College Access & Affordability Programs

Increasing College Access, Affordability, and Outcomes for New York Students

There has been a groundswell of support in recent years for public programs that increase college access and affordability, especially for low-income and first-generation students. It is not enough, however, that we help these deserving students start college – we must see that they finish. Currently, far too few low-income and first-generation students who enroll in college make it to graduation. 

Monroe College is working hard to address this national challenge and become the standard-setter in outcomes for first-generation students. Our innovative programs and high-touch student support philosophies are making a difference and having a measurable impact. Chief among them is the Presidential Partnership Program, which was launched by President Jerome in 2016 to help New York families.

For 90 years, Monroe College has worked to improve access, affordability, and outcomes for New York high school students. As part of this commitment, we recently implemented an ambitious and innovative initiative called the “Presidential Partnership Program,” which draws on our experience and proven outcomes educating urban and first-generation students.

The Program, which pre-dates New York State’s Excelsior Program, offers selected students an opportunity to obtain a post-secondary education – in most cases with zero debt – from a private college known for having some of the best outcomes in New York State for lower-income students. We have been educating New York students since 1933 and have built a comprehensive academic and personal support infrastructure to help them succeed.

We were compelled to launch the PPP program in 2016 in response to three troubling trends adversely impacting our local communities:
 

The number of low-income students attending college in New York was declining.

Data from The Higher Education Services Corporation (HESC) revealed a decline in the number of Tuition Assistance Program (TAP) recipients attending college. There was an 8% drop in the number of students receiving TAP between the 2011-12 and 2015-16 academic years, indicating that the number of low-income students attending college in New York was declining.
 

Graduation rates for low-income NYC high school students remained low.

There was evidence that local graduates are primarily attending institutions with low graduation outcomes, perhaps due to cost concerns. College costs are rising at an exceptional pace, and affordability remains a major concern for families across America, and especially in the Bronx. All too often, the cost of attendance rather than program outcomes dictates college choice. We sought to help these students by taking the cost factor out of the equation and see if doing so would impact state data.
 

City data showing that high schools in the Bronx were struggling with outcomes. 

The disproportionate number of Bronx schools on the citywide list of Renewal Schools at the time was widely reported. The Presidential Partnership Program was structured to improve outcomes for students in the Bronx and, potentially, to set a model for similar programs elsewhere.

Today, the Presidential Partnership Program (PPP) brings together financial scholarship, academic mentorship, special personal development programming, and heightened performance monitoring to help freshmen students adapt to the rigors of college responsibilities. The program serves to help them successfully bridge the transition from high school.

There are four core components to the Program: 

• Generous scholarships that give the majority of recipients a chance to realize their college dreams without having to take on student debt to cover tuition and fees not covered by federal and state grant aid; 
• A dedicated mentor who serves as the student’s advisor, advocate, cheerleader, and coach every step of their journey at Monroe, providing pre- and post-enrollment support services; 
• Special “bridge to college” programming and events to help students form strong connections to the College and each other while making a successful transition to college-level studies and responsibilities; and 
• Engagement with students and school administrators to effectuate the program’s goals and help inform local high schools’ own college-readiness programming.

We launched the PPP with a goal of achieving 70% on-time program completion, an especially ambitious target given prevailing NYSED data at the time:

According to the NYSED ORIS website, our three-year Associate graduation rate at the time we launched the program was 49% and our 6-year bachelor graduation rate was 68%.  

Twelve students from two very different schools participated in our initial pilot program; eleven schools came from a renewal school and one from a well-endowed charter school. Nearly seventy percent of students from that Fall 2016 cohort now hold an Associate degree.

The retention data is compelling:

The enhanced academic, social, and financial support provided through the PPP is having a measurable impact. We achieved a 71% Fall-to-Fall retention rate for the 406 new freshmen that started at the College in September 2017, and are encouraged by the 91% Fall-to-Winter semester re-registration for the 557 new PPP students who started last September.  

Today, more than 1,000 students from nearly 200 high schools across the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan, Yonkers, and Westchester County are at Monroe as a result of the unique opportunities afforded them through the Presidential Partnership Program.

There are approximately 100 undocumented students among them.

While helping undocumented students realize their educational dreams has long been engrained in Monroe’s DNA, we formally rolled out a program to assist these students in 2017. Called our Dreamers’ Initiative, it reserves 20 full-tuition scholarships (and an additional unlimited number of partial scholarships) strictly for academically gifted undocumented students for whom college would otherwise be out of financial reach. 

In the Fall 2017 semester, 38 undocumented students from 29 local high schools received full scholarships to attend Monroe. Another 49 new undocumented students received full scholarships in the Fall 2018 semester, and another 19 new undocumented students received full scholarships in the 2019 Fall semester.  

