Crossing the finish line : completing college at America's public universities / William G. Bowen, Matthew M. Chingos, and Michael S. McPherson.
Bowen, William G., author.; Chingos, Matthew M., 1983- author.; McPherson, Michael S., author.
2009
LC208.8 .B68 2009 (Mapit)
Available at General Collection

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Title Crossing the finish line : completing college at America's public universities / William G. Bowen, Matthew M. Chingos, and Michael S. McPherson.
Author Bowen, William G., author.
ISBN 9780691137483 (acid-free paper)
069113748X (acid-free paper)
9780691149905
0691149909
Published Princeton, N.J. : Princeton University Press, ©2009.
Language English
Description xxi, 389 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm
Call Number LC208.8 .B68 2009
Dewey Decimal Classification 378.1/69120973
Summary "Long revered for their dedication to equal opportunity and affordability, public universities play a crucial role in building our country's human capital. And yet-a sobering fact-less than 60 percent of the students entering four-year colleges in America today are graduating. Why is this happening and what can be done? Crossing the Finish Line, the most important book on higher education to appear since The Shape of the River, provides the most detailed exploration ever of the crisis of college completion at America's public universities. This groundbreaking book sheds light on such serious issues as dropout rates linked to race, gender, and socioeconomic status. Probing graduation rates at twenty-one flagship public universities and four statewide systems of public higher education, the authors focus on the progress of students in the entering class of 1999-from entry to graduation, transfer, or withdrawal. They examine the effects of parental education, family income, race and gender, high school grades, test scores, financial aid, and characteristics of universities attended (especially their selectivity). The conclusions are compelling: minority students and students from poor families have markedly lower graduation rates-and take longer to earn degrees-even when other variables are taken into account. Noting the strong performance of transfer students and the effects of financial constraints on student retention, the authors call for improved transfer and financial aid policies, and suggest ways of improving the sorting processes that match students to institutions. An outstanding combination of evidence and analysis, Crossing the Finish Line should be read by everyone who cares about the nation's higher education system"-- Provided by publisher.
Bibliography, etc. Note Includes bibliographical references (pages 357-375) and index.
Awards Association of American Publishers PROSE Award, 2009.
Pierre Bourdieu Book Award, 2010.
Added Author Chingos, Matthew M., 1983- author.
McPherson, Michael S., author.
Record Appears in On-Campus Resources > Books
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Acknowledgments
Preface
1: Educational attainment: overall trends, disparities, and the public universities we study
2: Bachelor's degree attainment on a national level
3: Finishing college at public universities
4: Fields of study, time-to-degree, and college grades
5: High schools and "undermatching"
6: Test scores and high school grades as predictors
7: Transfer students and the path from two-year to four-year colleges
8: Financial aid and pricing on a national level
9: Financial aid at public universities
10: Institutional selectivity and institutional effects
11: Target populations
12: Looking ahead
Appendix A: Modern evolution of America's flagship universities / Eugene M Tobin
Notes
List of figures
List of tables
List of appendix tables
References
Index.

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