Advocates applaud $2.5 billion college retention proposal, but say insufficient financial aid is barrier to degree completion.

President Obama’s proposed $2.5 billion college access and retention initiative holds considerable promise for low-income students of color, many officials say — provided Congress and the higher education community agree to the plan.

In his fiscal 2010 budget, the president called for spending an average of $500 million annually over the next five years on access and retention, part of a goal to help the United States become the leader in college graduates worldwide. The proposed Access and Completion Incentive Fund resonates with many education leaders, despite concerns about how to implement the initiative.

“Getting in to college is only half the battle,” says Rich Williams, higher education advocate for U.S. Public Interest Research Group. “Getting to graduation can be a huge hurdle and this budget proposal will help low-income students overcome the odds to succeed.”

The Education Department describes the new initiative as a federal-state partnership to implement and study effective retention services. Currently, only about half of college students graduate within six years, with substantially lower success rates for economically disadvantaged students.

While the federal government has student aid and other initiatives that promote access, there is less attention focused on keeping students in college.

“Traditionally we only talk about access. That ignores the fact that low-income students often don’t complete degrees,” says Kevin Carey, policy director at Education Sector, a Washington, D.C., research organization. The new plan, he tells Diverse, “puts degree completion on the agenda.”