Maureen Lane

We Need More of a Good Thing: Expanding the Mayor’s Plan to Accelerate Graduation

An offshoot of Mayor Bloomberg's Poverty Commission and Commission for Economic Opportunity is a pilot program at CUNY to accelerate graduation rates. As reported in the Chronicle of Higher Education, "The goal of the plan...is for 50 percent of the participants to graduate and find employment within three years of beginning college and for 75 percent to do so within four years."

The Program was a focus of students here at CUNY this week.

Rachel Morgenstern, a Hunter student in this year's WRI (Welfare Rights Initiative) class , writes, "The Mayor's Poverty Commission's report states "Poverty is clearly related to education. Almost a third of those who lack a high school diploma or a GED live below the federal poverty line. However, additional education decreases the likelihood that a person will live in poverty."

The mayor seemed to acknowledge the link between poverty and lack of education when he spoke of the Accelerated Study in Associated Programs. The program sounds like a good way to help increase the graduation rates in community colleges. If you ask the 45% of undergraduate students who work more then 20 hours a week, the 62% who attend school full time or the 23% who support children, they will agree that the resources this plan intends to provide aid students in obtaining a college degree. Why then is this plan only aimed at 1,000 students? There are around 225,000 students at CUNY who could utilize the resources set forth in this program.

Ilish Neely from this year's WRI class posits, "In fact there would not be such a great need for the program if all students had equal access to quality education."

Rachel continues, "In today's world a college degree not only equals better pay but more opportunities. Education is an almost sure route out of poverty. Studies have shown that 88% of people receiving public assistance that obtain a college degree never return to welfare. In addition the study, Resilient and Reaching for More: Challenges and Benefits of Higher Education for Welfare Participants and Their Children conducted by the Institute for Women's Policy Research showed that a mother's education deeply impacted her children. They did better in school, improved their study habits and had an increased desire to go to college themselves."

Jessica Gill, another student writes, "All CUNY college students can use more help and financial support. The cost of tuition is too high and not everyone who needs it qualifies for financial aid because of the too low income formula." (For more on the income formula and problems with it see my recent podcast.)

Jessica recalls, "When I entered Hunter College I was a high school graduate from a low income family and receiving financial aid. Tuition was cheaper. I took remedial classes before fall semester. I took math, writing and reading. It helped. I had great tutors and advisors. I was also a SEEK student and doing work-study. Eventually, I was able to enroll in a 4-year college."

Academic and social support works for student retention. It has always worked.

Mayor Bloomberg says, "CUNY ASAP is designed to provide New York City with the educated workforce that it must have in order to stay competitive with cities around the world. This program creates a link between academic preparation and work that improves student interest and success."

If this is the goal, then I urge Mayor Bloomberg and the City Council and CUNY to think with big bold vision when we think about ending poverty. The big bold vision includes access to the academic and social supports that quality education for all demands. I'll end this blog today with a quote from another student in the class, she writes, "I can make the bold statement that education is my life-through learning I have experienced things which have shaped my outlook on life. Access to education is the key which holds the power to my mind and the possibilities for my future."

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Posted at 6:45 AM, Feb 22, 2007 in
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