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| Socioeconomic Diversity and Access to Higher EducationThe Challenge: To make higher education more accessible to all Americans, to increase socioeconomic diversity on campus and to improve degree attainment rates How the proposed Challenge meets the challenge criteria: American higher education has been so successful largely because it has operated at so many different levels and with different sources of funding and types of governing bodies. Change can be and must be made at the level of individual institutions, in state legislatures, in national bodies such as the College Board, and at the federal level. Issues of access and socioeconomic and racial diversity have been getting a lot of attention recently. In asking how we can increase enrollment from all levels of American society, we end up discussing primary and secondary education, pre-primary care, public health, admissions policies and institutional, state and federal level financial aid policies. Vision or background behind the proposed Challenge: In the last 30 years, colleges and universities at all levels have become increasingly inaccessible to Americans below the top income quintile. Financial aid programs like the Pell grants have not kept up with college costs. Degree attainment levels for lower income students are also troublingly low. All of this means that institutions which were once gateways to the middle class for millions of Americans, and which served as integrating institutions bringing together people of many backgrounds and from many places in society are increasingly unable to or are failing to accomplish these roles. This comes at a time when a college education is more important than ever before in defining career options and in allowing America to maintain a competitive economy in the global market. Why Roosevelt should take on this Challenge over others: The discourse on diversity in higher education has been thoroughly developed recently as colleges and universities have adapted policies to promote diversity on campus. University presidents, deans of admission and financial aid, scholars, and government officials have gathered at numerous conferences and symposia to discuss how recent changes to admissions, aid, and on-campus policies are reshaping the landscape of higher education. Many schools have undertaken ambitious efforts to promote diversity; others have implemented policies targeted at other factors, such as college rankings, rising operational costs, and decreased federal aid. At the same time, students have been subject to these policies and therefore have unique experiential knowledge of their effects. Some students would not think twice about how institutional policies affect their education. Others have mobilized to work with their university administrations or to form organizations and design programs of their own to promote diversity on campus. Roosevelt can serve as a bridge for students to begin entering the discussions that have been going on. We need to have a voice in these discussions, because, as students, we are immediately affected by these institutions, and are well acquainted with many of these issues. We are also citizens of our campuses, customers of our institutions, and the primary constituents affected by these issues. All of these guarantee that we will have something to say and that it will be difficult not to listen to us. Lastly, the Roosevelt Institution started from the idea that colleges and universities were effectively think tanks, they just weren't effective think tanks. This challenge takes that initial urge to reform and improve them and expands on it. CommentsThis is a really important topic, and it is something that RI students could and have already taken ownership over. Many of our most promising centers deal with education and we've had several events recently or that are coming up in the near future that address just this issue. This would build off existing momentum at a time when this issue is gaining increasing national prominence. I think this is one of the most important and successful challenges we could do. From the perspective of people paying attention to us, we can get our foot in the door by being students talking about a student issue, then establish long-term credibility with the caliber of our research and ideas. Starting here is good for the organization and the Challenges program. It's also good for the country. As Roosevelt itself demonstrates, college students have access to a great deal of resources, both while in school and once they graduate. Those resources matter not just in terms of getting a better job and earning a higher income, but also in affecting the political process and thus the quality of other people's jobs. Diversity in higher education is a crucial step to creating an inclusive democracy. (1) There is definitely a lack of communication and coordination among those working on this, which we could provide; (2) we have access to the decision-makers; (3) we have real credibility on the issue. I think this is a great proposal. I think that Roosevelt is in a very good position to look critically and constructively at this issue. We have already begun to look at our campus diversity programs here in Wisconsin. If a clear step by step outline is proposed which each chapter can follow I feel we could really have some impact on this issue. Are you aware of a Stanford-based organization, Quest-Bridge, which matches low income high-achieving high school students with mid tier and top universities? Dr.Michael McCullough, a good friend of mine and former Rhodes scholar, with many years of experience helping low income students through his Quest program at Stanford,runs it and might be a good resource to help you with your efforts. Hey John, One of the students who's been working on this issue with me at the Yale Chapter of RI is working for Quest-Bridge this year. He's a former Yale College Council president, and one of the major forces behind organizing A Seat at the Table, the Roosevelt sponsored education conference to be hosted in October by Yale University. If you haven't already checked out that conference, see rooseveltinstitution.org/edconference. We've been working to secure this conference for the better part of a year, and if this challenge is selected, it will gain a huge boost in our ability to work together thanks to the conference. |
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