Posts published on March 26, 2011

New Studies On Undocumented College Students And Remediation

COLLEGE REMEDIATION – Utilizing data from the Colorado departments of education and higher education, a paper from the Colorado Department of Education shows that students needing remediation in their first year of college could have been identified by an examination of their state assessment results as early as 6th grade.

UNDOCUMENTED COLLEGE STUDENTS – A report from the American Association of State Colleges and Universities looks at state policies regarding undocumented college students.

Obama Proposes Small programs For College Completion

On Tuesday, March 22, Vice President Joe Biden unveiled a 23-page “toolkit” (PDF) of seven low- or no-cost policies governors can employ to improve college completion rates, along with state targets (PDF) for meeting President Obama’s 2020 goal of having the highest proportion of college graduates in the world by 2020. The toolkit includes recommendations to set state college completion goals, embrace performance funding and reach out to adults who have completed some college credits but who have not yet obtained a degree. The vice president also called on each governor to host a college completion summit and announced a $20 million grant program under the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE)’s Comprehensive Program for states seeking to improve college success and productivity.

In addition, the Obama administration’s FY2012 budget proposal (PDF) includes a $123 million “First in the World” incentive for programs that contain tuition, improve college completion rates and help students complete college in a timely manner. The budget proposal also recommends a $50 million College Completion Incentive Grant program that would fund states and schools for systemic reforms that generate better student outcomes. Congress will consider this request as part of the FY2012 budget process.