Hi all -- of possible interest.
Overall I think the article gives a pretty unrealistic view of the 4-year
"sleep-away" college, and tries to apply that model to public schools. But
an interesting quote, "In the fall, Pace University in New York begins the
''Pace Promise'' program, pledging to add sections or open closed courses
for eligible students who are shut out. Similarly, SUNY at Fredonia will
pay the tuition of students in its ''Fredonia in Four'' program if they
can't get needed courses."
-Jillian
--------------
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/13/edlife/13UNDE.html
UNDERGRADS
The Longtime Student
By KAREN W. ARENSON
Sean Boyle has started college three times. The first time was right out of
high school, nearly a decade ago, when he enrolled at Eugene Lang College
in New York City. He had been a solid student in high school but dropped
out of college just weeks into his first semester to pursue acting. The
second time was about a year later, after giving up on the theater. This
time, he worked as a temp and attended Nassau Community College on Long
Island. That lasted a semester, until the company he was working for
offered him a full-time job. He bolted again.
The third time, after changing jobs, he decided he really did need a
college degree. Now a payroll administrator at a property management
company, he leaves work at 5:15 two afternoons a week, wolfs down a
sandwich in his car and dashes for a 6:10 class at the State University of
New York at Old Westbury. He is 27 and this time intends to graduate.
''For quite a while, college didn't seem important to me,'' says Mr. Boyle,
sitting in Old Westbury's cafeteria in a white button-down shirt, dark suit
and tie, surrounded by younger students in sweat pants and jeans. ''I saw
it as vocational training and I had a job and my career was advancing. Then
I realized what a liability not having a degree was. Also, I realized that
I had internalized feelings of inferiority. These days, most people have
college degrees.''
More people may have degrees, but like Mr. Boyle, many take circuitous
routes -- and many years -- to get them. To the consternation of educators,
politicians and tuition-paying parents, a student's path through college --
once a quick, smooth ride on an open freeway -- is now more like
stop-and-go rush-hour traffic on the Long Island Expressway.
Once the norm, a four-year bachelor's degree is no longer typical. Students
now spend on average five to six years steeped in Socrates and child
psychology courses before accumulating enough credits for a diploma. Of the
students who entered college in 1995 planning to earn a bachelor's degree,
only 37 percent succeeded within four years (33 percent from the
institution they enrolled in as freshmen), and 63 percent within six years
(55 percent from the first institution), according to a study issued in
December by the United States Department of Education.
The prolonged student tenure has prompted both outrage and concern. Some
government officials see a waste of taxpayer money when slowpoke students
attend state-supported universities and receive federal and state aid.
Others see the graduation rates as a failure of colleges to do their job
properly, or blame students for being undisciplined and taking up slots
better occupied by fresh-faced, motivated freshmen.
''The longer people are enrolled, the more it costs, and if students have
to borrow, it drives up their debt load,'' says Sally L. Stroup, head of
the office of postsecondary education at the Department of Education, which
has been soliciting recommendations on what role the federal government can
play in spurring students to graduate sooner.
Faced with budget cuts and swelling classrooms, state governments as well
as colleges from Minnesota to Texas have been testing various ideas to
hasten graduation. In New York, Gov. George E. Pataki has called for
withholding a third of a student's aid until graduation. At the University
of Florida at Gainesville, a tracking system tells what courses a student
needs to complete a major and flags those who are falling behind. A growing
number of universities are also guaranteeing that required courses will be
available so students can graduate on time. In the fall, Pace University in
New York begins the ''Pace Promise'' program, pledging to add sections or
open closed courses for eligible students who are shut out. Similarly, SUNY
at Fredonia will pay the tuition of students in its ''Fredonia in Four''
program if they can't get needed courses.
THE strongest predictor that a student will graduate is academic
preparation, especially the level of math completed in high school,
according to Clifford Adelman, a senior research analyst at the Department
of Education. ''Finishing a course beyond the level of algebra II -- for
example, trigonometry or precalculus -- more than doubles the odds that a
student who enters postsecondary education will complete a bachelor's
degree,'' he wrote in a 1999 report on college-completion patterns.
Selective universities like Yale and Harvard have little problem getting
their freshmen out in four years (88 and 84 percent, respectively). They
admit academically prepared students who have the best graduation
prospects, and most students attend full time, live on campus and work
limited hours -- all factors that raise the likelihood of completing college.
But for colleges like SUNY at Old Westbury, which is filled with students
who do not meet this profile, ensuring that students graduate -- and
graduate more quickly -- is a challenge. Like marathon runners who reach
the finish line hours after the winners have raced through and the cheering
crowds have gone home, many students limp on for years.
