Assessing state policy on postsecondary completion: Texas vs. SREB peers

Prompted by changing demographics, economic pressures, and global competition, Texas and members of the Southern Regional Education Board adopted policies to boost minority enrollment and success in higher education around the turn of the century. This study draws upon IPEDS graduation rate data for a benchmark year, 2002, and for 2006 through 2012 to assess the effectiveness of Texas' Closing the Gaps policy in relation to graduation rates at 4- year institutions and to similar policies in six SREB-member states. Descriptive and independent-samples t tests measured the effectiveness of Texas' Closing the Gaps compared to the selected SREB states. Although Texas fell below the SREB average graduation rates for targeted groups at the outset, data revealed variable but overall improvement for the grand total, Black, Hispanic, and White cohorts over the 10-year period for all states.