The economic recovery, the availability of Covid-19 vaccines and face-to-face training may not be enough to attract students who have already dropped out of higher education.
College counselors and guidance counselors find it difficult to reach high-risk students because of this opportunity. Many students have dropped out of school to support their families, taking low-paying jobs in an economy ravaged by the pandemic, abandoning an education that could prepare them for more lucrative activities. The move to online learning for high school students also eliminated face-to-face contact, which was an important tool in reaching these students.
Student choices this month could widen already growing wealth inequalities, exacerbating inequalities for a new generation.
In an interview, Will Del Pilar, vice president of higher education policy and practice at the Education Trust, said: “If we don't recruit these students, there will be students who just don't show up in our schools. schools. "Low-income students and students of color don't take vacation years; they drop out of school and never go back to higher education."
More than 727,000 students dropped out in 2020 due to economic uncertainty and the failed e-learning transition caused by Covid-19. And 2021 will follow in the footsteps of the previous two.
For the second year in a row, the number of completed federal student aid applications - an important statistic used to track low-income students' dreams of going to college - fell to more than 100,000 applications in July. After a sharp drop in the 2020 class last year, this is an early warning of another likely drop in recruitment. The decline is about four times worse in public high schools with more than 50% black or Latino students than in schools with a majority of white students.
Over the past two years, at the College and Career Access Center in Jackson, Michigan, a career and college support organization, the number of students they receive regularly through individual counseling has dropped by more than 30%. When classes went virtual in Georgia this year, the nonprofit Achieve Atlanta University Advisory Group, which works with Atlanta public school children, said it was struggling to involve students in planning for their graduate studies.
Corinne Skuli, vice president of access at Achieve Atlanta University, said, "Obviously it was more difficult and there are students that we weren't able to reach." She argues that the inability to communicate with students on a human level makes it difficult for them to be interested in technical aspects of education, such as obtaining the FAFSA.
“The biggest challenge for us in moving to a virtual environment has been to create a college learning culture in schools to ensure that every student has the opportunity to talk about their future plans,” Skuli said.
Freshmen may not be the only ones failing.
Students who drop out of college because of the switch to online education or to support their families with their work face significant administrative challenges when they return to school. Validating a federal student aid request can be time consuming, especially for families with multiple jobs, like driving an Uber or delivering letter carriers. Going from a four-year school to a community college is also a major challenge that must be overcome at a distance.
Del Pilar expressed concern that "we might have lost a whole generation of students."
2020 and 2021 courses
As a result of the pandemic, more than a quarter of a million high school graduates in the 2020s and 2021s are fewer than there were due to the pandemic, according to Bill DeBona, director of statistics and education. National College Education Network assessment. . High school students filed about 5% fewer applications this year than the year before.
While the preliminary numbers are grim, it's not too late to file a claim with the FAFSA. College counseling bodies are struggling to recruit 2020s and 2021s students who want to continue their education but need to meet certain admission requirements.
Since counseling organizations cannot organize personal events to help multiple families at once, they reach out to students and their families individually through email and on social media such as Instagram.
During the outbreak, Baltimore Public Schools opened a new "Navigation Center" to rehire students who have dropped out of school or college and need help completing college admissions or finding a job. learning.
According to Rachel Pfeiffer, executive director of college and career preparation at BCPS, about 26% of Baltimore public school graduates "don't work or attend college in the fall after graduation. of their diploma ".
To attract the attention of young people, the center placed advertisements on buses and bus stops, and the centre's consultants visited summer schools. To help the children apply, they formed links with the town hall, local NGOs and a nearby community college.
According to Nancy Peters-Lewis, executive director of the Jackson College Access and Career Center, students want to go to college, but the high cost makes it out of reach.
Interest and student loan payments have been suspended until January 2022, according to President Joe Biden. In Congress, Democrats are debating a $ 3.5 trillion “human infrastructure” budget harmonization bill that would make two-year institutions free.
However, the most common explanation given by students who did not apply to college in 2020 and 2021, according to eccentric polls, was that they saw themselves as unprepared to study, did not need to money or could not afford an education. .
“There is a need for structural reform in the way schools serve their students and college tuition fees,” Peters-Lewis added. "Well, not everyone is made for college after high school, but they are made for something," some senators say.
According to Peters-Lewis, this is the wrong approach. She explained, "We can't just have a bunch of people telling you you're suited to work at McDonald's."
Graduation ceremony 2019
It was hard enough to stay in college and get through the first year before the global pandemic added new challenges.
The overall "persistence rate" - a measure of the number of freshmen returning to second year - high school graduates in 2019 fell an historic two percentage points. It was the lowest since 2012, according to the National Research Center for Student Information Exchange.
Hispanic children saw the biggest decline. Freshmen who tried to transfer from their university were more likely to drop out.
Bridget Davis, a researcher and Ph.D. at the University of Chicago, followed 31 low-income students of the class of 2019 as they entered the university. When the epidemic hit, many students told Davis they weren't sure they could complete the semester, let alone re-enroll in the fall.
Only 14 out of 31 students are still in college.
Six students tried unsuccessfully to move from a four-year college to a community college, and others were unable to re-enroll in their four-year colleges after a hiatus due to poor performance in online courses . Many students, Davis said, have chosen to work instead of going to school, despite the school vacations making it difficult to return. However, the stress of having to start repaying loans weighs heavily on students who have left and influences their decision to return to school.
