City grads falter in public colleges

Are more likely to get degrees at private university

The local public colleges that enroll the most Boston high school graduates have had a dismal record seeing them through to a degree, with many posting graduation rates of less than 25 percent, according to a study that reviewed the collegiate careers of the city's class of 2000.

Only 20.7 percent of the 150 students from the class who attended the University of Massachusetts at Boston - the most popular four-year public college for Boston high school students - graduated by the spring of 2007. By contrast, the most popular private school, Northeastern University, has handed degrees to 82.5 percent of the 80 Boston students from that class who enrolled there by the fall of 2001.

The rates at other popular public colleges were even worse. Bunker Hill Community College graduated 14.2 percent of its 155 Boston students, while Roxbury Community College had a graduation rate of 5.9 percent for its 101 Boston enrollees, according to new data released by the Boston Private Industry Council at the Globe's request. The council is a group of city business leaders who work on education policy issues.

The new data provide, for the first time, a college-by-college breakdown of graduation rates of the city's high school alumni, and with it a new set of concerns about whether Boston schools are doing enough to prepare their students for the rigors of college. The analysis follows the release of a groundbreaking report two months ago by the council and the city's school department that showed an overall disappointing graduation rate for the class of 2000. While two-thirds of the nearly 3,000 class members went to college, a rate notably higher than national averages, only 35.5 percent of those who went had received degrees seven years later.

The difficulty students experienced on public college campuses raises questions not only about Boston schools, but also about whether public colleges did enough to get students to graduation. Public colleges tend to be a destination for the city's less academically talented or more financially strapped graduates, creating more of a need for public campuses to develop comprehensive academic support programs and larger amounts of financial aid.

Many public colleges stressed that they have in recent years expanded or created programs to help students succeed, while new initiatives are underway. They also said it was unfair to compare their colleges with the highly selective schools.

"We are an open-door institution," said Mary Fifield, president of Bunker Hill Community College. "Regardless of one's level of preparedness and entrance-level scores, we open the door and welcome everyone the same. But with that policy comes the responsibility to do everything we can to help students who are less prepared to succeed."

Yet money for such endeavors is typically tighter at public colleges than at the more well-endowed private schools.

"Whatever you make of the disparity between publics and privates, we can all do better," said Paul Reville, the state's education secretary. He later added, however, that it's not surprising to find that the most competitive colleges have the highest graduation rates.

Mayor Thomas M. Menino has issued a challenge to Boston public schools and local colleges to double the college graduation rate for this year's high school sophomores. The goal is to have at least 70 percent of them receive some sort of degree, whether a bachelor's degree or a certificate that qualifies students for a technical job.

Statistics for the class of 2000 indicate that six of the 14 most heavily attended private colleges already have exceeded the mayor's goal. Harvard had a 100 percent graduation rate, with all 15 of its Boston high school alumni receiving degrees, while Boston College followed with 91.4 percent for its 35 initial attendees.

But no public colleges had graduation rates that high for Boston's class of 2000 graduates. UMass-Amherst came closest, with a graduation rate of 64.7 percent, while Framingham State was second at 60 percent.

The individual college graduation rates were generated by a slightly different methodology than the overall graduation rate that was released in November. The individual rates include only those high school graduates who enrolled in college by the fall of 2001. That way enrollees had at least six years to finish their degrees.

The graduation rate in the original report was based on all students who enrolled in college at any point over the seven-year period. The report's goal was to determine not only the percentage of students who graduated, but also the number of those who are still trying to earn degrees.

Neil Sullivan of the private industry council said he hopes the study, which will be followed up with subsequent high school graduating classes, will not deter colleges from accepting city high school graduates.

"You have to keep access alive, even as you increase college graduation rates," Sullivan said. "That's the fundamental challenge here."

One of the most promising ways to improve college success, Sullivan said, is to create stronger partnerships between Boston high schools and local colleges. Boston high school graduates, he said, would feel more comfortable on college campuses if they had the benefit of taking more college-level courses in high school, especially if visits to colleges were part of the deal.

Boston College has been among the leaders in that area, Sullivan said, while UMass-Boston has been stepping up its more-than-decadelong partnerships with Boston schools.

Joan Becker, vice provost for academic support services at UMass-Boston, said that the school's 20.7 percent rate was "nothing to be proud of," but that some new initiatives have encouraged more students to return to campus in recent years.

The state Board of Higher Education in November enacted a new accountability system for community colleges that more closely monitors each institution's progress toward boosting college graduation rates.

However, one of the greatest challenges for commuter public colleges, leaders of those schools said, is creating a learning atmosphere similar to the 24-7 synergy of residential colleges, which can provide struggling students with a natural support network of peers. UMass-Boston wants to go as far as building dormitories on its harborside campus. Bunker Hill and Roxbury community colleges are focusing on building small "learning communities" that group together students of similar backgrounds.

The Boston school district is also increasing the academic rigor of its high schools by providing more college-level courses. It also plans to start having 11th-graders take a nationally recognized college placement exam so that students will know whether they are ready for college.

"I think it's a complex web of college preparation, support at college, and financial aid that can increase college-going and college success," Boston's schools superintendent, Carol Johnson, said.