Michelle Cooper, President of the Institute for Higher Education; Dr. Wayne Frederick, Howard President; Tim Renick, Georgia State Provost; Cecily Salvador, George Mason student; and Ron Browstein, Atlantic moderator.
The provocative question of “What’s the Point of College?” was asked in the closing day of The Atlantic magazine’s Education Summit. The problems are two-fold:{1} most modern students can’t finish college in four years with most taking six; and {2} the majority of students are strapped with discouraging debt.
What I learned was that Trinity a traditional Catholic girl’s school is becoming the defacto HBCU in DC with the highest freshman retention rates and a non-traditional student body that is 95% black and Hispanic female as reported by President Pat McGuire.
‘Race, Speech & Campus Protest: The Student’s Take’ video voice.
On the other hand, President Frederick from Howard complained that with a $23,000 tuition and an average family income of $56,000, the university is getting zero family contributions for a student body that is 60% Pell grant eligible. Howard is no longer the home of the sons and daughters of the Black Bourgeoisie!
On the other hand Charlene Dukes of PG Community College has a student body of over 40,000 of which 75% are part-time with an average age of 28, many of whom come from the richest majority Black county in the United States!
The problem is reflected in the declining trend in graduation results. According to Jeffrey Selingo’s new book ‘There Is Life After College’, only a third of college graduates are considered ‘SPRINTERS’ – who finish in 4 years and get right into a career! The rest are ‘WANDERERS’ who take an average of 6 years to finish; and ‘STRAGGLERS’ who never get a degree!
Howard student Clifton Kinnie, who failed to ‘dress for success’ and moderator Vann Newkirk.
But the delight of the President’s panel was a bi-lingual NOVA community college student and recent early childhood development graduate on her way to George Mason named Cecily Salvador, who ran a day care center during the day and took classes at night while raising a family. “Most of my classmates were immigrants like me who took advantage of student services to reach our goal”, said Mrs. Salvador.
To get a glimpse of the future student body of non-traditional students, check out The Atlantic’s ‘NEXT AMERICA’ online resource #AtlanticEDU. ©2016 Malcolm Lewis Barnes.