The College Dropout Scandal

Higher education today faces a host of challenges, from quality to cost. But too little attention gets paid to a startling fact: four out of ten students -- that's more than ten percent of the entire population - -who start college drop out. The situation is particularly dire for black and Latino students, those from poor families, and those who are first in their families to attend college.

In The College Dropout Scandal, David Kirp outlines the scale of the problem and shows that it's fixable - -we already have the tools to boost graduation rates and shrink the achievement gap. Many college administrators know what has to be done, but many of them are not doing the job - -the dropout rate hasn't decreased for decades. It's not elite schools like Harvard or Williams who are setting the example, but places like City University of New York and Long Beach State, which are doing the hard work to assure that more students have a better education and a diploma. As in his New York Times columns, Kirp relies on vivid, on-the-ground reporting, conversations with campus leaders, faculty and students, as well as cogent overviews of cutting-edge research to identify the institutional reforms--like using big data to quickly identify at-risk students and get them the support they need -- and the behavioral strategies -- from nudges to mindset changes - -that have been proven to work.

Through engaging stories that shine a light on an underappreciated problem in colleges today, David Kirp's hopeful book will prompt colleges to make student success a top priority and push more students across the finish line, keeping their hopes of achieving the American Dream alive.

"In The College Dropout Scandal, David L. Kirp outlines the scale of the problem and argues that we actually have the tools to boost graduation rates and shrink the achievement gap. It's not elite schools like Harvard or Williams who are leading the way, but places like City University of New York or Long Beach State that have undertaken the hard work to improve student success. Through on-the-ground reporting, conversations with university administrators and presidents, and accessible overviews of the latest research, Kirp illustrates a range of institutional reforms, like using big data to quickly identify at-risk students, and the behavioral strategies, from nudges and mindset changes, that have been proven to boost undergraduate learning and raise graduation rates. Shining a light on an underappreciated yet crucial problem in colleges today, Kirp's engaging and hopeful book will help push more students, especially poor and minority ones, across the finish line and keep their hopes of achieving the American Dream alive"--

This powerful book beautifully merges data and anecdote to explain that for far too many, college is not a gateway, but a trap. We as a society can and must do better, and The College Dropout Scandal shows us how. --Wes Moore, bestselling author of The Other Wes Moore, and CEO of Robin Hood

Mr. Kirp, a professor at the University of California at Berkeley, rather than rehearse these perennial problems, helpfully focuses on success stories...We can argue about whose fault it is that so many students are unprepared for college. Ultimately, though, as Mr. Kirp's illuminating analysis suggests: If a school admits them, it should do more to help them earn a degree, whatever it's worth. -- The Wall Street Journal

This comprehensive work would pair well with Todd Ruecker and others' Retention, Persistence, and Writing Programs, which focuses on writing programs while also emphasizing the importance of community and a growth mind-set. Kirp's in-depth assessment is recommended for readers interested in student retention, student services and support, and academic culture. --Library Journal

David Kirp reveals higher education's dirty little secret-that 40 percent of college freshmen never make it to commencement, and many of these dropouts are worse off than if they hadn't started college because they have a pile of debt and feel like failures. He also provides common-sense solutions to this-there's no other word for it-scandal. A timely and hugely important book. --Robert B. Reich, Chancellor's Professor of Public Policy, University of California Berkeley, and author of The Common Good

While The College Dropout Scandal highlights a painful truth in higher education, the central message of the book is one of hope: colleges and universities can do more to help their students succeed. By detailing best practices developed at a range of institutions, David Kirp offers an inspiring account that provides a true sense of what is possible. --Freeman A. Hrabowski, III, President, University of Maryland, Baltimore County

David Kirp gives a spellbinding account of courageous universities that aggressively addressed the dropout problem -and he provides important insights into the principles they used to do it. --Carol Dweck, Lewis and Virginia Eaton Professor of Psychology, Stanford University, and author of Mindset

David Kirp has written a superb book on the college dropout scandal. Too often the focus is only on access and financial aid. Kirp presses for a revolution in prioritizing graduation rates in universities. Employing data-driven information and 'nudging' strategies, he brilliantly analyzes what practically can be done. --Mark Yudof, President Emeritus, University of California

Weaving together data on national trends with accounts of the lived experiences of students from a breathtaking array of backgrounds, David Kirp makes a compelling case that what we have long construed as achievement gaps based on race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status are really opportunity gaps grounded in entrenched inequalities. --Nancy Cantor, Chancellor, Rutgers University-Newark

Nearly four million students drop out of college each year. That's a tragedy for the students, who confront truncated opportunities, and a jolt to the economy. It's also a disgrace-as David Kirp shows in this compelling narrative, we know how to move the needle on graduation rates and how to close the opportunity gap separating white and minority undergraduates. In richly-detailed accounts of universities across the country, he vividly demonstrates how determined campus leaders use smart practices to change the arc of their students' lives. --Arne Duncan, Former United States Secretary of Education