Of the questions that preoccupy incoming college students — financial, scheduling, housing, belonging — advisors report that the choice of major and career path is the most anxiety-inducing. After all, isn’t choosing the right major the ticket to a successful career and life? Unfortunately, most students feel undue pressure to discover the perfect major.
Read MoreHartford has 11 colleges and universities downtown or nearby — including the newly opened UConn Hartford — but that alone doesn’t make the city a college town.
“A lot of towns would be jealous to have this many colleges,” said Richard Sugarman, who is president of Hartford Promise, but he said the schools don’t yet have the kind of presence that seeps into the community and transforms it.
“It’s a mutual thing where the community feels connected and informed and engaged by the college,” Sugarman said, “and the college feels connected, informed and engaged by the community.”
Read MoreThe degree to which college students are capable of successfully moving from matriculation to graduation, described as “retention” or “persistence,” should be a concern for all of us. Employers regularly complain that the skills needed for the workplace are lacking. Policy wonks lament the declining ratio of productive workers to retirees, now about three to one, down drastically from decades ago – an ominous threat to the solvency of the Social Security system, as well as the viability of the economy and the health care system.
Read MoreIn a discussion of high school graduation, the transition to college, and obstacles that must be overcome, CHERE Director David Johnston was interviewed on WNPR, along with local college students higher education leaders and local higher education reporters.
Read MoreHigher education seems to be splitting into two different socioeconomic camps: one for high school grads coming from "advantage" backgrounds (increasingly the minority of college-bound students), heading off to pricey private colleges or prestigious state universities (e.g., UConn), and the growing majority of underrepresented, first generation and otherwise challenged students often lacking the "back home" support to thrive in higher ed.
Read More
More College Graduates are Staying in Connecticut
By nearly every metric, student mental health is worsening.
The American Psychological Association examines what’s happening on campus…
Contribute to CHERE
CHERE Internships
Thank you to all our CHERE contributors. Learn how you can support our work...
Links & Resources
CHERE was featured on EventBuzz, the podcast of PurplePass. Listen here.
“ To improve graduation rates, we must identify and advance the best solutions. CHERE brings people together to do just that. ”
“ CHERE works diligently to advance collaborative efforts aimed at improving student retention in higher education. ”
“ CHERE convenes programs and workshops designed to improve policies and practices that will lead to higher college retention. ”
“ We cannot afford up to half of community college students and a third of state university students not surviving freshman year, not graduating, and not entering the workforce at their potential. ”
“ CHERE is committed to working collaboratively and recognizes the significant and ongoing contributions by organizations and individuals in Connecticut and nationwide. ”
CHERE IS A PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM OF HIGHER HEIGHTS
Contact CHERE
Copyright © 2024
Center for Higher Education Retention Excellence