Odessa College officials are proposing the Promise Program aimed at first-time, full-time college students beginning in 2024.
The proposal was made to the OC Board of Trustees in December and will be up for consideration this month, Vice President for Academic Partnerships Jonathan Fuentes said.
“It is a last dollar in scholarship opportunity for the Class of 2024, so it is open to those graduating seniors that will be part of the Class of ‘24 that will be first time in college students beginning in summer, or August 2024. It will cover tuition and fees,” Fuentes said.
Vice President of Student Services Kim McKay said the program is in the development stages.
“We know it’s a program that has been implemented throughout the nation, that has seen real transformation in first-time-in-college going rates, as well as graduation rates. And so we feel like this is an opportunity for us to support students all the way through the pathway, not just with first class free, and some of the momentum incentives that are built along their pathway,” McKay said.
“It will incentivize students that remain full-time students to ensure that they complete in two years and can transition seamlessly into a transfer institution, or into … the workforce. The entering freshmen class has about 55%, on average, students taking full-time classes. But when we look at the student body as a whole, 70% are taking part-time classes. So at some point, their momentum sort of fades, whether it’s life happens, or financial barriers that don’t allow them to continue at full time. And so a Promise Program is going to help to ensure that they remain full time and then remove the financial barriers that we know college students face,” McKay said.
Fuentes said OC is focusing its efforts on ECISD and also its service area high schools.
“We’re looking throughout the region to see what we can do together to move education forward in the Permian Basin,” Fuentes added.
McKay said the baccalaureate attainment rate in the Permian Basin is about 17% and the college going rate in Ector County for the last five years has averaged 48%.
“Those are two data points that a program like Promise can really move,” McKay said.
The college going rate is the number of students who matriculate to a university the fall after their high school graduation, she added.
Fuentes said he thinks the board is looking forward to the conversation they’ll have in January.
“At that point in time, we’ll bring them more data. We’ll bring them some impact statements on how we think this will transform the college going, college completion rates in our region. And then we also have to talk to them about funding because there’s a cost associated with that. We are working to identify which students would actually be part of the funded Promise Program, because every entering freshman from the Class of 2024 will be a Promise student. But since it’s a last in scholarship opportunity, only those that don’t have that have not secured other funding through scholarships, or financial aid, or Hazlewood and some of the other things that our students take advantage of will be the ones that are funded. We need to take a look at the data and see what that looks like so that we can begin to raise funds so that we can keep our promise and pay for their tuition and fees for the two years,” McKay said.
There were just over 1,000 first-time-in-college students in the Class of 2016. Of those, a little over half, 567, were first time, full time students and about half of those received funding.
“So it could be Pell; it could be scholarships; it could be other funding that they’ve received. And we know that the dynamic for the college going rate is going to change probably quite a bit this fall because of the new mandate to complete your FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) prior to graduating from high school. So more kids and families will realize that they have money to go to school, which has been, I think, a barrier in the past.”
“We just received some survey data that told us that community college students, in particular, feel like because of the pandemic, they were having to contribute to their household in a financial way. If they’re having to do that, then they’re not able to pay to pay for school. But I think we’ve done some innovative things to ensure that they have access to higher education. And now what we’re challenging ourselves to do is making sure that we see them through the end. Access is not an issue for us. We registered over 1,000 students this fall. Persistence is something that we continue to work on. The Promise Program will help with that. And then over the last 10 years, the number of degrees and credentials that we’ve awarded has increased by almost 200%. But a lot of those graduates earning those certificates and degrees aren’t calculated in this standard graduation rate that’s used to compare us to other institutions. The reason being is that not every single student is included in the traditional graduation rate. It’s only first-time, full-time, degree-seeking students that enter in the summer or in the fall. And so the 2016 cohort that I shared with you earlier, when they entered in 2016, that fall, only 567 of them would have been counted in the graduation rate. And they had 150% of normal time to complete their degree, which for a two-year degree is three years. Only 133 of them completed their degree within three years,” McKay said.
OC’s graduation rate that is used as an objective measure to compare it to other institutions and for other things throughout the state, including the Aspen Award, is 23%.
“If we would have increased the number of first-time, full-time students that entered in 2016 by just 10%, it would have increased the graduation rate by 2%. So that’s why it’s so important to make sure that those students have the access to a program, or a promise, from us, to help them complete their degree,” she added.
Even though it’s required for students to complete a FAFSA form, it doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll enroll in a college or university.
Fuentes said Louisiana was an early adopter of the FAFSA mandate and it did increase their college going rate.
“I think filling out that FAFSA for families is going to be enlightening and make them realize that, oh, I can afford college. This is something that is attainable for me, too,” he added.
Fuentes and McKay said they hope it will help them meet the goal of 10,000 students and beyond at OC.
“… Promise programs, I think, are often considered completion programs. But we think that if we build it right and do this right … it can also be a recruitment tool; that it can help us bring other students into the fold. I think that in the conversations that we’ll have in January with our board, we’re really taking a holistic approach, and thinking about all the reasons why students don’t come here in the first place and then don’t stay here. We know that it’s a lot of economic (reasons) and so we’re thinking about all the pieces, including tuition and fees on how to support our students to stay here and finish here,” Fuentes said.
McKay said a two-year runway gives OC a chance to secure funding, to educate families about the Promise and take advantage of dual credit opportunities at their high schools.
“… If they’re taking advantage of the discounted tuition and the opportunities to take courses in high school, then that changes the Promise investment, both from a financial aid side and an institution side,” McKay said. “… It also changes the time to degree for a student. … The runway gives us some time to use all of our resources and make sure that students take advantage of every opportunity that’s available to them.”
Fuentes said dual credit students are considered first-time-in-college students once they have graduated from high school.
“… They’re considered part of the cohort wherever they choose to go for higher education,” he added.
McKay said they are still counted in the college’s graduation rate as long as they were first-time, full-time, degree-seeking students who complete within 150% of normal time.
“The average graduation rate for community colleges in the nation is 36%. It’s relatively low because of the nature of a community college student. But you have the Ivies and the flagships that are well into the 80s or 90s as far as their graduation rate is concerned because (for) those students, their job is school …,” McKay said.
Although many students stop out to help their families financially, Fuentes said he thinks the Promise Program will incentivize them to carry on.
Students have to continue to be registered for 12 hours in each of the long semesters to stay in the program and a 2.0 GPA.
“We want to ensure that you’re going to be successful throughout, and if you are, then we continue our Promise to you for those two years,” Fuentes said.
McKay said they will continue to discuss and work through details with their colleagues and then regional stakeholders to determine what the specifics of the program look like.
“Pace, progress, persistence and how we can rescue those students who may need to stop out. Are there opportunities to help them complete? Our intention is to provide them with incentives for being a Promise student, which would include priority registration, priority on campus employment, other things that will help make their lives as a student a whole lot easier,” McKay said.
Fuentes added that they know the challenges are not just about tuition and fees, but supporting their families at home and themselves.
“… We really are going to be thinking about the holistic picture and how do we support the whole student and make sure that they’re successful, and make sure they persist,” Fuentes said.
