Good Op-Ed, Bad Numbers

William E. "Brit" Kerwan, chancellor of the University System of Maryland, wrote an Op-Ed in the Washington Post today that hits all the right notes when it comes to gives students better odds of graduating from college. But it should be noted that some of the statistics aren't correct. Kerwan writes:

Of every 100 current eighth-graders in America, just 18 will receive a college degree during the next 10 years. Based on current participation and completion rates, the education pipeline reveals alarming holes.

This overstates the problem. As the Post itself noted in an article published last year, an analysis of a U.S. Department of Education survey that tracked a cohort of eighth-graders for 12 years found that 34 percent had earned a college degree during that time.

34 percent isn't a great number, but the difference between that and 18 percent is huge, and most of it isn't a function of giving students an extra two years to earn a degree. It's important to draw attention to the need to increase educational attainment, but it's equally important to use accurate data to do so.