One Size Does Not Fit All: Discourse of Four-Year Graduation Initiatives at Public Institutions

• In Event: Marriott Roundtable Session 37
  In Roundtable Session: Responding to Changing Higher Education Environments

Abstract

While four-year graduation is a common goal across public institutions, a one-size-fits all expectation promotes discourse of individual success or failure. This onus placed on students is often divorced from structural and financial barriers that students might encounter in progressing through college. This paper offers a critical discourse analysis of four-year graduation initiatives at 20 public colleges and universities. We provide descriptive categories of the various types of four-year graduation initiatives and then interpret and evaluate emergent themes from the language used by institutions. Though such initiatives purport to offer benefits to students and other constituents, our analysis reveals that many plans are designed and communicated without the needs of nontraditional and minoritized student populations in mind.

Authors

• Ryan Miller, University of North Carolina - Charlotte

• Veronica Jones, University of North Texas