College Opportunity at Risk

Unless state and college leaders take steps to ensure that more Americans attain postsecondary degrees and certifications, the United States will be woefully unprepared for the economic and civic challenges of the 21st century.

The College Opportunity Risk Assessment is the first state-by-state analytic tool to consider the breadth of the policy landscape that must be navigated to ensure future educational opportunity. All states face risks to college opportunity, but each state faces different types and levels of risk within their diverse economic and social realities. To guide state policy makers in mitigating these risks, we offer individual state risk assessments based on four interrelated risk categories—higher education performance, educational equity, public funding and productivity, and economic policies that influence public revenue and budgeting.

College Opportunity at Risk: An Assessment of the States

A national overview plus recommendations for state leaders, college and university leaders, and other policy makers.

Technical guide

Details on how each risk category is scored, data sources, and common definitions.

State risk assessments

An assessment of each state’s unique risks, ranking them from 1 (low) to 50 (high) using 17 indicators in four interrelated risk categories.