Murray State College to participate in nationwide initiative, support former students near graduation
(THE ARDMOREITE) – About 23% of Oklahoma residents have some college experience but no degree. For those who fall into that category, one area college may have some new resources to help get you walking across the stage for graduation.
Murray State College is one of eight college campuses in Oklahoma taking part in the Degrees When Due program. According to a statement, Murray State will use the program to provide support for students who have paused or stopped their studies.
“Our goal is to guide all students toward completion of their degrees,” said Murray State president Joy McDaniel. “The Degrees When Due initiative will help support and partner with student success programs currently in place at MSC.”
Degrees When Due is an initiative of the Institute for Higher Education Policy, a Washington, D.C.-based
nonprofit group that undertakes research and develops policies for higher education across the country.
The three-year initiative was launched last year in eight states and was recently expanded to 10 more states,
including Oklahoma. More than 150 college campuses nationwide currently take part in the program.
“IHEP enthusiastically welcomes the selected institutions and states into this effort,” said IHEP president Michelle Asha Cooper, Ph.D. “Through this initiative, they will increase student success, serve a diverse set of student populations, and join us in addressing one of higher education’s most pressing challenges: degree completion,” she said
According to IHEP, participating schools undergo nine months of online training in “degree reclamation,” a term used to describe the strategy of identifying students who have not completed their degree program and reengaging them with higher education.
Ginger Cothran with Murray State said staff is currently compiling data for the initiative and will receive more
information later this month. Initial findings from the program’s first year are expected this fall.
Between 2009 and 2013, 61 colleges across nine states took part in a forerunner to Degrees When Due. That program, Project Win-Win, helped more than 4,500 people receive an associate’s degree they had already earned and got nearly 2,000 students back into school to complete 12 credit hours or less for an associate’s degree. That program’s results helped form the latest initiative.
In 2020, IHEP is expected to publish findings to show what impact degree reclamation strategies have on degree attainment rates. The program’s goal is to see degree attainment rates climb from 34% currently to 70% by 2025.