Understanding Community College Success & Listening to Student Voices

Posted February 15, 2019 | By Cooke Foundation Staff

Cooke Scholars at Scholars Weekend 2017

February 15, 2019 – Here’s our weekly roundup of education news you may have missed. Community college access was a popular topic; other media coverage shares insights for addressing housing and food insecurity. Also, our new section on student voices highlights recent views and reporting from campus newspapers.

Do you know an academically talented 7th grader with financial need?  Encourage them to apply for the Cooke Young Scholars Program, a selective pre-college scholarship that offers educational support to exceptionally promising students from across the nation. Cooke Young Scholars receive comprehensive advising and financial support from 8th grade through high school. The application deadline is March 14, 2019.

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Elementary & Secondary Education:

  • Andrew J. Fuligni explains that adolescents have a “fundamental need to contribute to others” and outlines how families, educators, and communities can support this developmental need in The Conversation.
  • On the EdNote blog hosted by Education Commission of the States, Michelle Croft recommends improving access to rigorous coursework and other educational opportunities for rural students.
  • “Homeless students are less likely to graduate from high school than other low-income children, and the general population,” reports Education Week.
  • A national survey conducted by NACAC finds that high school counselors feel prepared to advise students about matriculating to community colleges, however they expressed less confidence on familiarity with transfer policies.

 

Higher Education:

  • “What does it mean to be [a] poor student on rich campus?” Tony Jack shares insights from his research on the Harvard EdCast.
  • Tuition-free community college programs are proliferating, driven by “a crisis in college affordability and a tightening labor market,” states The Wall Street Journal.  A new survey covered by Inside Higher Ed finds that working and paying for expenses are the two major challenges to academic success for community college students, and The Hechinger Report details how transportation can be a financial impediment.
  • Separate articles from NPR and The Chronicle of Higher Education offer solutions for alleviating campus hunger.
  • Senator Lamar Alexander outlines his proposals for financial aid and student loan repayment in The New York Times.

 

Student Voices:

  • Changes to the tax policy require some scholarship recipients to pay an unexpected, and rather substantial, amount of income tax. Students share their concerns in The Yale Daily News.
  • The Chicago Maroon describes aspects of transfer that can be confusing or serve to isolate students from the campus community. An entire section of The Daily Californian also recently highlighted the need to improve inclusivity for transfer students.
  • In The Johns Hopkins News-Letter, Sam Farrar grapples with whether to identify as a low-income student.
  • Marissa Martinez describes how many students of color and students with financial need are overlooked for advanced academic opportunities in The Daily Northwestern.

 

Cooke Foundation Highlights:

  • Cooke Scholar Peter Dugan will co-host From the Top‘s February 18 broadcast, which features a violin performance from Cooke Young Scholar Charlotte Marckx.
  • The National Partnership for Educational Access (NPEA) and the Cooke Foundation are currently accepting nominations for the 2019 Award for Excellence in Educational Access.
  • Jack Kent Cooke Young Artist Hayoung Moon’s achievements are celebrated in the Waco Tribune-Herald.

 

Social Media Spotlight:

Photo header: Cooke Scholars at Scholars Weekend 2017.