Pell graduation rates at more than 1,100 public and private nonprofit institutions analyzed in a new Ed Trust report

WASHINGTON, Sept. 28, 2015 /PRNewswire-HISPANIC PR WIRE/ — Several recent reports have estimated a significant gap in the college completion rates of the low-income students who receive federal Pell grants and other college students, leading some to question the effectiveness of this investment of taxpayer dollars. But, according to a new report and online data tool released today by The Education Trust, the average graduation gap between Pell and non-Pell students at the institutional level is actually much smaller: only 5.7 percentage points. And more than a third of four-year colleges and universities have even smaller gaps or no gaps at all. These data deliver a powerful blow to those who question whether taxpayer dollars are being wasted or whether most low-income students are even capable of completing college.

To see Ed Trust’s page in Spanish, please scroll down to the bottom of the page in the gray section and using the “Translation” drop down, select Spanish.

The report, The Pell Partnership: Ensuring Shared Responsibility for Low-Income Student Success, provides Pell graduation rate data for 1,149 four-year public and private nonprofit colleges and universities. This is the first time information of this kind is widely available to the general public. But while this resource will provide pertinent information that policymakers, researchers, and students and their families have been waiting for — it’s not all good news.

“At the national level, the graduation rate for Pell Grant recipients is just 51 percent compared to 65 percent for non-Pell students,” said Andrew H. Nichols, director of higher education research and data analytics for Ed Trust and author of the report. “By closing existing gaps at the college level, especially the egregiously large gaps that exist in about one-third of four-year institutions, we can cut that gap in half. To go the remaining distance, though, we’ll have to take on the even more challenging matter of enrollment stratification, because where Pell students do and don’t enroll matters quite a bit.”

The research finds that roughly half of the 14 percentage-point completion gap in the sample is caused by enrollment stratification. Compared to non-Pell students, Pell students are twice as likely to attend institutions with very low graduation rates. Non-Pell students on the other hand, are much more likely to attend more selective institutions, where they have a better chance of completing a degree.

Ed Trust researchers spent a year gathering the data discussed in this report, using four primary sources:

• State higher education systems and coordinating bodies,
• Colleges and universities across the nation,
• U.S. News and World Report, and
• The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS).

Nichols notes large differences in student success among otherwise similar institutions. “While institutions may be similar in mission and in the type of students they enroll, they often have vastly different graduation results, especially for low-income students,” he said. The Trust’s paper provides compelling case studies that show campus leaders, administrators, and faculty have the power to equitably and effectively serve all of their students when they organize around student success.

This report comes on the heels of the Obama administration’s release of its revamped College Scorecard, along with massive amounts of new higher education data — including new Pell graduation data. While the author is encouraged by the release of these data, he notes its many limitations. Because the data are from the National Student Loan Data System, which was designed to track federal financial aid, they do not contain information on students who pay for college without financial aid, making good equity comparisons impossible.

“More college and university leaders need to follow the example of leading institutions and organize around the success of their Pell students. But if more institutions are to prioritize student success, Congress has work to do, too. We urge Congress to hold institutions that receive federal financial aid accountable for enrolling and graduating their fair share of Pell Grant recipients, as recommended in our Tough Love report,” said José Luis Santos, Ed Trust’s vice president of higher education policy and practice. “In addition, the federal government must require that institutions regularly report data on graduation rates for Pell Grant recipients. Parents, students, and policymakers deserve to know how their schools are doing.”

The Education Trust is a nonprofit advocacy organization that promotes high academic achievement for all students at all levels, pre-kindergarten through college. Its goal is to close the gaps in opportunity and achievement that consign far too many young people — especially those from low-income families or who are black, Latino or American Indian — to lives on the margins of the American mainstream.

CONTACT:
Nicolle Grayson
301-758-1602
[email protected]

WASHINGTON, Sept. 28, 2015 /PRNewswire-HISPANIC PR WIRE/ — Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant, Chair of Jobs for America’s Graduates, President of the Business Roundtable Governor John Engler and Executive Director of Gallup Education Brandon Busteed will deliver remarks at the 9^th annual National Thought Leaders Event being hosted by Jobs for America’s Graduates (JAG) September 30^th. 

The event will feature a series of panels and working sessions with 100 plus leaders from the public and private sectors that will focus on the development of policies and programmatic strategies to combat the nation’s vast unemployment problems that exist for at-risk and disadvantaged youths. A partial list of panelists includes:

Congressman Don Beyer – U.S. Representative, Virginia
Commissioner Mark Butler – Georgia Commissioner of Labor
Louisiana Representative Chris Broadwater – Representative, Louisiana House of Representatives
Dr. Mona Mourshed – Head of McKinsey’s Global Education Practice
Scott Sanders – Executive Director of the National Association of State Workforce Agencies
Luis Felipe Rodriguez Vega – Head of Commercial Sales in U.S. of Western Union
Brandon Busteed – Executive Director of Gallup Education 

Governor  Bryant, the Chair of JAG’s Board of Directors, will be joined by four co-host organizations including Hal Smith, Senior Vice President of Education of the National Urban League; Antonio Tijerino, President & CEO of the Hispanic Heritage Foundation; Neil Horikoshi, President & Executive Director of the Asian and Pacific Islander American Scholarship Fund, and Lynn Shotwell, Executive Director of the Council of Global Immigration (an affiliate of the Society for Human Resource Management) in hosting the event.   

The roundtable is expected to produce a specific set of proven or promising policy and programmatic recommendations that Governor Bryant and the nine other Governors on the JAG National Board of Directors can take directly to state, federal and private sector leaders that have the power to implement them.

WHAT: JAG’s ninth annual National Thought Leader Event, Policies and Programmatic Solutions to Historic Levels of Youth Unemployment

WHEN: Wednesday, September 30^th, 2015
8:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. 

Governor Bryant will deliver opening remarks at 8:10am.

WHERE: Gallup, Inc.
901 F Street NW
Washington, DC 20004

About JAG
Jobs for America’s Graduates (JAG) is a non-profit organization celebrating its 35^th anniversary with a proven track record of helping at-risk young people graduate from high school and make successful transitions to postsecondary education or meaningful employment.  JAG has served over 1 million youth. It is currently assisting approximately 50,000 young people in over 1,000 community high schools, middle schools, community colleges, and other learning locations in 32 states to achieve academic, career and life success. Some 90% of the youth in the JAG National Network have successfully graduated and over 80% are working, in college, or both a year after graduation. More information about JAG can be found at www.jag.org.