April 22, 2019
By Clark Gilbert

Read Time

Two striking trends in American higher education are on a collision course. A worrisome number of undergraduates — more than six in ten — fail to complete their degrees on time. Meanwhile, the explosive growth of affordable, convenient online offerings is dramatically expanding college access for the very students most at risk of dropping out.

In other words, online learning is helping solve higher education’s access problem, but it may also be amplifying its completion problem.

Higher education leaders need to harness technology not just to enroll students but to support them through graduation – especially the most vulnerable undergrads.

This mission is at the heart of BYU-Pathway Worldwide’s efforts to serve first-generation and low-income students through affordable online learning. But we are always seeking ways to improve our work. To that end, with assistance from Strada Education Network, we recently organized an Online Student Success Symposium (OS3), a convening of like-minded organizations focused on student success.

. . .

The completion crisis facing American higher education shows that much of the traditional degree structure is not designed for the contemporary realities of student motivation, particularly for the students at the greatest risk.

. . .

Some of the participants were universities working directly with their students, like EdPlus at Arizona State University and Western Governors University. Others were service providers like InsideTrack and Straighterline that focus on mentoring students and providing other student support services. Presidents and their leadership teams gathered in Salt Lake City last fall to share insights around online student success and to learn from each other.

With permission from the OS3 participants, we decided to share the summary findings from the symposium publicly. Topics of our report include data analytics, curriculum, standards and measurement, and mentoring and coaching.

Participants reached consensus on five key takeaways or best practices:

• Understand current and future student populations
• Design online programs and courses to deliver personalized learning
• Leverage new technologies to optimize the impact of human coaching and mentoring
• Explore multiple models for building community
• Build a data-driven culture of innovation and accountability

The completion crisis facing American higher education shows that much of the traditional degree structure is not designed for the contemporary realities of student motivation, particularly for students at the greatest risk. This crisis continues because many universities have been hesitant to break with tradition and engage with new models to promote completion.

We share the report today in a spirit of collaboration and with a hope to expand the dialogue around online student completion and overall success.

Read the report here.

Clark Gilbert

President
BYU Pathways Worldwide
Learn More

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