Dear President Obama,
First, I would like to commend you on announcing the American Graduation Initiative and acknowledging the importance of community colleges. While interning for Women Employed, a Chicago-based social advocacy organization, I gained first-hand knowledge of the many difficulties that today’s community college students face. The interviews I had with single mothers attending Olive Harvey College allowed me to apply their individual stories to the bigger picture.
Work-study is hardly given to students who actually need it. Childcare is either limited to a small age window or not provided at all. Most importantly, too many community college students aren’t provided with the academic, financial, and guidance counseling that is vital to any student’s education. If these are the problems that students face now, can you envision what their situations will be like after the budget cuts have surfaced?
The goal of social mobility through higher education must remain tangible to anyone. It is hence crucial that work-study, grants, and loans are more properly allocated to low-income students who are having difficulties finding a job during this recession. On-campus housing shouldn’t be limited to students who don’t have children. Colleges need to have support systems that will guide their students through the difficulties of juggling school, family, and work. Finally, community college students should never resort to throwing in the towel, whether it is because of lack of financial aid or lack of affordable childcare.
WE’s Clear Connections Project has successfully linked a coalition of community colleges to lawmakers in Illinois, so that colleges can effectively communicate what is working and what isn’t. This program should likewise be found across the nation so that any and all barriers to higher education are acknowledged and stopped. If more lawmakers gain the first-hand knowledge that I did, the American Graduation Initiative will really make a difference.
First, I would like to commend you on announcing the American Graduation Initiative and acknowledging the importance of community colleges. While interning for Women Employed, a Chicago-based social advocacy organization, I gained first-hand knowledge of the many difficulties that today’s community college students face. The interviews I had with single mothers attending Olive Harvey College allowed me to apply their individual stories to the bigger picture.
Work-study is hardly given to students who actually need it. Childcare is either limited to a small age window or not provided at all. Most importantly, too many community college students aren’t provided with the academic, financial, and guidance counseling that is vital to any student’s education. If these are the problems that students face now, can you envision what their situations will be like after the budget cuts have surfaced?
The goal of social mobility through higher education must remain tangible to anyone. It is hence crucial that work-study, grants, and loans are more properly allocated to low-income students who are having difficulties finding a job during this recession. On-campus housing shouldn’t be limited to students who don’t have children. Colleges need to have support systems that will guide their students through the difficulties of juggling school, family, and work. Finally, community college students should never resort to throwing in the towel, whether it is because of lack of financial aid or lack of affordable childcare.
WE’s Clear Connections Program has successfully linked a coalition of community colleges to lawmakers in Illinois, so that colleges can effectively communicate what is working and what isn’t. This program should likewise be found across the nation so that any and all barriers to higher education are acknowledged and stopped. If more lawmakers gain the first-hand knowledge that I did, the American Graduation Initiative will really make a difference.
