American colleges and universities are the universal gold standard in higher education.  Students flock from around the world to attend these institutions.  U.S. News & World Report’s annual college rating issue is a best seller and places like Kaplan and the Princeton Review make gazillion bucks prepping college bound kids for the SATs.  Recession or boom, things look pretty rosy on college campuses – that is, until you start looking at graduation rates.  A new book, “CROSSING THE FINISH LINE: Completing College at America’s Public Universities” takes a hard look at why U.S. college drop-out rates are so high.

Many experts point to high school programs that fail to produce college-ready students, however the authors of this new book reject that notion as the over-riding problem.  While lack of preparation is a factor, the authors argue that American high schools do a remarkably good job of graduating students who make it into competitive colleges and universities.  What they see as the problem is a public university system that has a huge investment in enrolling students but an indifferent attitude about graduating them.  And the authors know what they are talking about, since two of them are former college presidents.

Based on the records of approximately 200,000 students at 68 colleges, the authors point to a factor that they term “under-matching” – or students who opt to enroll in colleges that are not the best they got into.  Why does this happen?  Often the cause is financial or students decide to attend a school that is closer to home.  Roughly half of the college bound students from low-income families either fail to apply, or choose not to attend  competitive schools with higher graduation rates.  Conversely, students from middle class and wealthy families tend to pick colleges where graduation is the norm.

There are many other factors to consider, such as graduation rates are higher among students who live on campus.  But the root problem, as these authors see it, is the focus on enrollment numbers and a lack of accountability when it comes to graduation rates.

What does this mean in the long term?   The Bureau of Labor Statistics indicates that a person with a college degree will earn approximately 54% more than someone who has attended college but never graduated.

There is no ‘quick fix’ to the problem, however new education legislation proposed by the Obama administration starts to address the problem.  It would re-structure college loans and set aside monies for promising pilot programs that are geared to lift graduation rates. But what about students applying to colleges this fall?  Experts agree the best advice is ‘do your homework’.  Along with the standard list of questions you have for the admissions officers, make sure you ask about the college’s graduation rates.  What percentage of students graduate in 4 years – or how long does it take the average student to earn their degree?  There are many excellent sources of information available and Top-Colleges is a great place to start.  Be an informed education consumer, and make sure your investment in an education will pay off with a degree.