CHICAGO — Right out of high school, Jazmine Mejia enrolled in what she thought was her best fit: Loyola University, a 30-minute drive from the Chicago area where she grew up.
But Mejia was quickly overwhelmed by the Northside campus, which has nearly 17,000 students.
“The class size was too big. I had a hard time asking for help,” said Mejia, 18.
After a year, she says college life has become much more manageable.
Mejia left Loyola University's main campus to attend the university's Arrupe College, a two-year associate degree program located in downtown Chicago. She said taking smaller classes with instructors who were more interactive with her students made all the difference.
“The professors are trying to communicate with you and understand your situation,” Mejia said over breakfast at one of the communal tables in the Arrupe cafeteria.
Two-year associate degrees have long been offered almost exclusively at community colleges, but the model pioneered at Loyola is gaining traction at private, nonprofit, four-year colleges and universities across the country. Many are Jesuit schools like Loyola, which say their low-cost, two-year associate degree programs especially benefit students who need the most support.
“It's a reach-in culture,” said the Rev. Thomas Neitzke, dean of Arrupe College. “It encompasses both inside and outside the classroom.”
The expansion of the Arrupe model is largely driven by Steve Katsouros, Arrupe's founding dean nine years ago and now president and CEO of Come To Believe Network. This network is a non-profit organization solely focused on turning a two-year degree into a four-year degree. grade school. The network raises money to provide grants to universities to start associate degree programs.
In addition to Loyola University, other schools that have recently opened or are planning to open include the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota, Mount Saint Vincent University in New York City, Butler University in Indiana, and Boston College.
Several other schools are also considering programs, including the University of the Pacific in California. Homeboy Industries, a gang rehabilitation nonprofit, is also considering partnering with Mount Saint Mary's University in Los Angeles to create an associate degree program.
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Just exploring this concept could help universities learn more about the needs of their broader student population, Katsuros said. “We are trying to identify the barriers to student success,” Katsuros said, noting that most programs also offer a combination of free meals, laptops and housing.
The concept also suggests ways to diversify and expand enrollment. Come To Believe Network programs must be committed to serving low-income students and minimizing loan debt. At Arrupe, for example, advertised tuition is just over $13,000 a year, but with scholarships and work-study in his program, Neitzke says most students pay about $2,000. He explained that part of this strategy is to attract students who cannot afford to attend private universities and may not want to attend less expensive public community colleges that offer less personal attention.
Most graduates of the two-year program are expected to earn a bachelor's degree from college. Data so far are sparse, but even modest successes toward that goal would be significantly higher than national numbers.
According to the Aspen Institute and Columbia University Teachers College's Community College Research Center (CCRC), 80% of community college students plan to earn a bachelor's degree, but many do so within six years. Only 16% are able to do so. The numbers are even worse for low-income (11%), black (9%) and Hispanic (13%) students. (The Hechinger Report is an independent division of Teachers College.)
Although relatively few students participate in these new two-year programs compared to the millions of students at traditional community colleges, the difference is clear. At Loyola's Arupe College, for example, 50 percent of students graduate and 70 percent of graduates continue on to their bachelor's degree programs, according to numbers provided by the university.
CCRC senior researcher Davis Jenkins said more universities should offer associate degrees.
“These institutions have the potential to use their reputation and dedication to quality education to truly bring in students who otherwise would not attend college,” Jenkins said. “This is about leveraging the strengths of universities and building bridges to them.”
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Although most new programs guarantee admission to the parent campus of their graduates, not all students decide to accept that opportunity.
Butler University plans to open Founders College, a two-year program for 100 students next year, and students who graduate from Founders College with sufficient grades will automatically receive a bachelor's degree from the university. be qualified to do so. Butler University President Brooke Barnett said students will not have to pay any debt for the first two years, and students who attend Butler University will pay less than $10,000 total over four years. Funded entirely by foundations and donors, Founders College will fulfill the college's long-standing goal of providing affordable degrees to underrepresented students, she said.
“We want to give our students the opportunity to grow, shine and demonstrate the talents they bring,” Barnett said. “They don't always have that opportunity.”
Some universities, including Butler, use associate degree programs as an opportunity to introduce students to the main campus without overwhelming them with extensive coursework. Schools such as Loyola University and Boston University segregate associate students to help them adjust to college life.
Boston College's new Messina College will open this summer with 100 students on land acquired from a closed college about a mile from the main campus. University of Messina leaders hope the initial quarantine will help avoid culture shock on the larger campus and prevent students from dropping out.
“There are great benefits to starting students in that small environment,” said Messina founding dean Eric Berereza.
Although the concept of colleges offering associate degrees is relatively new, some community colleges in 24 states have introduced bachelor's degrees in some fields in the past decade, which is a It's an innovation that we don't necessarily welcome.
For example, before the state of Idaho approved a plan to allow community colleges to award bachelor's degrees in March, Boise State University opposed the proposal, saying it would effectively step on the school's toes.
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The university told the State Board of Education, “In fact, it would have a negative impact on effective and efficient postsecondary education in Idaho, cannibalizing the limited resources available for postsecondary education and providing it in the same geographic area.” There is a possibility of duplication of degrees,” the letter reads.
Community colleges have not yet expressed concerns about universities offering associate degrees, and CCRC's Jenkins said community colleges have little reason to worry about these smaller, two-year programs. Ta. Still, he said it will be important for universities to collaborate with community colleges.
“Where things worked, there was negotiation,” he said. “We hope this will encourage community colleges to partner with four-year universities.”
Several four-year schools said they did not have formal discussions with community colleges before starting associate programs. That includes Mount Saint Vincent College, which plans to open a new two-year Seton College on its Bronx campus this summer.
A spokesperson for Bronx Community College declined to answer questions about the Mount St. Vincent program, while Hostos, the borough's other community college, did not respond to requests for an interview.
In Minnesota, where the University of St. Thomas opened an associate degree program in 2017, there has been no friction between the university and its nearest community college, St. Paul College. St. Paul's leaders support the effort, St. Paul spokesman Austin Calhoun said.
“That means 200 students a year will have access to higher education in the Twin Cities,” she said. Still, she added: Thomas is definitely an outlier. If the University of Minnesota were in the game, it would be on a different scale. ”
Returning to Aloupe College, sophomore Jonathan Larbi was preparing to continue his education at Loyola next year, splitting his time between the school and his on-campus job in the admissions office. Larbi, who hopes to go to medical school and become a pediatrician, grew up in Chicago and Ghana and had planned to go to Loyola right after high school, but “financially it wasn't a wise decision,” she said.
What he started with Arrupe worked, he said, because he felt like a Loyola student but didn't have to pay the university's $50,000-plus tuition.
“It’s kind of the best of both worlds,” he said. “Their resources are our resources.”
This article about 4-year colleges that offer 2-year associate degrees. hechinger reportis a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education.Please sign up Higher Education Newsletter.listen to us higher education podcasts.
