Nationwide, 43 million people now owe a record total of $1.3 trillion in student loans, according to the Center for American Progress. College costs are at the top of the list of burdens facing middle-class families as well as low-income students who may have exhausted their financial aid or are ineligible for the help they need to complete college. No wonder Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the state Legislature are considering new ways to substantially augment tuition assistance.
This fall Queens College will implement a strategy consistent with a growing national movement to speed time to graduation, saving families money and the foregone income that results from extended time in school. Beginning this fall, as we celebrate our 80th anniversary of educating New Yorkers, freshmen will have the opportunity to enroll in a prescribed four-year graduation plan, “QC in 4.” This will take the form of a partnership between the student and the college that places responsibilities on both that, if fulfilled, will guarantee graduation in four years.
Our rationale includes the fact that in our last three graduating classes, almost 89% of students who began with us as freshmen and graduated in four years emerged debt-free. In QC in 4, students commit to graduating in four years and to earning 3O credits a year—at least 15 credits a semester without interruption. Students may attend winter sessions and two summer sessions to maintain the pace of 3O credits annually. In return, QC in 4 offers students valuable tools, resources and support, including a four-year “academic map” for eligible majors; academic advising during enrollment for new students and before registration in subsequent semesters: ensuring course availability; an academic planner and online degree audit to help students monitor their progress; and an annual evaluation of student’s progress, identifying steps to help movement towards the successful completion of the four-year graduation plan.
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While other public colleges outside New York City have developed models to speed time to graduation, QC in 4 is the first of its kind in our New York City. We recognize that not all students are in a position to commit to the program because of family responsibility, employment needs, health considerations or other factors, and we will continue to work with every student to support their academic and career advancement.
Our implementation of QC in 4 coincides with the release last month of a report on 30 million college students by the Equality of Opportunity Project that placed Queens College in the top 1% of all colleges in helping students move from the bottom fifth of the economic ladder to the top fifth.
Daniel Greenstein, director of postsecondary success at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, last November described “the gulf between the haves and the have-nots” as “getting wider and…brimming with fear and anger and resentment.” The record shows that Queens College and other CUNY colleges are leading forces in higher education in helping to bridge that gap, providing the ladder of upward social and economic mobility for precisely the kinds of students we have always served: immigrants, migrants, and the sons and daughters of immigrants. The Queens College motto, “discimus ut serviamus”—we learn so that we may serve—is as current today as in 1937 when our doors first opened. And we continue to achieve all this with a proud legacy of academic excellence: in the last three years, 12 Queens College students have been selected as Fulbright scholars.
That is why we are eager for our graduates to lose no time in achieving success unburdened by huge debt and academically prepared to compete in a changing economy and world order. That is a road map well worth pursuing.
Felix V. Matos Rodriguez is president of Queens College of The City University of New York.
Nationwide, 43 million people now owe a record total of $1.3 trillion in student loans, according to the Center for American Progress. College costs are at the top of the list of burdens facing middle-class families as well as low-income students who may have exhausted their financial aid or are ineligible for the help they need to complete college. No wonder Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the state Legislature are considering new ways to substantially augment tuition assistance.
This fall Queens College will implement a strategy consistent with a growing national movement to speed time to graduation, saving families money and the foregone income that results from extended time in school. Beginning this fall, as we celebrate our 80th anniversary of educating New Yorkers, freshmen will have the opportunity to enroll in a prescribed four-year graduation plan, “QC in 4.” This will take the form of a partnership between the student and the college that places responsibilities on both that, if fulfilled, will guarantee graduation in four years.
Our rationale includes the fact that in our last three graduating classes, almost 89% of students who began with us as freshmen and graduated in four years emerged debt-free. In QC in 4, students commit to graduating in four years and to earning 3O credits a year—at least 15 credits a semester without interruption. Students may attend winter sessions and two summer sessions to maintain the pace of 3O credits annually. In return, QC in 4 offers students valuable tools, resources and support, including a four-year “academic map” for eligible majors; academic advising during enrollment for new students and before registration in subsequent semesters: ensuring course availability; an academic planner and online degree audit to help students monitor their progress; and an annual evaluation of student’s progress, identifying steps to help movement towards the successful completion of the four-year graduation plan.
While other public colleges outside New York City have developed models to speed time to graduation, QC in 4 is the first of its kind in our New York City. We recognize that not all students are in a position to commit to the program because of family responsibility, employment needs, health considerations or other factors, and we will continue to work with every student to support their academic and career advancement.
Our implementation of QC in 4 coincides with the release last month of a report on 30 million college students by the Equality of Opportunity Project that placed Queens College in the top 1% of all colleges in helping students move from the bottom fifth of the economic ladder to the top fifth.
Daniel Greenstein, director of postsecondary success at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, last November described “the gulf between the haves and the have-nots” as “getting wider and…brimming with fear and anger and resentment.” The record shows that Queens College and other CUNY colleges are leading forces in higher education in helping to bridge that gap, providing the ladder of upward social and economic mobility for precisely the kinds of students we have always served: immigrants, migrants, and the sons and daughters of immigrants. The Queens College motto, “discimus ut serviamus”—we learn so that we may serve—is as current today as in 1937 when our doors first opened. And we continue to achieve all this with a proud legacy of academic excellence: in the last three years, 12 Queens College students have been selected as Fulbright scholars.
That is why we are eager for our graduates to lose no time in achieving success unburdened by huge debt and academically prepared to compete in a changing economy and world order. That is a road map well worth pursuing.
Felix V. Matos Rodriguez is president of Queens College of The City University of New York.
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