Signs of Colleges on the Rise: What to Watch

Students, faculty and communities want to be associated with colleges and universities that are thriving. Factors such as curricula, research activities, rankings, studies abroad, distinguished alumni lists, ethnic diversity programs, state-of-the-art facilities and return on investment can indicate an institution’s growth in academic status and influence, some experts say.

Others say colleges and universities that embrace a generational cohort that includes diverse millennials and Generation Z students – post millennials born between 1997 and 2012 – are part of a high-profile trend among colleges on the cutting edge. Students, faculty and communities want to be associated with colleges and universities that are thriving. Factors such as curricula, research activities, rankings, studies abroad, distinguished alumni lists, ethnic diversity programs, state-of-the-art facilities and return on investment can indicate an institution’s growth in academic status and influence, some experts say.

Others say colleges and universities that embrace a generational cohort that includes diverse millennials and Generation Z students – post millennials born between 1997 and 2012 – are part of a high-profile trend among colleges on the cutting edge.Students, faculty and communities want to be associated with colleges and universities that are thriving. Factors such as curricula, research activities, rankings, studies abroad, distinguished alumni lists, ethnic diversity programs, state-of-the-art facilities and return on investment can indicate an institution’s growth in academic status and influence, some experts say.

“There are several signs that a college is on the rise,” Lynn Pasquerella, president of the American Association of Colleges and Universities, wrote in an email. “While many might cite enrollment trends, AAC & U focuses on increases in graduation rates, social mobility and the closing of equity gaps. In addition, we pay attention to curricular innovation; access for all students to High Impact Practices, such as internships, first-year seminars, undergraduate research, and study abroad; and the implementation of holistic advising.”

Emphasis on Equity

Mamie Voight, president and CEO of the Institute for Higher Education Policy, a nonprofit advocacy organization, wrote in an email that delivering equity to Black, Latinx, Hispanic, Indigenous, under represented Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, and low-income students fosters "economic mobility that benefits students, families, and society."

This requires making data-informed, equity-driven decisions that center students and their needs, with particular attention to students who have long been underserved and marginalized by higher education,” Voight adds. These colleges on the rise understand that institutional barriers contribute to inequitable post-secondary outcomes and use data to identify and remove systemic barriers to success. She cited as an example IHEP's Degrees When Due, a nationwide initiative to award academic credentials to students who had earned them but not received them, and to reengage college dropouts. Almost 200 schools have participated since DWD's launch in 2018, Voight says, and nearly 1 in 10 students whose degrees were audited in the program had met requirements for a degree. but the degree was never conferred – often because of bureaucratic hurdles like incomplete paperwork or holds on the student's accounts.

"A college on the rise commits to this type of smart data use – and pledges to act upon the results," Voight says.

Stella M. Flores, associate professor of higher education and public policy in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy at the University of Texas—Austin, says higher education in the U.S. is in crisis, citing decreased college enrollment, lower birth rates and college closings. There are clear equity implications, she says.