Seven Cities Launch Collaborative Efforts to Improve College Graduation Rates

The YEF Institute will serve as managing intermediary for the project, which seeks to boost college graduation rates by better coordinating the services that colleges, schools and cities provide to students. The initiative is part of the Gates Foundation’s postsecondary success strategy aimed at doubling the number of low-income young adults who earn postsecondary degrees or credentials by the age of 26.

Cities were selected through a highly competitive process from a pool of applicants from nine states of interest to the foundation. Selected cities include Dayton, Ohio; Jacksonville, Fla.; Mesa, Ariz.; New York; Riverside, Calif.; Phoenix; and San Francisco. These communities will forge partnerships among city, educational and community leaders to streamline services and evaluate and expand effective programs and policies to raise college completion rates.

The grants will support nine-month collaborative planning efforts in each of the seven cities. The foundation is considering investing additional money in 2010 to support the implementation and expansion of the most promising ideas that result from this planning.

Why Cities Are Targeting College Completion

Enrollment at the nation’s 1,200 community colleges is at an all-time high, yet two-thirds of those attending will not graduate within three years. Often it is not a question of effort. Rather, those students face multiple challenges: many are not academically ready for college-level work; they juggle school and family responsibilities; and many must work full-time while attending classes. Because the help that students need to overcome these obstacles comes from a range of agencies, it makes sense to explore new ways to coordinate that assistance.

“Cities have not traditionally been focused on postsecondary success, but that is changing,” said Donald J. Borut, executive director of NLC. “Recognizing that an educated work force forms the underpinning of a vibrant local economy, municipal leaders have turned new attention toward boosting college completion rates. The partnerships in these seven cities will help maximize limited resources to establish the foundations for long-term growth and vitality.”

In today’s global economy, a college degree or advanced training beyond high school is required for the best-paying jobs. Despite a near record-high unemployment rate, community colleges offer a bright outlook. The Bureau of Labor Statistics predicted recently that, over the next decade, jobs for community college graduates will grow nearly twice as fast as the national average.

But those jobs will only be available to those who graduate.

“The barriers preventing students from graduating are varied and complex, so we need governments, schools and social service groups to coordinate and target their efforts,” said Hilary Pennington, the director of Education, Postsecondary Success and Special Initiatives at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. “We need to make sure that those students who enroll in college successfully earn the credentials they seek.”

City Goals for College Success

The seven community colleges and city agencies that will receive grants are:

• Sinclair Community College in Dayton to strengthen partnerships, services, education, training and data systems and to support efforts by public schools, the city, the county and the community college to help low-income young people earn postsecondary credentials;
• Florida State College at Jacksonville to build upon the local efforts of Jacksonville Journey, Learning to Finish and Jacksonville Commitment, which coordinated efforts to lower neighborhood crime, cut the city’s high school dropout rate and boost the number of college graduates;
• Mesa Community College to facilitate the strategic planning process with the citywide P-20 center, the mayor’s office, Mesa Public Schools and Mesa Community College and make data-informed decisions to improve college access and completion;
• City of Phoenix to expand partnerships among the city, Maricopa Community College and Phoenix Union High School District to examine the relationship between the Arizona Instrument to Measure Standards, course taking and college readiness and to improve college completion rates of disconnected youth;
• City of New York to develop a citywide, systematic approach to college readiness and success by building on a unique K-16 data-sharing agreement and innovative partnership between the mayor’s office, New York City Department of Education, City University of New York and community organizations;
• Riverside City College to explore how the city, community college district, community college and schools districts can work together to produce 100,000 more college graduates by 2025; and
  
• Interagency Council, City and County of San Francisco to support its Postsecondary Partnership and unify the efforts of the city school district, City College of San Francisco and the city and county government aimed at doubling college completion rates.

Details: To learn more about Communities Learning in Partnership, visit www.nlc.org/iyef or contact Kate Sandel at (202) 626-3046 or sandel@nlc.org.