There are many benefits of obtaining higher education, but perhaps the most obvious are the better economic opportunities that result from obtaining a postsecondary credential. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, individuals who have a bachelor’s degree will earn about $2.1 million over their lifetimes — about one-third more than those who start but do not complete college and nearly twice as much as those who only have a high school diploma. Additionally, college graduates are more likely to be employed: high school dropouts are five times as likely to be unemployed today as workers with degrees. Although the U.S. Department of Labor forecasts that 70 percent of all new jobs will require a postsecondary credential, 60 million adults currently lack one. There are non-economic benefits to going postsecondary education as well: Higher educational attainment has been shown to have positive effects on voting and other measures of civic engagement, and adults who have attended some college or earned a bachelor’s degree are more likely to report “excellent” or “very good” health than those who have only a high school diploma, even when they have comparable incomes.

 

Access to higher education has been greatly expanded since the mid-1960s. More students are attending college — both in real terms and as a percentage of the population — and they are demographically more diverse. Actions taken by the federal government clearly played a major part in these trends, though larger economic, demographic, and social forces were also at play. In addition, the growth of nonselective institutions like community colleges and, more recently, online courses and programs has made it easier for people to attend college even if they lack good preparation or are working while going to school.

 

Unfortunately, rates of persistence and credential completion remain distressingly low, particularly at community colleges — where only one third of all students who enter with the intention of earning a degree or certificate actually meet this goal within six years. The reasons behind this problem are myriad: some have to do with the students themselves (for instance, a lack of adequate preparation in the K-12 system and the challenge of balancing work, family, and school responsibilities) and others are the result of institutional or policy constraints (for instance, insufficient advising and financial aid, uncertainty over how to teach basic skills to adults, and constraints in course offerings and inflexible scheduling).

 

Many of MDRC’s studies use a random assignment research design to measure the effectiveness of new policies or programs designed to help students succeed. This approach —which is unusual in higher education research — involves a lottery-like process to place students into either a program group that receives a new service or intervention or a control group that receives the regular college services. Random assignment ensures that the demographic characteristics, educational histories, and motivation levels of students in both the program and control groups are the same at the start of the study. By tracking both groups over time and comparing their outcomes, MDRC is able to determine the impact, or “value added” of the program. This rigorous method of evaluation produces results that policymakers and practitioners can readily understand and trust.