College Completion Glass—Half-Full or Half-Empty?

Despite the Great Recession and looming “student loan debt crisis”, college education remains the most proven, invaluable lifetime investment and serves as the most reliable path to upward mobility and socioeconomic class reassignment. Mfume suggests that “the value added” of even one year of college can be transformative. As higher education professionals and partners continue to advocate for new and improved college retention and graduation measures, The College Completion Glass—Half-Full or Half-Empty? Exploring the Value of Postsecondary Education presents a new paradigm for higher education, one that focuses on “the value added” of postsecondary education as well as on student success beyond the traditional measure of college graduation rates, a model which merges conventional practices and supports for students with non-traditional partnerships with, and advocacy from, successful non-completers.

The College Completion Glass—Half-full or Half-Empty should be required reading for parents, teachers, policy makers and anyone else who cares about the next generation of Americans. With great clarity and unwavering attention to the evidence, Tiffany Mfume not only explains why college is so important and how our current postsecondary institutions are failing our students, she also outlines new approaches that hold the promise of helping students succeed at unprecedented levels. After reading this insightful book, count me among those who see the glass as half full., Tiffany Mfume is an unquestionable leader in the higher education field.  Her combination of a scholar’s mind and the people’s touch makes her work accessible, critically important, and relevant.  “The College Completion Glass…” is an important and necessary read., The College Completion – Glass Half Full or Half-Empty? Exploring the Value of Postsecondary Education is a brilliant book that presents a comprehensive look at the concerns about student loan debt, the employment rate of college graduates, and the viability of institutions of higher learning.  Tiffany Mfume does an amazing job of offering a thoroughly researched perspective on this landscape and answers the question most inquisitive minds want to know: “Is a college degree really worth it?”

Dr. Tiffany Beth Mfume is the Assistant Vice President for Student Success and Retention at Morgan State University where her leadership has helped to promote ten point increases in both retention and graduation rates. The Assistant Vice President for Student Success and Retention manages new student and parent orientation, placement testing, Starfish Retention Solutions’ Early Alert and Connect systems, academic advisement, financial literacy, alumni mentoring, and academic recovery among other programs and services. Dr. Mfume is author of the nationally recognized book, What Works at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs): Nine Strategies for Increasing Retention and Graduation Rates, published in 2016 by Rowman & Littlefield.