WINOOSKI, Vt. — Two AmeriCorps VISTA members plan to join the Vermont State Colleges system for a year to help low-income Vermonters get their degrees.
The Rutland Herald reports the partnership with Vermont Student Assistance Corporation is part of efforts at the VSC to enroll more first-generation students in post-secondary programs.
VSC chief academic officer Yasmine Ziesler says the entire length of college is a “leaky pipeline” but the biggest drop-offs happen between the first and second years of enrollment.
The VSC’s graduation rates at its respective campuses tend to fall below the national average for college graduates.
Success rates are highest at Vermont Technical College and Castleton University, where about 50 percent of full-time students graduate within six years for a four-year degree, or three for a two-year degree.
