In November 2006, the National Postsecondary Education Cooperative (NPEC) hosted a 3-day national symposium on postsecondary student success in Washington DC. The purpose of the symposium was to discuss what constitutes success and what factors impact the chances of success for different types of students in different types of postsecondary institutions. The symposium included both large plenary sessions and smaller break out sessions. The large plenary sessions were organized around papers specifically commissioned for the symposium by top researchers in the field of student success, as well as respondent papers from federal, state, and institutional postsecondary decision makers. Breakout sessions were designed to encourage discussions between the commissioned authors and symposium participants. In total, close to 400 hundred researchers, federal, state, and institution decision makers; and legislative policymakers attended the conference.
Featured speakers included Donna Alvarado, Thomas Bailey, Edward Blews, Derek Bok, John Braxton, William Demmert, James Hearn, George Kuh, Bridget Terry Long, David Longanecker, Patricia McGuire, Michael Nettles, Laura Rendón, Earl Richardson, Piedad Robertson, NCES Commissioner Mark Schneider, John Smart, Congressman John H. (Joe) Schwarz, Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings, Scott Thomas, and Vincent Tinto.
The commissioned papers, response papers, and symposium program can be accessed from the following links:
Commissioned Papers
Response Papers
Symposium Final Agenda 
(274 KB)
Student Success Symposium Powerpoint Presentation 
(57 KB)