Founded in 1965 for nontraditional students, Old Westbury enrolls students
who tend to have the lowest graduation rates: disadvantaged students, many
of them black and Hispanic, with poor academic backgrounds. Pushing down
their prospects still further, many live off campus and hold full-time jobs.
In 2001, Old Westbury had one of the most diverse student bodies in the
State University of New York system and also the lowest graduation rate:
only 18 percent of freshmen who entered in 1997 graduated four years later.
Only 24 percent of those entering in 1995 succeeded in six years. Five
percent were still working on degrees; 71 percent had either transferred to
another college or dropped out.
SUNY officials are pressing all the campuses to raise graduation rates --
among the four research universities, six-year rates in 2001 ranged from 52
percent at Stony Brook to 77 percent at Binghamton. But they have left it
to each campus to work out the methods.
''What I'm seeing across the university is pretty innovative programs,''
says Robert L. King, SUNY's chancellor, ''particularly in student advising,
getting students lined up with the right majors and courses, getting
support for students who need to enhance their study skills or need help in
science or math or whatever.
''But remember, this all starts with what the demographics are of the
students you're admitting. If you are the Ivy League, and you are admitting
only the top 5 or 10 percent in terms of performance, your graduation and
retention rates are higher. The economics of families who come to public
universities are such that they may need to work more. The age of students
is also a factor; some are married and have other obligations.''
At Old Westbury, a critical first step was to attract stronger students, in
part by becoming more selective and shrinking the number of freshmen, from
460 to 280. (SUNY has made up for the lost revenue.) It has also introduced
financial incentives -- merit scholarships and free rooms in its residence
halls to top students.
The president of Old Westbury, Calvin O. Butts III, insists its mission has
not changed. ''If a rabbi or a chemistry teacher or a Boy Scout leader
recommends someone who has strong motivation but does not have 800 or 1000
on their SAT's, we will still take them,'' he says. ''We are just getting
the diverse students out there who have achieved well.''
The university is also trying a new ''first-year experience'' program that
teaches study skills and time management and offers field trips, dances and
other events designed to make commuter students feel part of a community,
and thus more engaged in class. Most students are now matched with faculty
advisers their first year rather than after they choose a major.
''You want students to bond with faculty immediately,'' Mary Marquez Bell,
vice president for enrollment, says, adding that professors have to play a
central role if the college is to keep students on track.
Dr. Butts expects all this to contribute to higher graduation rates.
Already, the proportion of students returning after freshman year has
jumped, to 71 percent this year from 56 percent four years ago. But there
is still more to do. Facing a tight budget this spring, the college
canceled 24 courses, leaving students to scramble to fill holes in their
schedules. Some ended up taking fewer credits than they planned, which will
delay graduation.
Anastasia Yokom, 24, lost a course in Eastern religions. Ms. Yokom, who
hopes to become a teacher, transferred to Old Westbury in January from a
community college, where it took her seven semesters to graduate. Studying
does not come easily, so she had taken less than a full load. ''I work my
butt off, and I still don't make it,'' she says. As for losing the course
this term, she adds: ''If it takes a little bit longer, I don't have a
problem. I just don't want to be here until I'm 40.''
Ahmed Rodriguez, 27, is in his sixth year at Old Westbury, thanks to
academic and financial problems combined with a full platter of
extracurricular activities and a double major. He earned A's his freshman
year but then took on responsibility as student government president and
worked long hours in two clothing stores. He kept running out of time on
tests. Not surprisingly, his grades suffered.
He sought help with his test-taking problems, cut back on activities and
outside work and took a semester off. ''I didn't want to not take courses,
but that's what I had to do,'' he says. Now he is earning a 3.5 average and
looking forward to graduating in May with majors in American studies and
media and communications.
While educators believe that students who graduate on time will be better
off, Mr. Rodriguez says he does not understand the hurry, with so much to
cram in. No one dictates how long it should take to marry or buy a house.
Why should college be stuffed into a particular time frame?
''The college experience is the best time of your life,'' he says. ''It is
not good to rush out of school. Everyone I know who graduated wishes they
were back in school.''
Karen W. Arenson covers higher education for The Times.
- - - - - - - - - -
"La beauté du monde apparaît quand on reconnaît
la nécessité comme la substance de l'univers"
Simone Weil
- - - - - - - - - -
Jillian Murray
http://studentweb.hunter.cuny.edu/~murrayj
- - - - - - - - - -
|
