Dive Brief:
- For-profit Penn Foster this week officially launched its Dropout Retrieval Solution, an accredited high school completion program, at the 25th Annual National Dropout Prevention Network Conference.
- The program allows school districts to offer an affordable, self-paced option for at-risk students and those who already dropped out via online and hybrid learning models.
- The program was initially offered to 60 schools throughout the U.S., including Polk County, Fla., where over 500 students have been helped to graduate with Polk County or Penn Foster High School Diplomas.
Dive Insight:
Diploma completion and credit recovery options used by those 500 students were offered by more than 20 Polk County schools. A presentation delivered at the National Dropout Conference in Atlanta focused on this success as Chief Learning Officer Ray McNulty touted the Polk County program's 82% graduation rate. With this sort of success, could Penn Foster put an even bigger dent in the dropout rate nationwide?
