Comments on: How Michigan fails black college students

By: Kim Trent

Kim Trent — Wed, 05 Apr 2017 05:44:38 +0000

In reply to Keith W Cooley. Agreed, Keith! Thanks for the encouragement. We definitely need bold action and accountability from universities. If we accept a student, we have an obligation to do all we can to remove barriers to that student earning a degree.

By: Keith W Cooley

Keith W Cooley — Mon, 03 Apr 2017 14:18:51 +0000

Very well said, Kim!

You and I have talked this subject for decades and I continue to applaud your work to get the message out that it will take a revolution of thought around traditional engagement with students of color if we are to make a difference.

Glad to still be in the fight with you.

By: Kim Trent

Kim Trent — Tue, 14 Mar 2017 18:31:29 +0000

Thank you for your feedback and for sharing your family’s story. The federal government uses a university’s six-year graduation rate for undergraduate students as a metric of the university’s ability to move students through to degree in a reasonable amount of time. However, the goal is still for a student to complete bachelor’s degree in four years but fewer students do that than when you and I were students, especially at a school like Wayne State which has a large percentage of nontraditional and working students. Wayne State is experimenting with programs like offering tuition discounts to students who take summer school classes to help boost our four-year graduation rate but six years is the standard metric that people look at when examining undergraduate matriculation. Tuition and fees for an in-state, full-time student is $5,200 per semester at Wayne State. It’s still one of the lowest tuition rates among Michigan public universities. But it’s not surprising that tuition costs have spiraled when one considers that the appropriation WSU gets from the State of Michigan is about the same amount dollar for dollar that the university received when I graduated in 1991. Wayne (and all Michigan public universities) have two main sources of revenue: state funding and tuition. As Michigan has de-funded higher education, students and their families have had to bear a greater percentage of tuition costs. Finally, WSU will soon break ground on new housing on campus because our current apartments and dorm are near capacity. Research shows that students who live on campus tend to be more successful, especially in their freshman and sophomore years. Thanks again for your feedback.

By: Anita Williams

Anita Williams — Tue, 14 Mar 2017 15:07:37 +0000

My African American grandson, lives with me so that he can attend Wayne State to study Environmental Science. What has changed since I attended Wayne? 1. Bachelor degrees take six years? 2. Tuition has gone up so much. $6000 a semester no room and board. 3. Many families probably can’t afford to take carE of grown students for 6 years without the student providing some income. Most of my grandsons friends did just that. dropped out to take care of themselves. 4. Transportation is an issue because students want to go places other than classes. 5. Students have to keep up grades as or they must repeat their courses to get better grades.

I told my son that he and his son now needs to put a plan in place to complete the degree. I say, they have spent too much money to not finish and Society needs environmental scientist. First I didn’t know that most students complete their degree in 6 years. Fred is on schedule. I will let his dad know this. Fred has one more year. He is still in school because we provide for him until he finishes. Dad and loans pay his tuition but they never have it on time. This last semester I paid until his dad got his profit sharing check. I can’t begin to imagine what others with no job or support are doing. A CHILD WITH NO SUPPORT IS A TERRIBLE THING TO WASTE.

I just thought I would share the life of a black male at Wayne State with no scholarship. Guess what? My granddaughter taught me that black students drop out of high school because they don’t have enough support.