Our investment in the futures of the 110 gifted Dreamers on campus in the most recent semester will total nearly $2.4 million in institutional aid over the course of four semesters. The actual investment will be considerably higher as the scholarships stay with them through the pursuit of a Bachelor’s degree.

In the summer of 2018, Monroe introduced an August Orientation Semester to build on the momentum of Summer Slam, a fun-filled, off-campus orientation experience that is designed to put new students at ease and begin their comfortable transition to college life. Through team-building exercises and unique events and competitions, students begin to connect with mentors, advisors, staff, and faculty – as well as each other – in a relaxed, casual environment outside of the classroom.

The August Bridge Semester is an intense, three-week program that gives freshmen the opportunity to take two college courses – including an introductory one in their major of choice – and earn six credits before the upperclassmen arrive in early September. The second class is experiential to keep students engaged while exposing them to new experiences, cultures, and perspectives.

The August Orientation Semester starts early in the second week of August and ends just before Labor Day. Students are in class five days a week, taking both classes each day. This new semester, coupled with our three-semester academic calendar, allows freshmen to earn 51 credits their first year compared to the 30 credits most freshmen earn elsewhere during their first year.

Started in 2004, Jumpstart is an on-campus, Saturday morning dual enrollment program that offers ambitious high school students the opportunity to explore a major of interest by taking one of the introductory courses taught by a dynamic faculty member who has worked in a related field. For example, the former Commissioner for the New York State Board of Parole has taught the Introduction to Criminal Justice course. 

The program is offered free of charge, including textbooks, to selected students from local participating schools in New York City and surrounding communities. To date, more than 10,000 students have participated in Monroe’s Jumpstart program.

Like Jumpstart above, our Dual Enrollment program enables high school students to take introductory college-level courses at no cost, including textbooks and instructional resources. Here, however, the classes are offered on-site at the high school.

The instruction is designed to meet the needs of pre-college learners, while offering the rigor and learning assessment of college-level coursework. Through the program, students earn college credits that are transferable to the college of their choice. Courses may be taught on-site at the high school by a Monroe College professor or a high school teacher who has been certified by the College. The classes include general education courses as well as those in our major areas of study.

EASE is a comprehensive academic and personal support program to give non-native English speakers (ELLs) a pathway to earning a college degree as fully matriculated students while improving their English language skills. Students in our EASE program receive more than just a strong foundation in listening, reading, speaking and writing. They also build confidence in conversing in English through projects and assignments designed specifically to expand their vocabulary and sharpen grammar skills.

Monroe College has a decades-long track record of effective remediation characterized by co-requisite enrollment in the major course of study, double the time in the classroom for the lowest levels of remediation, early intervention mechanisms, and intensive academic support outside the classroom.

Approximately eight years ago, Monroe piloted an initiative aimed at decreasing the number of students who begin their college experience in remediation. It afforded students who tested into remedial courses the opportunity to voluntarily enroll in intensive, one-week “academies” in writing and/or math in order to test into college-level courses prior to their first day of class.   

We soon discovered that 85% of students who participate in English Academies and 90% of students who attend the Math Academies successfully transition into credit-bearing courses. Since 2011, this approach has resulted in a decrease in the number of occupied seats in remedial courses by as much as 60%. Academic success is evidenced by outcomes of introductory credit-bearing courses where students who attended academies perform as well as students who took the traditional remedial courses.

The Senior Career Experience Day program enables high school seniors to spend a full- or half-day on campus visiting with the deans and faculty of several academic schools. Students are broken up into groups that rotate among the schools; lunch is served. At the School of Criminal and Social Justice, for example, they experience our state-of-the-art Law Enforcement Training Simulator, look for evidence in a mock crime scene, and participate in exercises developed as part of our elite police academy training program. 

At the School of Hospitality Management and the Culinary Institute of New York, seniors participate in a cooking demo at our Culinary Arts Center, typically taught by the dean. Members of our NYS champion culinary competition team are usually on hand to share their experiences. The Schools of Nursing and Allied Health Professions welcome the students to their clinical labs and walk them through some of the learning simulators we use to prepare Monroe students for healthcare careers. For students interested in the business of sports, our faculty leading the Sports Management degree program present on career opportunities in athletic administration, marketing, promotions, facility management and equipment retail. 

Our Financial Aid team frequently shares their expertise with parents at local schools’ Financial Aid Night events. Staff present on the financial aid process and offer guidance for completing the FAFSA. The workshops are held in English and Spanish. Additionally, we participate each year in "College Goal NY," an event held at colleges and universities across the state to connect families needing help completing their FAFSA and TAP applications with financial aid experts who can provide it.