A separate survey shows that 72 percent of recent college graduates say the main aim for colleges should be to provide a balance of both a well-rounded education and knowledge/skills in a specialized field.
Former Harvard University President and current interim president Derek Bok says the findings were significant because it makes it clear that colleges must raise the bar on learning outcomes.
“The LEAP report provides a comprehensive roadmap for how colleges and universities can provide the important outcomes of a good liberal education to more students through a creative synthesis between vocational and liberal arts education,” he says.
Dr. George D. Kuh, director of the National Survey of Student Engagement and the Chancellor’s Professor of Higher Education at Indiana University, says evidence points to the positive results of college learning communities in colleges in helping students work in diverse groups, communicate and apply those skills in the real world. Hispanics involved in first-year communities showed a dramatic increase in the GPAs. Similarly, the likelihood of sophomore retention grew from 0.83 to 0.98 for Black students engaged in educationally relevant programs.
— By Shilpa Banerji
© Copyright 2005 by DiverseEducation.com
