Higher education officials from throughout the country announced an initiative today (Tuesday) to increase the number of college graduates by 3.8 million in the next 13 years.
The Association of Public Land-Grant Universities and the American Association of State Colleges and Universities say their joint initiative will help generate employment, rebuild the middle class, make the United States more competitive on the global stage, and improve the country’s overall quality of life. Five hundred state colleges and universities have committed to the associations’ initiative, including UMass and UConn.
Elsa Núñez, president of Eastern Connecticut State University says colleges in Connecticut will increase graduation rates in part by graduating students who have dropped out of the state’s schools. They will be contacted by Governor Dannell Malloy.
“Governor Malloy is sending a letter to every single person in the state of Connecticut that left school, left college without a degree, and that letter will invite them back, there will be no application fee for them to be readmitted.”
Núñez says offering online courses, and guaranteeing that community college credits can be transferred to four-year institutions are important aspects of increasing graduation rates.
Officials with the two sponsoring organizations say there’s no national or state funding attached to the initiative, but they add there are many programs and funds at individual colleges and universities dedicated to increasing graduation rates.