About 4 out of 10 students at four-year colleges fail to earn a degree within six years – and timely completion rates at two-year schools are even lower.
But what if high schools had a better recipe for preparing their students to stay in college? TheNational School Boards Association released a studyThursday afternoon highlighting some key ingredients: more advanced math courses, challenging courses such as Advanced Placement (AP) and International Baccalaureate (IB), and better academic advising.If students are exposed to those factors – even if they don’t earn high scores on the course exams – they are more likely to continue college after their first year, a point at which many drop out, the study notes.
“This provides a rare glimpse into what high schools can do to really improve college success,” said Jim Hull, senior policy analyst at NSBA’s Center for Public Education, in a teleconference with reporters Thursday.
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The findings don’t provide a silver bullet for school districts – many of which are still debating whether to make higher math mandatory or to open up college-level AP courses to all students who are interested.
