I just finished reading Chicago Tribune columnist, Clarence Page’s article entitled “Quiet crisis in our colleges.”
The main message of the article is that higher education is sorely lacking in America. Student retention is low and so are graduation rates. President Obama’s proposed American Graduation Initiative would put $12 billion into community colleges, with the aim of adding five-million new graduates by 2020.
U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said he needs to find a way to keep more students enrolled, because almost half the students drop out before they have the opportunity to graduate. That makes the goal of five million graduates a tall order.
I’ve listened to Arne Duncan and he is a smart guy, but I know something he doesn’t. An old friend of mine, Glenn Brandon Burke, has the answer Duncan is looking for.
Burke is America’s number one Motivational College Speaker on Student Retention, Student Access, Student Equity and Student Success, and knows exactly what it takes to increase retention and increase graduation rates. Not only that, but when Burke increases student retention, he also increases the school’s revenue.
Glenn Brandon Burke started out on the wrong side of the success fence. He was a high school dropout, coming from a very disadvantaged life. At the age of 28, he finally realized that “Education is the Foundation for a Successful Life.”
So he enrolled in a community college, worked hard and smart to complete both his undergraduate and graduate degrees, and taught four-years at a community college and a couple of university courses. Now, he is known as “America’s #1 Motivational College Speaker on Student Retention and Student Success!”
Glenn Brandon Burke definitely has the answers Arne Duncan needs to achieve President Obama’s goals. I think I’d like to be a fly on the wall in a meeting with both of them, plus Robert Shireman and Massie Ritsch.
Glenn Brandon Burke’s web site has more detail, including contact information www.GlennBrandonBurke.com
