It wasn’t a weekend music concert or sports event that brought Vilma and David Martinez to the Cal State Los Angeles campus on a recent Saturday morning. Instead, they came to hear counselors and faculty suggest ways to encourage their son’s success at a university where only about half of incoming freshmen finish within six years.

The 160 parents who showed up for that “Parent Academy” session are part of a widening trend by universities to improve graduation rates, especially among students who are the first in their family to attend college. Parents increasingly are seen as partners with campuses in supporting these young adults when they encounter emotional, bureaucratic, financial, or academic obstacles. 

Photo: Martin Leon Barreto

For years, businesspeople, pundits, and policymakers have speculated on the health of the higher-education sector, and some predictions of a die-off among the nation’s colleges have only gotten more dire over time. 

Now a new book estimates the market viability of more than 2,800 undergraduate institutions. The authors examine four key variables—new student enrollments, net cash price, student retention, and major external funding—to gauge whether an institution is likely to consider closing or merging with another school.