LITTLE ROCK — Fewer than four of 10 Arkansas public university students graduate within six years from the schools they originally enrolled in, according to a report presented Friday to the Arkansas Higher Education Coordinating Board.
The Arkansas Department of Higher Education’s annual Report on Student Retention and Graduation said that 4,333 of the 11,527 students who enrolled in four-year public universities in 2004 had graduated from those same schools by 2009.
That’s a graduation rate of only 38 percent.
The graduation rate is even poorer at the state’s two-year colleges where just 1,004 of 5,831 students who enrolled in 2007 had graduated by 2009.
That’s a graduation rate of 17 percent.
These figures are of particular significance in a state that struggles to attract lucrative, high-technology jobs because of its poorly educated work force, officials said.
“We have a selling job to do whenever we engage a prospect in considering Arkansas,” said Randy Zook, president and chief executive officer of the Arkansas Chamber of Commerce. “There’s no question it’sconstraining our growth in several sectors.”
Jim Purcell, director of the Department of Higher Education, said it’s especially troublesome that the state’s university graduation rate has stayed steady over the past five years - fluctuating between 37 percent and 38 percent - without any real improvement.
“We do have a ways to go,” Purcell said. “We definitely need to increase our productivity.”
The four-year university graduation rate is based on the number of first-time, full-time degree- or certificate-seeking students who enrolled in the fall of 2004 and graduated from the same institution by August 2009, said Rick Jenkins, the department’s associate director of planning and accountability.
Arkansas has the lowest university graduation rate in a 16-state region, according to a December report by the Southern Regional Education Board.
The board is an Atlantabased nonprofit that works to improve education across the South, including Arkansas.
The average university graduation rate for the region is 53 percent, according to the report.
Spokesman Alan Richard said it’s possible for Arkansas institutions - many of which serve a high percentage of poor, first-generation college students - to graduate their students more successfully.
He said schools see results when they build cultures entirely focused on graduations, from the chancellor down to the cafeteria worker.
“Mainly, it’s leadership - people at the top of the institution saying, ‘This is our priority’ - and then building all sorts of programs around that.”
Purcell said two key factors that significantly impede the average Arkansan’s ability to graduate from college are lack of academic preparation and lack of personal finances.
Many of the state’s high school graduates simply aren’t ready to do collegelevel work, so they struggle in college and drop out.
Last year, 11,837 of the 21,689 students who enrolled in an Arkansas college or university for the first time- 54.6 percent - needed remediation in math, English or reading.
It’s hoped that the state’s new Smart Core curriculum will help in this area, Purcell said.
The curriculum requires high school graduates to take tougher classes to graduate, unless their parents opt them out.
Purcell said the Arkansas lottery scholarships should address the financial impediments that block others from college graduation.
Supported by lottery revenue, the Arkansas Academic Challenge Scholarship Program - which provides $5,000 annual scholarships to full-time students - is projected to grow from 8,000 to 28,000 students.
While the state’s university and community college graduation rates are subpar,the number of Arkansans earning degrees is higher than ever before.
Arkansas granted 30,660 credentials in 2009, up from 18,415 in 1999, according to the report.
The University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, with a graduation rate of 57 percent, topped the list of Arkansas’ 10 public universities.
Second was the University of Central Arkansas in Conway, with a graduation rate of 41 percent.
Sharon Gaber, provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs at UA-Fayetteville, said the school invests heavily in tutoring to help remedial students stay on track toward graduation.
The university’s graduation rate is also buttressed by its selectivity in comparison with other schools in Arkansas, she said.
Only 11.5 percent of firsttime students at UA-Fayetteville last fall needed remediation, which was the lowest percentage in the state.
The University of Arkansas at Little Rock and the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith graduated the lowest percentage of students, with rates of 14 percent and 23 percent, respectively.
UALR Chancellor Joel Anderson said the school’s low graduation rate is a result of its mission.
The urban university serves a high percentage of nontraditional students, who are more likely to tackle earning degrees over longer periods of time.
The average UALR student attends school part time, and about 80 percent of its students work while they are in school, Anderson said.
Many of the students earn a few credits, take time off for personal and family reasons and then return later to complete their degrees, he said.
Raising Arkansas’ low graduation rate is one of Gov. Mike Beebe’s priorities, said spokesman Matt DeCample.
That’s because Beebe knows that education is intimately related to economic development.
One statistic that Beebe regularly brings up during public appearances is that less than 20 percent of adults 25 or older have bachelor’s degrees in Arkansas.
That ranks Arkansas 49th out of 50 states, according to the U.S. Census.
“The reason it’s such a high priority right now is because it’s one of the few areas where we have not seen some real and significant advances for the state,” DeCample said. “We need to keep the focus on getting more degrees in the hands of students who go through our universities here.”
The poorly educated work force has not entirely limited the state’s ability to attract good jobs.
In December, Hewlett-Packard opened a 153,000-square-foot customer-support center in Conway, and Mitsubishi America is opening a $100 million wind-turbine plant in Fort Smith by 2011.
To keep attracting companies like those, the state needs to focus not only on graduating more students but also on graduating students with the right kinds of degrees, said Zook, head of the state chamber.
Arkansas has a particular shortage of math and sciences majors, he said. The state needs fewer students preparing for careers in sociology and more looking to become engineers, Zook said.
Regardless, some postsecondary education is essential for all Arkansans, he said.
“You will not be able to get by on a high school diploma and a good attitude anymore,” Zook said. “You have to add value to a business.
“Otherwise, you are just relegated to flipping burgers.”
Front Section, Pages 1 on 05/01/2010