You may have noticed a common link among the six UNC schools that graduate fewer than one in five incoming freshmen. Five of the six are historically black colleges and the sixth (UNC Pembroke) is an historically American Indian college.
Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, speaking at NC Central, challenged historically black colleges to do better. Duncan said, “This is not just about access — this is about attainment.” The Greensboro News & Record editorial board, perhaps unintentionally, wants to put some teeth in the challenge.
If the General Assembly wants to spend higher-education dollars more effectively, it should encourage and reward enrollment growth that results from higher retention rates. Why impose a 1 percent growth cap where students return for a second, third and fourth year in good academic standing? Send even more students to that campus! Instead, reduce enrollment where retention rates are poor and most students never graduate. Force those schools to work harder to advance students toward completion before admitting larger classes of new students.
We need to take this approach to more state programs. Let’s focus on results instead of intentions.
