In its 2005-2013 Strategic Plan, Florida’s Board of Governors calls for “a revised funding formula that rewards retention and graduation.” While this proposal is being presented as a way to improve academic performance throughout the State University System, a study by the American Federation of Teachers suggests this type of policy could do the very opposite.Lawrence Gold and Lindsay Albert, who serve as director and senior associate of ATF Higher Education respectively, have raised serious questions about the increasingly popular idea of using college six-year graduation rates as criterion in funding.
Their report, entitled “Graduation Rates as a Measure of College Accountability,” outlines a number of pitfalls with tying college budgets to six-year graduation rates.
A simple look at six-year grades rates does “not take into account students who transfer from one college to another, students who attend part-time at some point during their college careers, students who have financial responsibilities that prevent them from graduating quickly, or students who enter college to improve their job skills and not necessarily to obtain a degree,” the authors wrote.
For example, part-time students make up about 40 percent of America’s college student population. Six-year grad rates fail to recognize how part time status affects a student’s ability to complete a baccalaureate degree quickly.
Tying funding to six-year grad rates could also “create a perverse incentive,” according to the authors. Colleges will be tempted to scale back their low income student populations, which usually take longer to graduate due to their lack of money for courses, or water down academic standards.
Grade inflation has been a big problem in the SUS for decades. If grade inflation isn’t fixed before dollars are attached to graduation and retention rates, then the problem will just get worse. Professors will be under pressure to further shrink the already tiny number of students who receive “F’s” – regardless of whether those failing grades are warranted.
Read the full report here.