As a result, the Beehive State has low rates of higher education completion, and that bodes ill for Utah's economic future.

Brandon Grover is among young Utahns who chose a pickup over a college education. The Cedar City native bailed out of Snow College his freshman year to work the drill rigs in Uinta Basin's natural gas fields.

"My generation wants the good things right away. We're not willing to wait," the burly 21-year-old recently told college leaders gathered in St. George.

Grover knew, however, that he couldn't work on the rigs for the rest of his life, so he's back in school studying accounting on a football scholarship at Dixie State College. His story illustrates the national problem of sagging student success, which is particularly acute in Utah. In the past 20 years, the United States has slipped from first to 10th place in the percentage of adults holding college degrees.

"We're going in the wrong direction," interim Higher Education Commissioner Dave Buhler said. "Unless we make tough choices to dramatically improve public and higher education outcomes, our students will compete for jobs against better-educated people all over the world."

Regents who were gathered for their recent spring retreat agreed Utah must increase the number of residents with college degrees, now at 38 percent. But they're unwilling to embrace a goal Buhler suggested that 61 percent of Utah adults hold degrees 17 years from now.

"Maybe the training should be where the jobs are," Regent Nolan Karras said. "A lot [of] the jobs don't fit well with traditional four-year degrees."

Regents zeroed in on retention rates, which looks at the percent of a school's first-time freshmen who return the following year.

"Students - our customers - come to our institutions for certificates and degrees," Buhler said. "But an alarming number - from one third to nearly one-half - go away with nothing more than a smattering of freshman classes."

Utah retention rates of 62 percent and 54 percent, for four-year and two-year public institutions, respectively, lag the national averages of 72 and 64 percent, according to research prepared for Buhler.

Researchers recommended that each college establish retention and completion benchmarks, then measure and report progress at regular intervals.

Colleges must become more "service oriented," Buhler said, tailoring their programs to fit the lifestyles of today's students, many of whom are older, work and are raising families. Those students include Ryan Huff, a finance major at Southern Utah University, who also addressed regents meeting in St. George. He is married with a toddler and a baby on the way, and wonders why so many classes must be taught only on Tuesdays and Thursdays because professors must commute from out of town.

His Cedar City school, however, has been doing something right. Since 2003, it has led the state in enrollment growth and has improved retention from 58 percent to 64 percent.

An institution's retention rates generally reflect its prestige. Retention at Harvard University is 98 percent, for example, compared with 43 percent at Snow College in Ephraim. But then many students use Snow as a stepping stone, so its low retention rate may not mean much. Eleven percent of Snow freshmen go to another Utah college their second year.

The five students who addressed the regents identified escalating costs as a barrier to completing school. Grover, whose scholarship prevents him from working, said he gives blood plasma for money to buy gas.

Student loans can ease the burden, but Utahns tend to be "debt averse," leading some to prolong their educations.

"A student would be far better off taking out loans and get through college faster than taking time off from school to work," said Barb Snyder, the U.'s vice president for student affairs.

The average debt load among Utah college graduates is about $12,000. At 4 percent interest, such a debt could be retired in 10 years with monthly payments of $121.

bmaffly@sltrib.com

State's retention rates for public institutions fall behind U.S. average

Initiative invites dropouts back to complete their degrees

Nidia Hartford's college experience got off to a rocky start when her high school adviser discouraged her from even applying to the University of Utah, where she now studies nursing. "It made me cry," Hartford told the Board of Regents last month. "The adviser was not at all motivational because I didn't have great grades or advanced courses." Hartford nevertheless started college immediately after her 2003 graduation, but without much direction. After taking some classes, she dropped out her first year. "I didn't know what I was coming to school for." The U.'s failure to "retain" Hartford speaks to the experience of many students who drop out. Academic preparation and integration into campus life - areas where Hartford was weak - are predictors for student success. "Aspects of the experience matter," says Paul Gore, who heads the U.'s retention committee. Improving student retention - a school's ability to keep students enrolled from one year to the next, is a goal for regents confronting the state's sagging levels of education attainment. The U.'s retention rate is 66 percent. To improve that rate, the U. recently re-enrolled 36 students under its new "Returning to the U." initiative to encourage about 3,000 drop-outs with 90 or more credits to finish their degrees. A supportive boyfriend who is a college graduate, and a new sense of direction motivated Hartford, 23, to resume college last spring. She works at Jordan Valley Hospital assisting Spanish speakers fill out Medicaid forms, among other tasks. This work experience awakened career interests in social work and nursing. "I feel a little guilty about wasting three years . . . but it's a mixed blessing because now I'm back in school and I'm really committed to finishing." - Brian Maffly