likely to be assigned AP math courses, enroll in STEM majors or attend top-tier colleges than their wealthier, white or Asian peers.

“This study challenges the notion that access to advanced math courses is purely the byproduct of talent and academic achievement,” said Melodie Baker, national policy director at Just Equations. “Our analysis confirmed that all too often, factors such as race, wealth and privilege — rather than students’ aptitude and proficiency — can be hidden prerequisites for access to courses that lead to STEM and college opportunity.”

While 46% of high-achieving Asian students, 19% of white students, and 29% of students from high socio-economic backgrounds took college-level AP/International Baccalaureate calculus by the end of high school, just 10% of Black, 15% of Latino and 11% of lower-income high-achievers did the same. 

Race and income disparities in high school graduation rates appear to level off for this high-achieving, underrepresented group when they take advanced math courses: 99% of Asian and white students, 98% of Black students, and 96% of Latino and lower-income students graduated in four years. Four-year high school graduation rates declined among all high-achievers who did not take advanced math classes and gaps opened up along racial and socioeconomic lines, although the drop in graduation rates was starkest for Asian students and least-felt by affluent students.

“We know that it is so important for students to feel engaged and that their learning experiences are relevant,” said Ivy Smith Morgan, EdTrust’s director for P12 research and data analytics. “What this conjures for me is the anecdotes about students who are so smart but stop paying attention in class because they are not challenged. They are not getting the opportunities that align with their ability.”

Smith Morgan noted U.S. students’ performance in mathematics as compared to their peers internationally has been highly scrutinized for years, with last week’s release of the latest PISA scores showing unprecedented 13-point declines for American students and an average 15-point loss globally. The U.S., still reeling from COVID learning loss, along with other countries, now ranks 26th in its math scores. Smith Morgan said a failure to mine students’ talents will have dire economic implications. 

“What we are talking about is losing a future workforce with the skills, training and technical knowledge we need to fill all of the STEM jobs that will exist — not the ones we have right now, but the ones we have not even thought of yet,” she said. “We are shooting ourselves in the foot.” 

The study notes the disparity in opportunity starts well before students enter high school: Just 24% of Black students, 34% of Latino students, and 25% of students from low-socioeconomic backgrounds took Algebra I or higher in eighth grade, compared with 39% of white children, 64% of their Asian peers and 57% of students from higher income backgrounds. 

“Anyone who is paying attention knows that our mathematics education systems are deeply inequitable,” said David Kung, director of strategic partnerships at The Charles A. Dana Center in Austin. “Black, brown and poor students get shafted when it comes to access, teaching and advising.”

The Dana Center, which seeks to ensure all students have access to excellent math and science education, has been working with several states across the nation as part of its to revamp mathematics curriculum, making equity and student interest a top priority.  

“This report is another reminder that whenever there are decisions to be made —  to take algebra in 8th grade, to enroll in an advanced math class, to apply to college, to choose a STEM path — equity gaps open,” Kung said. “We must reform our systems so those critical transitions are smoother, especially for students from groups we have historically under-supported.”

The new study found, too, that high-achieving underserved students who took more challenging high school mathematics coursework often had math teachers who established clear goals and school counselors who set high standards. Such positive influences may have aided in their success. 

Researchers say 74% of Black and 81% of Latino high-achieving students who were enrolled in advanced high school mathematics courses went on to follow a standard process of getting into and staying enrolled at college after high school. 

Not so for those who did not: Only 58% of Black students and 53% of Latino high-achieving students who did not take these classes had that same outcome. Results were similar for students from lower-income backgrounds: 77% of those who took advanced math courses experienced standard college enrollment and persistence versus 53% who did not take more challenging courses.  

The study showed Black and Latino high-achieving students who took advanced math courses in high school had better first-year college GPAs: roughly 0.5 points higher. Lower income students had a 0.6-point gain. 

EdTrust and Just Equations recommends Congress support and incentivize state and district leaders to greatly expand access to challenging coursework in all topics, including math. 

They said, too, that the government should increase funding for whole-child support services that would allow districts to hire an appropriate number of well-trained restorative justice coordinators, school counselors, psychologists and nurses. 

States and districts should also boost professional development efforts and coaching with the goal of reducing bias and incorporating anti-racist mindsets. 

They can also automatically enroll students in higher-level math courses, like the Dallas school system, which moved from an opt-in model to an opt-out policy in the 2019-20 school year. The followed that example: Gov. Abbott, earlier this year, signed that requires the automatic enrollment of children in advanced math based on their test scores, not on a recommendation. 

The Commit Partnership, a Dallas-based nonprofit focused on education, applauded the move. Chelsea Jeffery, its chief regional impact officer, said she looks forward to other districts doing the same, not only changing their policies but providing students with the support necessary to graduate high school ready for college and the workforce. 

“We celebrate Dallas ISD for their innovative approach to this critical subject area and to policymakers for passing legislation that will benefit our students and community,” she said. 

The study classified a student as high-achieving if they passed — with an A, B, or C — Algebra I or higher in middle school. Others who made the cut scored in the highest one-fifth on a math assessment given to students in ninth grade. 

Disclosure: The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation provides financial support to Just Equations, The Education Trust, The Charles A. Dana Center and ����Ӱ��.