Washington Monthly - September/October 2020 - 36

Pomp in different circumstances: The 2020 class at Cuyahoga Community College celebrates its graduation remotely.

HIGHER ED'S MOST
SUCCESSFUL FAILURE
Why a proven reform to boost community college
graduation rates can't get traction.

F

our years ago, Christine Abate was driving the car she
had just bought with $4,000 in cash to get to and from
classes at Cuyahoga Community College in Cleveland,
Ohio, when another driver T-boned her, sending her car careening front end first into a set of boulders. Her vehicle was badly
banged up, but fortunately she wasn't. "The doctors were surprised I walked away from the accident," Abate recalled.
She was lucky in another way: She had a strong support
system at her college. Unexpected life events, like suddenly being without a car, are a major reason students drop out of college. At Cuyahoga Community College, known locally as TriC, Abate was part of an experimental program called Degree
in Three that was designed to help students like her stay on
track. In return for agreeing to attend school full-time-going
part-time is another factor linked to increased dropout rates-
students in the program received tuition assistance for any

36  September/October 2020

costs not covered by their other financial aid, essentially making college free. They were also given $50 monthly gift cards to
defray the cost of gas and groceries, and received more individual attention from academic advisers-a resource most students at financially strained community colleges sorely lack.
For Abate, the program made a huge difference. She
stayed in school, finagling various ways to get to campus,
at one point renting a car, until her father, a mechanic from
whom she was somewhat estranged, got her car back in working order. She paid for the rental and other living expenses
by juggling several part-time jobs-at a nursing home, a hospital, and in people's homes as a health aid. Most of all, she
credits her advisers for helping her stay in school. "Not only
were they emotionally supportive and understanding of how
stressful it is to be a college student, they were also there for
personal life and personal struggles," Abate told me. Oth-

Courtesy of Cuyahoga Community College

By Jamaal Abdul-Alim



Washington Monthly - September/October 2020

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