Saturday, December 12, 2009

The New Face of College Students: It's Never Too Late!

In the Des Moines Register this morning, I read an article about a woman who earned a diploma from North Carolina Central University with a 3.98 GPA in pharmaceutical sciences. This was after growing up in a low-income family in Utica, NY, earning a scholarship to Northeastern University in Boston nearly twenty years ago, dropping out of college at least twice due to family issues, getting married and having two children, and holding a variety of jobs. Catherine McNamara attended a total of five colleges over 17 years and despite life's interruptions, persevered and will graduate this month. As she was quoted in the Associated Press article, education "is the one thing you've earned for yourself that absolutely no one can take away from you."

McNamara is the face of the new college students. For the past five to ten years, community colleges have shown a significant increase in enrollment due to an influx of "non-traditional" students, and so have colleges and universities. What are non-traditional students? By most definitions it would be one that does not fall between the ages of 18-24, but also would include individuals who may attend part-time, care for dependents, or perhaps work full time while enrolled. According to recent statistics, about one-third of all college students now fall into this category of "non-traditional."

What I also found interesting as I read further is that McNamara is an even greater success story because she will actually graduate. 80% of community college graduates state that they hope to earn a bachelor's degree, yet only 10% do and it looks like the longer it takes the less likely they are go finish. Financial aid starts to run dry and life's other demands start weighing more on the student's priorities. But, when we look at students who go right on to college from high school, the completion rate is not much different. While over 80% of high school students in Iowa graduate, the percentage that actually complete either an associates (2-year) or a bachelors (4-year) degree is less that 20% of those that start college. It is a huge problem when one considers that in our "flattening" world, this kind of advanced education/training is going to be imperative for young people to get a job!

What is the take home on this? First of all, individuals like Catherine McNamara should be considered role models as despite significant odds, she got a college degree and will get a good job. A college diploma is worth about a million dollars over a worker's lifetime, thus it is imperative that we look beyond a high school education. Students must be challenged in high school and prepared to take on the rigor of college. No more "senior slackers" or "senioritis" can be tolerated. Colleges and universities are going to have to change the way that they teach students. Like high schools, they are going to have to recognize that there is valid research that provides a road map to how students learn best. Learning must be more relevant and more importantly, students must learn how to learn. Very few high school students today will have one career or job in their lifetime. Christine McNamara recognized that no one could take that education away from her and now she is set to make a better life for herself and her family.

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