“All of these boating and training programs are just a dressing,” Davis added. "They sure help, but they can never help all the kids who want to go to college."
College counselors and guidance counselors find it difficult to reach high-risk students because of this opportunity. Many students have dropped out of school to support their families, taking low-paying jobs in an economy ravaged by the pandemic, abandoning an education that could prepare them for more lucrative activities. The move to online learning for high school students also eliminated face-to-face contact, which was an important tool in reaching these students.
Student choices this month could widen already growing wealth inequalities, exacerbating inequalities for a new generation.
In an interview, Will Del Pilar, vice president of higher education policy and practice at the Education Trust, said: “If we don't recruit these students, there will be students who just don't show up in our schools. schools. "Low-income students and students of color don't take vacation years; they drop out of school and never go back to higher education."
More than 727,000 students dropped out in 2020 due to economic uncertainty and the failed e-learning transition caused by Covid-19. And 2021 will follow in the footsteps of the previous two.
For the second year in a row, the number of completed federal student aid applications - an important statistic used to track low-income students' dreams of going to college - fell to more than 100,000 applications in July. After a sharp drop in the 2020 class last year, this is an early warning of another likely drop in recruitment. The decline is about four times worse in public high schools with more than 50% black or Latino students than in schools with a majority of white students.
Over the past two years, at the College and Career Access Center in Jackson, Michigan, a career and college support organization, the number of students they receive regularly through individual counseling has dropped by more than 30%. When classes went virtual in Georgia this year, the nonprofit Achieve Atlanta University Advisory Group, which works with Atlanta public school children, said it was struggling to involve students in planning for their graduate studies.
Corinne Skuli, vice president of access at Achieve Atlanta University, said, "Obviously it was more difficult and there are students that we weren't able to reach." She argues that the inability to communicate with students on a human level makes it difficult for them to be interested in technical aspects of education, such as obtaining the FAFSA.
“The biggest challenge for us in moving to a virtual environment has been to create a college learning culture in schools to ensure that every student has the opportunity to talk about their future plans,” Skuli said.
Freshmen may not be the only ones failing.
Students who drop out of college because of the switch to online education or to support their families with their work face significant administrative challenges when they return to school. Validating a federal student aid request can be time consuming, especially for families with multiple jobs, like driving an Uber or delivering letter carriers. Going from a four-year school to a community college is also a major challenge that must be overcome at a distance.
Del Pilar expressed concern that "we might have lost a whole generation of students."
2020 and 2021 courses
As a result of the pandemic, more than a quarter of a million high school graduates in the 2020s and 2021s are fewer than there were due to the pandemic, according to Bill DeBona, director of statistics and education. National College Education Network assessment. . High school students filed about 5% fewer applications this year than the year before.
While the preliminary numbers are grim, it's not too late to file a claim with the FAFSA. College counseling bodies are struggling to recruit 2020s and 2021s students who want to continue their education but need to meet certain admission requirements.
Since counseling organizations cannot organize personal events to help multiple families at once, they reach out to students and their families individually through email and on social media such as Instagram.
During the outbreak, Baltimore Public Schools opened a new "Navigation Center" to rehire students who have dropped out of school or college and need help completing college admissions or finding a job. learning.
According to Rachel Pfeiffer, executive director of college and career preparation at BCPS, about 26% of Baltimore public school graduates "don't work or attend college in the fall after graduation. of their diploma ".
To attract the attention of young people, the center placed advertisements on buses and bus stops, and the centre's consultants visited summer schools. To help the children apply, they formed links with the town hall, local NGOs and a nearby community college.
According to Nancy Peters-Lewis, executive director of the Jackson College Access and Career Center, students want to go to college, but the high cost makes it out of reach.
Interest and student loan payments have been suspended until January 2022, according to President Joe Biden. In Congress, Democrats are debating a $ 3.5 trillion “human infrastructure” budget harmonization bill that would make two-year institutions free.
However, the most common explanation given by students who did not apply to college in 2020 and 2021, according to eccentric polls, was that they saw themselves as unprepared to study, did not need to money or could not afford an education. .
“There is a need for structural reform in the way schools serve their students and college tuition fees,” Peters-Lewis added. "Well, not everyone is made for college after high school, but they are made for something," some senators say.
According to Peters-Lewis, this is the wrong approach. She explained, "We can't just have a bunch of people telling you you're suited to work at McDonald's."
Graduation ceremony 2019
It was hard enough to stay in college and get through the first year before the global pandemic added new challenges.
The overall "persistence rate" - a measure of the number of freshmen returning to second year - high school graduates in 2019 fell an historic two percentage points. It was the lowest since 2012, according to the National Research Center for Student Information Exchange.
Hispanic children saw the biggest decline. Freshmen who tried to transfer from their university were more likely to drop out.
Bridget Davis, a researcher and Ph.D. at the University of Chicago, followed 31 low-income students of the class of 2019 as they entered the university. When the epidemic hit, many students told Davis they weren't sure they could complete the semester, let alone re-enroll in the fall.
Only 14 out of 31 students are still in college.
Six students tried unsuccessfully to move from a four-year college to a community college, and others were unable to re-enroll in their four-year colleges after a hiatus due to poor performance in online courses . Many students, Davis said, have chosen to work instead of going to school, despite the school vacations making it difficult to return. However, the stress of having to start repaying loans weighs heavily on students who have left and influences their decision to return to school.
“All of these boating and training programs are just a dressing,” Davis added. "They sure help, but they can never help all the kids who want to go to college."
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