Tracking where all the students are going

By Arnise Roberson, September guest blogger

In August 2001 I began a new life chapter in Minnesota and found myself employed in college admissions. It was not long before my role as the minority recruiter for a private college led me into the counseling offices and career centers of Twin Cities’ urban high schools. In my effort to share the benefits of college I quickly learned how so few of the students I encountered were students of color and particularly African American. I also found it interesting that of the students I did manage to have conversations with, there were even fewer of them that were interested in attending a small college in Minnesota. I was not surprised to learn that many local African American students desired to attend college out of state and at Historically Black Colleges or Universities, thus providing few students to listen to me sing the praises of attending a local institution. Many of my school visits had audiences that averaged about 10-15 members and in most cases only included 1-3 students of color.

Currently I am Program Manager for the Achieve Minneapolis Career & College Initiative. We work with ALL Minneapolis Public School high school students so they’ll have a plan that fits their dreams for what they’ll do after high school and beyond.  I find myself asking these questions, “Where are all the students going”? Did they actually enroll in college? How long did their educational efforts persist? Did they transfer between colleges? Did they graduate from college? What happens to the students who continue their post-secondary careers outside of Minnesota? And how can I find out for sure?

Ultimately, those of us who work with college access and readiness programs want to know if the work, effort and investment we have put in to each student is yielding a good return. In Minnesota there has been some discussion around the idea of creating a common ID number for all students from kindergarten to college graduation. This would lengthen the six digit number that is currently used, thus allowing colleges and universities to share data on students who stay in the state. Unfortunately the conversation has not brought forth any concrete solutions. 

While there is an alarming number of “Vanishing Graduates” in Minnesota, I’d like to focus on those who have endured to the end of their high school careers. I am curious to hear from others regarding how (if at all) they are able to track and answer the questions listed above. Some student outreach programs are turning to the National Student Clearing House for assistance in finding these answers, which seems like the best possible solution. Perhaps the entire country needs to move to a new system of tracking down students and their post-secondary experience.