Given the challenges of keeping students in school, a new federal emphasis on retention is welcome, she says. But, she adds, financial aid remains the most significant barrier to success for students at Spelman and other HBCUs.
“I’m astounded when students say they work two jobs while going to school,” she tells Diverse. “Our students don’t leave for academic reasons. They leave for financial reasons.”
Others agree that retention programs can succeed only hand-in-hand with financial aid and pre-college outreach activities.
“We need financial aid and we need retention programs,” says Dr. Watson Scott Swail, president of the Educational Policy Institute in Virginia Beach, Va. Yet even with an extra $500 million a year for five years, the federal government may be hard pressed to make significant inroads on graduation rates.
The government already spends more than $1 billion annually on TRIO and GEAR UP programs but only serve a fraction of those eligible. “Spread across the country, the amount of money is miniscule,” Swail tells Diverse.
However, the federal government can use the five-year, $2.5 billion program to support best practices and innovations. “The idea to use it as an incentive and as research is entirely appropriate,” he says.
© Copyright 2005 by DiverseEducation.com
