“I don’t think anyone took into account that there are some students here struggling, they’re barely able to come. This is supposed to be an institution where kids who don’t have that $7,000, $8,000, $9,000 to go to some other university can come and still get a good education. I understand that they want to increase their image, but I just don’t feel like charging students more money makes your image look any better,” Vance adds.
For her part, UDC senior Fatou Sow, a biology major, says if UDC wants “to have a community college, I think that’s a great idea. I just transferred from a community college, Montgomery (Md.) College, and it’s an amazing school.”
According to Sow, Montgomery is “very nurturing and people care and want you to succeed. So if you want that in a smaller space for community college students, that’s fine. But, at the moment, I don’t find that it’s a good idea to add that to UDC because we already have our own problems to deal with,” Sow adds.
Nevertheless, Hervey says the needs of the District are so great that not only does UDC have to respond with forming a community college, but other colleges in the District should do the same.
“We believe that what we are doing complements the larger needs of the District of Columbia as it pertains to workforce development and education,” Hervey says. “The needs are so great that, if every institution that was located in the District of Columbia decided to figure out how it would reorganize to focus on the needs of the District, it would be a really good thing.”
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