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Minnesota losing ground in college participation of students from low-income families
Low-income students in Minnesota are becoming less likely to make it to college. In 1993, Minnesota ranked first in the percentage of low-income students enrolling in college, at 48 percent. However, the state fell to 11th in 2003-04, with just 33 percent participation. While most other states saw their rates increase after 1993, Minnesota’s low-income participation rate declined the most.
Although it is difficult to measure these rates without tracking individual students in costly longitudinal studies, Postsecondary Education Opportunity employs a simple and straightforward approximation: take the number of current Pell Grant recipients from Minnesota and divide by the number of fourth through ninth graders who were approved for free or reduced price lunches in Minnesota schools nine years earlier. This gives an estimate of how many low-income students enrolled in college during the six-year period when they would reasonably be expected to pursue their degrees.
Although the method gives a fair end-to-end picture of this stretch of the education pipeline, it does not offer any insight into where the problems might be along the way. Potential contributing factors include student migration patterns, high school dropout and graduation rates, college continuation rates, college persistence rates and two- versus four-year college enrollment patterns.
Minnesota schools saw a rapid increase in the number of students qualifying for free or reduced-price school lunches during the early 1990s — from 18 percent in 1990 to 28 percent in 1994. That trend, combined with growing overall K-12 enrollments, produced a wave of low-income students that grew by 76 percent. Yet, most of them did not show up in college during the early 2000s. The number of Pell recipients from Minnesota grew by only 13 percent between 1999 and 2003.
Minnesota a net exporter of four-year college students
11,000 Minnesota residents became freshmen at four-year colleges in other states in fall 2004, while only 7,000 out-of-state freshmen came to Minnesota. This net loss of more than 4,000 students is the largest outflow in recent years, according to national data (the net loss in 2000 was about 2,600). Much of this flow (in both directions) is attributable to students attending public institutions in reciprocity states. Even among students attending private non-profit institutions however, the net outflow of freshmen from Minnesota was 930 students in fall 2004 compared to only 170 students in fall 2000. The largest net outflows of private college freshmen from Minnesota in fall 2004 were to Iowa (456 students), Massachusetts (194), Illinois (165) and New York (156). The states with the largest net inflows to Minnesota were Wisconsin (376) and North Dakota (142).
Source: IPEDS Enrollment and Residency Survey data (USDOE)
“State of Students of Color” report released
The 2006 State of Students of Color Report was released on February 16 by the Minnesota Minority Education Partnership (MMEP) at its Conference 2006. This is the third report since 2001 and is the only comprehensive PreK through college graduation report documenting the current demographic and academic achievement trends for students of color in Minnesota schools, colleges and universities. The report concludes that although there has been measurable improvement in some areas, Minnesota still needs to do better by students of color. Download a copy of the report from MMEP.
Lead grants made for public engagement campaign
The St. Paul Travelers Foundation — an active investor in education — awarded a $50,000 special grant in support of the public engagement campaign. This campaign is designed to stimulate public discourse on how we can better contribute to efforts to ensure that more students can participate in and benefit from higher education — providing our state with educated human resources for the future. This gift will support a series of meetings around the state to engage and inspire community leaders in shaping that future. It matches a challenge grant made by the Foundation for Independent Higher Education (FIHE) Venture Fund. “We're proud of this state and its historic value placed on education” says Mary Pickard, executive director of the St. Paul Travelers Foundation.
To join St. Paul Travelers in supporting the campaign (financially or by lending your name), please contact Phillip Miner, director of community initiative at pminer@mnprivatecolleges.org or 651-293-6809. More about the public engagement campaign
A student perspective on involvement
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| Dean Garvin Davenport and Tim McDonald (front row) and other Hamline student leaders at the scholarship signing ceremony |
Last winter when I was driving to my grandmother’s, the idea of creating a scholarship fund struck me. I had been reflecting on the higher education opportunities of the inner-city youth I work with at an after school program. I felt I had a role in ensuring that they could go to college and I spent the next few hours frantically writing down a stream of ideas.
With the assistance and support of eight fellow student leaders at Hamline University, the result of these ideas was the Anna A. Hedgeman Endowed Scholarship Fund for Student Leaders of Color. Named after the first African-American graduate of Hamline University in 1922, the scholarship will provide students of color with financial assistance to get them in and retain them at Hamline. Scholarship recipients will also be leaders in helping to make our campus welcoming to future students of color. Our Undergraduate Student Congress recognized the importance of this project and pledged nearly $44,000. Additional donations came in from friends of the university and allies in the struggle for justice and the fund now totals nearly $50,000.
In the words of Anna A. Hedgeman at an alumni banquet in 1966, “…the college, with less than 2,000 students, has an extraordinary opportunity for creative innovation.”
My experience proves what I’ve known all along — that the private colleges of Minnesota and their students are creative, innovative and something special.
Concordia College receives internationalization award
Concordia College is one of five colleges in the nation to win the 2006 Senator Paul Simon Award for Campus Internationalization. The award recognizes innovative and creative efforts in campus internationalization and is conferred by NAFSA: Association of International Educators. Senator Simon was an advocate for international education throughout his career. Concordia sponsors the Language Villages — summer camps that immerse students ages 7 to 18 in 13 international languages and cultures. Other award recipients were Arcadia University, Earlham College, Michigan State University, and Purdue University.
Student scholars present research findings
Private college and university students and faculty advisors from 11 of Minnesota's private colleges and universities will present results of their independent research and creative scholarship at the State Capitol Rotunda on Thursday, March 9. Their presentations cover a range of disciplines from economics to biology, political science to health. In many instances, faculty-guided student research has long-term implications for all Minnesotans. More information on Scholars at the Capitol
The Minnesota Private College Council, Fund and Research Foundation represent 17 of the state’s most respected four-year, liberal arts colleges and universities as well as more than 54,000 students. We are: Augsburg College, Bethany Lutheran College, Bethel University, Carleton College, Concordia College (Moorhead), Concordia University (St. Paul), College of Saint Benedict, College of St. Catherine, College of St. Scholastica, Gustavus Adolphus College, Hamline University, Macalester College, Minneapolis College of Art and Design, Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota, Saint John’s University, St. Olaf College, and the University of St. Thomas.
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