ABSTRACT
The 20th century was the century of access—the massive expansion of higher education facilitated transition to college for ever growing proportions of high school graduates. Policymakers focused on opening doors to college opportunities while scholars studied enrollment patterns, and in particular, how they varied across students from different sociodemographic groups (see Arum, Shavit, and Gamoran chapter in this volume). In the early 21st century, completion has become a pressing issue. President Obama noted in his first speech to a joint session of Congress in February 2009: “In a global economy where the most valuable skill you can sell is your knowledge, a good education is no longer just a pathway to opportunity—it is a pre-requisite.” And he made the commitment that: “We will provide the support necessary for you to complete college and meet a new goal: by 2020, America will once again have the highest proportion of college graduates in the world.”
