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New
survey provides mixed results on university and college
commitment to serve low-income adults
Colleges and
universities have made considerable progress in
providing programs, policies and services to help
low-income adult students succeed in higher education
but gaps still exist, according to a survey conducted by
the American Council on Education (ACE) and supported by
a grant from Lumina Foundation for Education. The
survey included public four-year institutions, private
not-for-profit four-year institutions, public two-year
colleges and private for-profit institutions.
The survey
identified six areas where colleges and universities
perform well:
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Acknowledging the importance of adults in the campus
mission statement or strategic plan. The survey
found that 60 percent of institutions mention adults
in their mission statements or strategic plans.
-
Offering special academic programs to meet the needs
of adult students. More than 90 percent of
institutions offer at least one program that
specifically targeted at addressing the needs of
adults.
-
Developing early warning systems to identify
struggling students. More than 80 percent of
institutions have such programs in place.
-
Establishing full-service satellite campuses: Four
out of five institutions have satellite campuses.
-
Being accessible via public transportation: More
than three-quarters of colleges and universities are
located along bus or subway routes.
-
Welcoming adult students through special orientation
programs: The survey found that 60 percent of
institutions offer special orientation programs for
adult students.
The survey also identified five areas
where colleges and universities can improve:
-
Identifying the
low-income adults within their student populations.
The survey found that fewer than 20 percent of the
schools in the survey specifically recognize those
adult students who are low-income.
-
Funding programs for
low-income adults: Less than one-third of
institutions seek external funds for programs aimed
at low-income adults, and even fewer earmark
internal monies for low-income students.
-
Finding and developing
faculty who know how to teach adults: The majority
of institutions (63 percent) do not specifically
recruit new faculty experienced at teaching adults.
In addition, fewer than half of institutions offer
faculty professional development training on
teaching adults.
-
Offering childcare:
Fewer than one in three institutions offers
childcare, but public colleges and universities are
more likely to offer childcare than either private
not-for-profit institutions or private for-profit
institutions.
-
Providing financial
assistance to low-income adults: Fewer than 30
percent of schools in the survey set aside
institutional financial aid for low-income adults,
and fewer than 15 percent waive or reduce fees for
these students. (NS, 7/05)
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