Increase College Completion

What Can Policymakers Do?

Explore strategies with promising results such as efforts to:

• Improve Articulation and Transfer Policies. Increasing transfer efficiency through effective statewide policies is one strategy to reduce duplication of courses and expedite completion. Arizona used budget language and later codfied changes in transfer policies. South Carolina required improvements to transfer policies through an employment revitalization bill. Louisiana established a comprehensive statewide approach to the articulation and transfer of students.

• Require Longitudinal Data. Collecting and reporting data through statewide longitudinal data systems provides the information needed to analyze progress towards identified goals. The Statewide Longitudinal Data Systems Grant Program administered by the U.S. Department of Education is open to all states interested in building or enhancing statewide data systems. In 2006, fourteen states became the first cohort in the process of creating statewide systems: Alaska; Arkansas; California; Connecticut; Florida; Kentucky; Maryland; Michigan; Minnesota; Ohio; Pennsylvania; South Carolina; Tennessee; and, Wisconsin.

•  Require Performance-based Funding. While most states still fund higher education based on enrollment policymakers can provide institutional incentives to increase degree completion through performance-based funding. This approach involves redirecting existing dollars by rewarding institutions for completion of courses and credentials instead of typical funding methods based on student enrollment, previous funding levels, and other factors unrelated to quality or effectiveness. The Indiana Commission for Higher Education identified performance funding as a key priority. Florida established performance-based funding for community colleges in 1994.