Although 80 percent of students who enroll in community colleges plan on getting a bachelor’s degree, only around 15 percent do so within six years. It’s a product of what seems like a perpetually leaky transfer process, in which, nationwide, 43 percent of credits are lost between schools.  

Students of color are particularly affected—they’re more likely to start at two-year institutions and less likely to wind up finishing a four-year program. Now, the Institute for Higher Education Policy is publishing lessons learned from its ongoing attempts to build a better, more equitable transfer system.

The pandemic has led to big questions about the value of higher education—and this is especially true of liberal arts colleges. Some of the most powerful critiques have come from within the ranks of higher education. 

Two veteran educators are issuing an impassioned call for liberal arts colleges to seize this moment and reinvent themselves. They break down the why and how of their proposal in this interview.

Travis Matthews spent his teen years in a Grand Rapids group home where he had limited freedoms and needed to ask permission to enter any room. He dreamed about one day studying law. 

The state of Minnesota is now helping Matthews achieve his dream through a new program called Fostering Independence Grants. The unique effort uses state funds to pay the full cost of college for young people who were in foster care as teens.