Priorities for Undergraduate Education: Completion

The American Academy’s Commission on the Future of Undergraduate Education established Increasing Completion and Reducing Inequalities as a National Priority and proposes an array of recommendations for colleges, universities, and policy-makers. 

Learn more at amacad.org/undergrad.

Colleges and universities must make completion a top institutional priority, with a clear focus on understanding the diverse needs of students. Institutional resource allocation decisions must be viewed through the lens of whether investments are likely to increase student completion without compromising quality.

Priorities include: better data collection to enable institution-specific insights; providing students with opportunities to make meaningful, personalized connections with faculty and staff; paying more attention to understanding and assisting students from groups with the lowest completion rates; and expanding experimentation with and research on guided pathways designs.

Florida State has made a long term commitment to helping students succeed and graduate at higher rates.

For the past 20 years, a group of about 20 administrators from all facets of campus has met every two weeks to discuss the university’s strategic investments in areas such as tutoring and academic advising and coaching. They represent offices such as advising, admissions, institutional research — and even parking services.

Armed with data on Florida State’s students, they pinpoint the reasons why students aren’t returning to school or graduating. Then, they design solutions and make investments that help students succeed at higher rates.