CIC’s report, An Analysis of Learning Outcomes of Underrepresented Students at Urban Institutions, examines the learning outcomes as measured by the Collegiate Learning Assessment (CLA) of low-income and first-generation students attending urban colleges and universities, and provides comparisons with similar students at non-urban institutions. The 19 CIC member institutions that participated in the study are part of the “Creating Pathways to Educational and Economic Opportunity in Urban Colleges and Universities” project, generously funded by the Carnegie Corporation of New York.
The report is authored by Josipa Roksa, associate professor of sociology and education at the University of Virginia, and co-author of Academically Adrift.
This new report for CIC reveals that, with few exceptions, students at independent institutions show learning gains during their college years at or above expected levels of performance on the CLA. The report suggests that the glass is at least half full: students at smaller, independent institutions who study the liberal arts do well academically, no matter what "at risk" factors are in their backgrounds.