~ Review ~

New Monograph from the National Center for Academic Transformation

Increasing Success for Underserved Students: Redesigning Introductory Courses

Many students who begin postsecondary education drop out before completing a degree. An estimated 60 percent of students at public institutions fail to complete degrees within five years, and half of these students leave during the freshman year. Graduation rates for African-American, Hispanic-American, Native-American and low-income students are lower than the overall average.

Research indicates that the first year of college is the most critical to a college student's success and to degree completion.

NCAT has issued a new monograph, supported by Lumina Foundation for Education, which is the result of an examination of how redesigning introductory courses can contribute to the success of traditionally underserved students (students of color, low-income students and adult students) and to disseminate that knowledge. The findings presented in the monograph are the outcome of NCAT’s analysis of a sub-set of 15 institutions with high percentages of the target student populations that participated in the Program in Course Redesign (PCR.) All 15 institutions increased student success and retention, while