Summer Melt and the Z-Degree (September 13, 2014)

Bob Templin (Northern Virginia Community College) is president of one of the largest community colleges in the nation. He’s launched an innovative program that prepares thousands of Latino high school students for college. And: Too many low-income students who graduate from high school with the intent of attending college in the fall never show up. Ben Castleman (University of Virginia) suggests ways to reduce what he calls “the summer melt.” Plus: Textbooks alone can be prohibitively expensive in higher education. Now there’s the Z-Degree, the nation’s first accredited, entirely textbook-free degree program spearheaded by Linda Williams (Tidewater Community College).