Every school day, throngs of University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa students pour out of the thousands of classrooms scattered across campus, but only about one out of every two of the over-14,000 undergraduates who attend UH Mānoa will receive a degree from the university within six years, according to Complete College America (CCA), a nonprofit organization UH recently joined along with 16 other states in an effort to boost graduation rates. 

Out of every 100 Hawai‘i students who enter the ninth grade, 32 percent will drop out before completing high school, according to CCA. Forty percent of the 100 students will go on to attend college (18 percent in a four-year school and 22 percent in a community college), with 24 percent making it through their freshman year and returning for their sophomore year.

Out of the 100 students, 3 percent will graduate “on time” from a four-year college and 4 percent from community colleges, according to CCA.

Tom Sugar, CCA senior vice president, said that the way some college’s curriculum is organized is outdated to educate modern students.

“A lot of people don’t realize that when you typically think of a college student, the old ideal was he goes away to college, he receives support from mom and dad, he lives on campus, he goes full time – sort of the “Joe College” idea – when in fact he only represents about 25 percent of college kids today,” Sugar said. “The modern American majority is made up of college students who balance work and school and family ... and they’ve got a lot of balls in the air and they are doing their best to juggle all these things.”

Sugar said as a result of colleges not being able to better accommodate these busy students, the college careers of many are extended.

“There are a lot of things that can be done to reinvent higher education, to make it a better match for the modern student,” Sugar said, “and as a result, they’ll move through quickly through higher education and they’ll be much more likely to succeed.”

He said some general areas colleges should focus on are better transfer credit policies, moving students through remediation courses with more efficiency and the availability of classes.

Sugar said that by 2020, 60 percent of jobs that pay a “decent living” – enough so that students “can have enough income to raise a family and enjoy success in (their) career” – will require some sort of college degree. Currently 41 percent of adults 25 to 34 in Hawai‘i have a college degree, according to CCA.

WHAT UH IS DOING

John Morton, vice president for UH community colleges, said in an e-mail that by joining CCA and receiving funding support from sponsors that include Carnegie Corporation of New York, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Ford Foundation, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and Lumina Foundation for Education, UH hopes “to learn what’s working and what is not and share our experiences in trying to improve graduation rates.

“Hawai‘i’s relative isolation sometimes makes it difficult to understand what is the best practice and what will translate into better success here in Hawai‘i,” Morton said. “The conversation that occurs through participation in Complete College America will help us make better decisions.”

Last February, UH President M.R.C. Greenwood announced plans for the Hawai‘i Graduation Initiative, which aims to increase the number of UH graduates by 25 percent by 2015.

Morton said completion of that goal will require more funding as the economy settles down for facilities to “ensure that facilities create the kind of learning environment that we need for our faculty and students” and other needs, as well as “flexibility in operations” that will allow UH to “improve operations and save money.”

“Put simply, we want to achieve a common vision of what UH can and should be for its students and Hawai‘i that is shared by the governor, the Legislature, the Board of Regents and UH, and that is well understood by the public,” Morton said.

He said other initiatives UH is involved in to increase graduation rates is the American Diploma Project, which focuses on preparing students in kindergarten through 12th grade for college.

UH’s four-year degree campuses are also focusing on the college experiences of freshman and sophomores, increasing financial aid for students, and making the transition from community colleges smoother, according to Morton.

Sen. Jill Tokuda, chair of the state senate higher education committee and part of the Hawaii CCE team, said she thinks the Hawaii P-20 initiative, which has the goal of 55 percent of Hawaii citizens attaining either a two-year or four-year college degree by 2025, will also play a role in helping to increase graduation rates in the state.

“Our P-20 initiative is prime example of why I think Hawaii is really positioned to be successful in this particular initiative, because we have a unified system from K to 12 as well as a single system for higher education,” Tokuda said. “So that being the case it really puts us in a good position to be able to work toward the goals that are set out in Complete College America.”

UH is also continuing to work on increasing Native Hawaiian enrollment through the “Achieving the Dream” initiative, which is funded by OHA and Kamehameha Schools. Morton said this program has played a major role in Native Hawaiians now accounting for 22 percent of UH’s community college students. UH has also created a Second Century Scholarship, which provides $1.65 million in scholarships for Native Hawaiians, and each UH campus is represented in the Pukoa Council, which advocates for UH’s Native Hawaiian students. 

“THE PATH FORWARD”

According to CCA’s Web site, “the path forward” for higher education is for state leaders to require more from colleges and universities. This includes more support from the state and taxpayers, setting goals and observing progress, demanding accountability from the state government, students and higher education institutions, more transparency from universities and colleges, and making it easier for students to transfer between colleges.

Tokuda said that she hopes the CCE doesn’t just focus on how government can assist the university system, but also how the community and business sector can help improve higher education as well.

“I think at the end of the day in order for an initiative like this to be successful we all have to be working together … to look at ways all of us can work to support our university,” Tokuda said.

Tokuda said she thinks the CCE is a very good first step for Hawaii to come together as a state to make higher education a priority.

“I think the people of Hawaii have to recognize we all have some connection to our university system, whether you are a student there or an alumni, whether you have a child who attends one of the campuses, or whether you have a doctor or lawyer or employee who has come out of the UH system, we all have some connection to the University of Hawaii and its up to us to support higher education here in Hawaii,” Tokuda said.

 Sugar said as each year passes and technology becomes more sophisticated higher education becomes increasingly important.

“Look at the economic data: the more education you have the more money you’ll make and the less likely you are to have extended periods of unemployment,” he said. “So it’s clear (higher education) is good for families, it’s good for states, and clearly it’s good for our country.”