That’s a particular challenge for low-income students, who are less likely to enroll in the first place and more prone to drop out when they hit an academic bump.

One approach that has shown real promise is exposing students to college courses, and the college experience, while they are still in high school. Around the country, early college programs boost students’ interest in college and give them a head start on course work. The average participant accrues a semester’s worth of college credits by the time she or he graduates from high school. Read more here.

Excerpt: The Boston Globe Editorial, April 2017

June 2019: by The Massachusetts Institute for a New Commonwealth (MassINC)

August 2018: by Shalina Chatlani using data from the National Center for Education Statistics

January 2016: by Community College Research Center; Teachers College, Columbia University

January 2015: by Rennie Center for Education Research & Policy, INFOGRAPHIC

March 2014: by Webb, Michael with Carol Gerwin, Jobs For The Future

January 2014: by Berger, Andrea, et al, American Institutes for Research

December 2013: by Fay, Maggie, Susan Bickerstaff & Michelle Hodara, Community College Research Center

November 2013: by Coates, Joy & Michael Webb, Jobs for the Future

July 2013: by Hodara, Michelle, Center for Analysis of Postsecondary Education and Employment

May 2013: by Barnett, Elisabeth A., Maggie Fay et al, Community College Research Center

March 2013: by Vargas, Joel, Jobs for the Future

October 2012: by Struhl, Ben & Joel Vargas, Jobs For The Future

July 2012: by Katherine L. Hughes, Olga Rodriguez, Linsey Edwards and Clive Belfield, Community College Research Center, a James Irvine Foundation initiative

February 2012: by Research Overview, Community College Research Center, Columbia University

March 2011: by Thad Nodine, et al, Jobs For The Future

April 2005: by Nancy Hoffman, Jobs For The Future