Bethel accelerates student success by partnering with Complete College America

Bethel University is joining the Complete College Accelerator, an ambitious nationwide initiative to improve student success and close gaps in college access and completion. The effort will span numerous aspects of the university, providing valuable resources to strengthen ongoing efforts to help students stay at Bethel, graduate, and achieve their goals. “Bethel University exists for Christ-centered learning, and the partnership with CCA will help us be an institution that continuously learns how to better serve our undergraduate students in their path toward completing degrees,” says Provost Robin Rylaarsdam, Ph.D.

The CCA partnership will connect Bethel to the best universities and resources in the nation for efforts to bolster student success retention, persistence, and graduation rates—especially for historically underrepresented students. Bethel is now one of about 80 colleges partnering with Complete College America (CCA), a nonprofit working to raise postsecondary attainment nationally. With funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s Intermediaries for Scale (IFS) initiative, CCA is working across eleven state agencies, including Minnesota, to implement research-based practices designed to dramatically increase college completion. Vice President of Inclusive Excellence Rahn Franklin, Ph.D., says the partnership with CCA will provide valuable resources and support as Bethel continues to pursue its mission to educate and equip all students to lead lives of impact through transformative education. “We're committed to cultivating a learning community that fosters flourishing for all. That requires further investments so all of our students can become who they're created to be, by completing their degree,” says Vice President of Inclusive Excellence Rahn Franklin, Ph.D.

Bethel’s retention and persistence rates are high for many students, but campus leaders have identified areas for institutional growth. Bethel’s 67% four-year graduation rate exceeds the state (60%) and national (54%) averages. However, four- and six-year graduation rates for historically underrepresented students are lower at Bethel, which mirrors similar gaps across Minnesota and the nation. The partnership with CCA will provide resources to continue closing those gaps. “We want to set a system of student success up in such a way that the students who can benefit most will be accelerated in their successes,” Franklin says. He describes it as helping Bethel “go from good to great” when it comes to supporting all students and helping them find success. “Part of our push is to become one of the best in the state,” he says.

Rylaarsdam calls the CCA partnership one of many ways Bethel is striving to always improve to better serve students. She describes each student accepted into Bethel's academic programs as a person the university believes can complete the program and succeed. “When students don't finish their degrees, it's important to regularly evaluate what we as a university can do differently to support all students in their journeys here,” she says. To Associate Dean of Inclusive Excellence Khanh Nguyen, it’s important to note that student success is an institutional challenge—not something that’s just on the shoulders of individual students. “The onus isn't just on the student to succeed in a sense,” Nguyen says. “Yes, they have responsibility, but we are taking this on ourselves as an institution to be there, to have those structures in place, to have that support system in place so that they are set up to succeed.”

Bethel already has strong structures in place to support student success across the university. The CCA accelerator will help build on existing support systems to help each student meet their goals. “The nature of the accelerator is just that—it's to speed us along in what we've been doing ourselves in a variety of different ways,” Franklin says. CCA is providing many resources that will be free to Bethel, which the community is already benefitting from. The work with CCA will be positioned within Bethel’s existing student success framework, and Franklin sees an opportunity to build on many years of work around student retention and student success, along with many Bethel offices dedicated to student success—the Academic Enrichment and Support Center, the Office of Accessibility Resources and Services, the Office of Inclusive Excellence, The 25, and BUILD, to name a few.

With funding from the national grant program, Bethel has begun working with CCA to conduct assessments of institutional performance, build data capacity, and develop new strategies to improve student outcomes. Bethel has identified four key areas of focus: advising, four-year pathways, digital learning, and strategic finance. CCA is providing technical assistance and consultants for these areas, starting with advising over the summer.

Associate Provost Julie Finnern, Ph.D., is excited that CCA and the accelerator will provide opportunities for Bethel to grow and share ideas with partner institutions. While each faces its own journey and unique challenges, the institutions have numerous opportunities to learn from one another. Along with partner schools in the cohort, CCA is connecting Bethel to some of the best universities for student success and retention. One such school is Georgia State, which houses the National Institute for Student Success. Bethel leaders plan to review the university’s advising structure, and CCA will help Bethel work with peer institutions that can help improve a system that is already rated highly by students. “So to learn from and with others while we do that work, that was part of what was appealing to us,” Finnern says. 

Finnern and Franklin also see the partnership with CCA as an opportunity to foster collaboration across Bethel University, something Bethel has valued for many years. Efforts will span from offices like the Academic Enrichment and Support Center to faculty-student interactions and advising. “We're doing this work together across the institution,” Franklin says. “It's kind of everybody's business, seeking equitable enrollment, achievement, and success.” One example is the Academic Enrichment and Support Center, which has traditionally provided face-to-face academic support, often in the evenings. Recently, leaders have adjusted hours and added virtual options to reach more students, especially students who commute or have commitments in the evening and PSEO students with high school commitments.

Finnern wants students and families to know that everyone at Bethel—from admissions to Student Life to academics and student success—is working collaboratively to know each student and help them succeed. It’s important to look beyond the numbers to meet the needs of each student and their unique needs, especially since Bethel’s overall completion and retention numbers are strong. “Realizing that each number is a person, that goes back to our mission,” Finnern says. "It’s important to ensure that each student is able to benefit from a Bethel education and various resources available to students.”

And Franklin is excited that the efforts with CCA align with Bethel’s mission—to “educate and equip students to lead lives of impact through transformative academics in a Christ-centered community”—and with the university’s strategic framework. “That type of infrastructure is going to help aid all people at Bethel in terms of achieving what they're called and created to be here through higher education,” Franklin says. “And then that makes the world a better place.”

Overall, Vice President of Student Experience Miranda Powers calls the CCA partnership the latest effort to ensure that all students succeed and have a robust and fantastic student experience at Bethel. “Our partnership with Complete College America allows us to evaluate our strengths and acknowledge where we have room to grow,” she says. “This acknowledgment will give us meaningful strategies that are critical to achieving our ultimate goal of sending out competent and prepared graduates in a world that desperately needs them.” 

Become who you're meant to be at Bethel.

Discover how you’re meant to make a difference. In our welcoming, Christ-guided community, you’ll experience personal transformation and outstanding preparation for life, leadership, and your career—all to propel your life forward and fulfill your purpose.

Learn more